Spencer - 101 things to do before you diet: because looking great isnt just about losing weight

101 T HINGS
TO D O B EFORE
Y OU D IET

101 T HINGS
TO D O
B EFORE
Y OU D IET

BECAUSE LOOKING GREAT

ISNT JUST ABOUT

LOSING WEIGHT

MIMI SPENCER

VIKING CANADA

Published by the Penguin Group

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First published in Viking Canada hardcover by Penguin Group (Canada),
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Simultaneously published in the U.S.A. by Rodale Inc., 733 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017

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Copyright Mimi Spencer, 2009

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Book design by Tara Long
Illustrations by Brandi Powell/istock

Manufactured in the U.S.A.

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publisher.

ISBN: 978-0-670-06925-5

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CONTENTS

T HIN: T HE D REAM OF A G ENERATION

I dont know a woman who wouldnt like to lose a few pounds. Some, of course, would dearly love to lose morea dress size or twobut most of us gaze mistily into the middle distance of our lives and envision a time when well be, oh, 7 pounds lighter, a time when a size-12 skirt doesnt pinch after lunch, when our jeans wont clutch at our thighs like a petulant toddler, when our stomach is more buff than muffin. For most of us, its an irritating, persistent hum in the back rooms of our minds.

Im not about to tell you to stop aspiring to be that little bit slimmer. As a 40-year-old woman with a healthy interest in looking fabulous in a clingy top, I recognize the desire that burns within all of us to make the very best of what weve got. Im well aware of the female need to compete with her peershow we all look at the bikini bodies on the beach to gauge whether we measure up, how bloody brilliant it feels to walk into a crowded room and know that people are sizing up the wiggle in your walk and not the wobble in your chin. Really, who doesnt want to look better, feel happier, and be fitter? We want to be in control of our lives. We want our appearance to reflect our aspirationsfor our careers, for our children, for our sense of self. In short, and given the choice, most of us dont want to be fat.

This book is the simple, sign-posted route to achieving that goal. It describes exactly how you can arrive at a whole new you, a place where youll feel, look, and be better than you ever have before. The difference is that I know you can do all of this without dieting. (Listen carefully and you can hear little angels singing.) So dont expect self-flagellation, self-denial, weigh-ins, wailing, and rabbit food for the forseeable future.

Instead, in 101 simple steps, I will show you how to:

* Stop judging and start living

* Eat more and weigh less

* Dress thin and look gorgeous

* Change your mind to change your shape

* Banish body blues and find body balance

* Realize that dieting is the problem, not the solution

This is a book with a realistic promise: It will examine your relationship with your fork, your fridge, your fashion, your friends, and your foibles. It nudges open the secrets of how you really feel about your body, and, in particular, those parts youd rather lock in a box and never meet again. It looks at why weve become a nation of marshmallows, slumped in front of a computer or TV screen, and how we can ease ourselves off of the sofa and into a better body, while remaininggloriouslywithin our comfort zones. And heres the icing on the cake: Unlike a diet, this book delivers effective solutions todaynot tomorrow, not after the weekend, not when Christmas has turned into January. But now.

T HE F AT OF THE L AND: H OW D IETING C ONSUMED U S A LL

Its odd, isnt it, that in a world beset by crime, poverty, hunger, an economic crisis, and a looming environmental meltdown, we should spend so very much time thinking about how much we weigh. It is, if you like, a metaphor for our times: While Rome, or its equivalent, burns, were gazing at our navels and wondering who ate all the pies.

There are many curious aspects to our current obsession with body shape, but perhaps the most alarming is that the more we scrutinize the rail-thin celebrity A-list, the fatter we get. The gulf between the Eats and the Eat-Nots is now widerliterallythan ever. While a growing number of us are expanding at breakneck speed, the rest are panic-dieting, eating only grapefruit or protein or things that begin with the letter G.

For my part, I seem to have been on a diet since the moment my first child arrivedbringing with her a whole heap of joy, but leaving behind a whole lot of disheartening body issues: the heavier hips, the wider thighs, the belly hell-bent on heading south, boobs in close pursuit. Like many women, I have ricocheted between fashionable It Diets. Ive tried Atkins, Hay, Perricone, Caveman, Food Combining... I have done egg-white omelets, maple-syrup detox, cabbage soup in a Thermos flask, a Dulcolax at bedtime, an instant soup for lunch... Ring any bells? If there is one activity that really binds women together, its our shared obsession with dieting. There is, after all, something hugely provocative about the possibility of losing weight, the promise that youll actually shrink. It wins me over every time. And every time, I lose. Not weight, so muchmostly just the will to live.

D IETING? T HATS N O W AY T O L OSE W EIGHT

It doesnt take a genius to see the deep paradox at the heart of our modern relationship with food: The more obsessed we are with healthy eating, the fatter (and more miserable) we have become. For every diet book that hits the shelves, we put on an extra pound; for every make me skinny TV show, we let out our belts by one more liberating notch.