What a pleasure and privilege it is for IEM to share with you information on reclaiming your health every month. By taking charge of your choices and decisions in regards to what you do to your body, mind and health we know that you will begin feeling great. We have such an incredible sense of responsibility that you turn to us at the Institute of Eating Management for information and guidance on your health. We take that responsibility very seriously. In all the years that IEM has been serving the public, we have tried to stay on a solid course of healthy eating and thinking even when the media is bombarding you with odd messages like "the cabbage soup or grapefruit diet." 

Many times there are other diets that attract your attention like the Atkins diet or more recently the South Beach diet. These fad diets try to persuade you to jump on the latest diet craze. There's a new diet book coming out everyday and their message is the same "lose 10 pounds a week, drop 2 dress sizes overnight. Eat this magical combination of foods and your weight will melt off." These messages teach you be impatient, not patience. Anyone can strip lots of weight off quickly. Simply do three hours of cardio a day and follow a strict diet and you will lose the weight fast. The problem is while your body was altered, your mind wasn't and therefore the weight would be right back on within a few weeks of stopping the diet and excessive exercise. If any of you are familiar with our work at IEM, then you should know by now that instead of focusing on the current media trend, we want you to stay focused on how you think. After all, that's where real success begins. Changing anything about your self takes time, it can't be rushed, it needs to be practiced over and over again and requires patience. Challenge yourself to believe in bigger and better things for yourself and go beyond your own limited thinking when it comes to the process of self-change. Go beyond your old barriers of the past and develop a strong belief in your abilities to conquer those things that stand in your way. Reach for new heights. Broaden your horizons. The power to do this is obtainable to each and every one of you.

Step out of your comfort zone and realize that by cooking and carrying your food every day you can reach your full potential faster and easier than if you don't. Many times we get into a routine, and we sink into a rut and become stagnate which in turn causes us to stop feeling good about ourselves. When you take charge, quit buying into your excuses and start making changes for the better you will feel energized, uplifted and less depressed. If you don't want to believe these statements, that's fine. You're only hurting yourself. If you want to remain in the same condition and at the same place for the rest of your life, then continue to do the same thing or follow the herd mentality and nothing will change.

Over the last 20 years IEM has sent the message that you're going to have to change your thinking. You're going to have to get out of that routine and go further than you're used to going and trust that you will feel and look great. All you have to do is take charge of the few things that are holding you back. Your believing is always going to follow your thinking. You cannot live a positive life with a negative mind. And many times the problems that we face are created from relying on the wrong thinking patterns that actually produce more problems, frustration and anxiety.

It all starts with your thinking. Most of the time our own thinking limits us. Our mind tries to reason out everything and of course if you think negatively you'll end up with nothing but a negative life. And the more you focus on worry, doubt and anxiety the more magnified these things will become in your life. These thoughts get larger and larger to a point where you become immobilized. Before you know it, you're hands are tied up and you can't accomplish anything in your life. And If you are worrying, if you are fearful and full of anxiety, those are choices that you have made. We have the ability to make our own choices. These thoughts and emotions just don't come out of nowhere. You chose that. You chose to be fearful. You choose to be worried. You choose to be full of anxiety. As you choose to keep replaying all of that negative stuff over and over again in your mind, you can end up tying your mind up for days, months and years. Thoughts like "I'll never get this weight off, or Why do I have to eat this way, it's not fair" can permeate your thinking to the point where you'll make yourself right. The weight will never come off and you won't eat right because it isn't fair that you have too while others don't. It's a choice. You've got to keep your mind focused on your goal and know that deep within your heart you deserve to be fit and healthy. When you believe in yourself and think positively, you'll discover that live is full of positive experiences. Go beyond your old barriers of the past. Go beyond your old limitations and take charge of this area of your life. Don't ever give up, and don't ever give in to discouragement. Your lack of motivation starts right there in your mind and so does your hope and confidence.

Don't ever learn to live with mediocrity. Don't fall prey to the inner voice that tells you food is going to resolve your problem, reduce your stress of make you feel good. If you do that you'll become more focused on the immediate gratification of eating the food rather than the pain being overweight will cause. We have counseled countless numbers of overweight, unhealthy people that may look happy on the outside, but if the truth be known, it's all a façade. Deep down on the inside they're hurting, they're lonely, they're miserable, and they're empty. Overweight people are not the only people who experience those feelings; thin people do too. Regardless, those emotions are usually a result of not living up to your full potential. Maybe there are some people reading this today that feel that same way. Maybe you feel like you're pretty hopeless. Start today by implementing the information we've given you through this newsletter and our clinic. Use what's useful and begin formulating your plan to restore your health. Enlarge your vision, reach for new heights and broaden your horizons. There is nothing too difficult for you to accomplish. Look at the top three or four things that are holding you back and get committed to making real changes. Make a list of each problem area and begin by altering one at a time by committing to a change you honestly feel you can live with. So if you look at the list below, these are the major problems that cause us to be overweight. Examine it; figure out which area you can change and start today. Here's a list.

A). I eat out too much.

B). I eat too much fat.

C). I skip meals and get too hungry so I binge and crave too much junk food.

D). I don't cook.

E). I don't carry food with me to work.

F). I don't exercise.

If you started cooking more food and carrying food to work, those two changes would virtually wipe out a, b, c, d, and e. Now that you cook and carry food, you now have things to eat to avoid hunger. You won't miss as many meals, you won't binge as much and you will reduce the frequency of eating out. In addition, because you cooked you can now control the amount of fat with you diet. By making a list like the one above, you can see how much of your problem is tied to not doing two simple things. After you get connected to how much easier eating right became by implementing those two coping skills, after the habit is formed, simply get more active.