New Health/Fitness Book Says a Personal Plan is the Key to Weight Loss Success

RIVERSIDE, CA, January 04, 2013 (Press-News.org) "It isn't that diets don't help you lose weight," says Dr. Stan Spencer, author of a new book, The Diet Dropout's Guide to Natural Weight Loss (Fine Life Books: 1/1/2013). "The problem is that as soon as you quit the diet, the weight returns."

"Think of excess fat as a collection of bad habits," he says. "Lose the habits and you will lose the fat. Each time you give up one of these bad habits (all other things being equal), you will lose fat until your body naturally settles at a lower weight." Dr. Spencer says the key to successfully keeping it off is to create your own weight loss plan--one custom made to fit your particular needs, abilities, and preferences. When designed correctly, this custom plan is the easiest path to a naturally thin lifestyle and body. He advises that, while each person's optimal plan is unique, every plan for permanent weight loss should have the following elements:

Personal Preferences
There is no single formula for natural, permanent weight loss. You don't need to make yourself miserable. Eating yogurt can help you lose weight, but if you really don't like yogurt, don't include it in your plan. There are plenty of other things you can do to lose weight naturally.

Changes You Can Live With
Include in your plan only those things you are willing to make lifelong habits. Giving up desserts for a month to lose weight may accomplish that goal, but the lost weight will return just as soon as you start eating desserts again.

Easy Ways to Control Emotional Eating
We often eat for emotional comfort, not because we are hungry. The best way to prevent emotional eating is to learn how to regulate your emotions in other ways. These may include getting more social interaction or using techniques such as meditation or mindfulness.

Quick Ways to Calm Cravings
Cravings for junk food can crush even the strongest resolve and wreck your attempts to lose weight. The key is not to have more willpower, but to know how to make the cravings weaker so the willpower you already have does the job. For example, taking a brisk, short walk has been shown in scientific studies to reduce chocolate cravings.

Making the Easiest Changes in Habits First
Your weight loss plan might include forming new habits such as meditating daily, eating more whole grains for breakfast, eating sweets only once a day, and exercising five days a week. Don't try to develop all of your weight loss habits at once. Start with the ones that are easiest. After you have reaped the weight loss rewards of the easier habits you will have extra motivation to tackle habits that require more effort.

Not Expecting Quick or Immediate Results
It's better to lose twenty pounds over the course of a year than to lose twenty pounds in a month then gain it all back. Changing habits takes time. You probably gained your extra weight slowly, one habit at a time. Let yourself lose it the same way. After two or three weeks with each new habit, it will begin to feel natural, and you will be a naturally thinner person.

The Diet Dropout's Guide to Natural Weight Loss
Stan Spencer, PhD

Trade Softcover, 6 x 9, 152 pages, $11.95
Publication 1/1/2013
Health & Fitness / Weight Loss
Appendices, References, Index, 6 Illustrations
ISBN 978-0-9835717-0-4
Wholesale Distributors: Ingram, Baker & Taylor

Dr. Spencer explains why we gain weight and why fat lost by dieting almost always comes back. He then presents an array of science-based weight loss tools for controlling emotional eating, calming cravings, boosting metabolism, and improving nutrition and exercise. In the final chapter he has you create a personal weight loss plan based on your unique set of needs, abilities, and preferences. The plan outlines your easiest path to being naturally thin by reshaping the habits that cause excess weight. Simple recipes are provided for weight loss foods that reduce cravings and prolong satisfaction.

"Well-presented and easy to understand, this one is highly recommended." --Susan B. Hagloch, Library Journal (starred review)

"In order to make a permanent change in the obesity statistics in the United States every dieter must read this book. The Diet Dropout's Guide to Natural Weight Loss provides practical tips that everyone can apply in their daily routines." --Cascia Talbert, The Healthy Moms Magazine

"An excellent book that is well written and evidence based. It will help dispel a lot of the myths that surround weight management." --Gary Mendoza, PhD, Registered Nutritionist

Find more information about the book at http://fatlossscience.org.

Fine Life Books is a small publisher in Riverside, California, specializing in quality self-help, health, fitness, and relationship books.