What are your dieting trouble spots?

If you know going in what the hardest parts of being on a diet are for you, you can prepare yourself. Target the things that have gotten in your way before, and then develop strategies you can use at exactly those most challenging times.

Take this quiz to pinpoint your own special diet trouble spots.

1. When I cheat, I can't seem to get back on my diet. 2. I feel deprived when everyone else is eating whatever they want.

3. I get very discouraged when I don't lose fast enough.

4. I start out with a lot of willpower but lose it quickly.

5. I don't handle eating out well when I'm on a diet.

6. Whenever I lose weight, I always end up gaining it back.

7. At 3 o'clock in the afternoon I get tired and starving.

8. I can't help nibbling while I'm cooking dinner.

9. I'm not sure when I'm really hungry.

10. I can't find a diet I really like.

11. I get cravings I can't resist.

12. I tend to reward myself with food.

13. I rebel against the rules of a diet.

14. I can't resist having sweets if they're in the house.

15. I get so busy I can't keep up all that dieting requires.

16. Eating secretly is a habit too hard for me to break.

17. I get too tired to think of making diet meals.

18. I get hopeless during a diet.

19. I can diet during the week, but I always blow it on the weekends.

20. When I start to get thinner, I always wreck the diet without knowing why.

21. I don't get enough support when I diet.

22. I can't stand feeling empty.

23. Going on vacation is my dieting downfall.

24. If I get a cold or the flu or even just a headache, I go off the diet and then I can't get back on.

25. I can't seem to diet on my own.

Think about which of these are your own personal trouble spots and create 2 strategies, 2 new things you can do for yourself so you can get through each of these roadblocks. It doesn't matter whether you've identified 2 or 20. This thoughtful preparation is what will transform you from a diet failure into a diet success.

2006 Maria's Last Diet

Kenneth Schwarz, Ph.D. is a psychologist - psychoanalyst practicing in Connecticut, where he is on the allied health staff at Sharon Hospital. He and his wife, Julie Schwarz, are co-authors of the e-Booklet How to Break Through the 15 Obstacles to Achieve Diet Success.

They publish a free monthly newsletter, as well as a system of exercises to change eating-related habits permanently. The e-Booklet, newsletter, and exercises as well as articles and quizzes are available when you visit www.mariaslastdiet.com . Ken and Julie live in the northwest hills of Connecticut. Find out how to stick to your diet at www.mariaslastdiet.com .

Dieting Trouble Spots

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