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Watching the movie “The Founder,” in which Michael Keaton plays Ray Kroc, the mastermind behind the mega-successful McDonald’s hamburger franchise, gives a rare glimpse into the very moment America took the fat road.

It comes about one-third of the way into the movie. Kroc walks up to the McDonald brothers’ hamburger stand in San Bernadino, California and, before he finishes paying, is handed a paper bag containing his order.

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He’s amazed. “What’s that?” he asks.

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Holidays are tough for many people but, if you are actively trying to lose weight, the extra stress can be a diet killer. What do successful weight loss survivors do? Here are some helpful weight loss tips from experts and coaches who’ve actually been successful losing weight themselves.

I specifically spoke with experts who understand the concept of sustained weight loss too. This is a big distinction, as permanent weight loss, defined by the medical community as weight loss sticking around over five years, is illusive to many.

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Research shows permanent weight loss is more likely to result from lifestyle and attitude change. Diets just don’t do the trick for long-term change.

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Between Halloween and New Year’s Day, the average weight gain for people who struggle with excess weight is 8-10 pounds. If this describes you, kick this trend to the curb and find permanent weight loss. Here are some holiday eating tips. If permanent change has eluded you, here’s a hint at what it looks like:

 

Holiday eating tips for permanent weight loss.

Holiday eating tips for permanent weight loss.

 Holiday Eating Tips

1. Enough with the Halloween candy! Make your party (and your kids’ focus) on fun, costumes, friends, connections. When my son was small, I let him eat some candy on Halloween, then he picked 7 items to keep (1 per day for the next week) and the rest went to the neighborhood fire station. Some dentists will PAY kids for their candy. YOU can pay your kids, or teach them about donating excess to others. NO ONE really needs another damned snickers bar, especially children. If your child is challenged by ADHD, anxiety or depression, get the crap out of sight now, and forever.

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YellowGirlFruit

It’s the middle of January and, in one form or another, many of us are fighting with our food.

As New Year’s Resolutions fade and sputter and maybe even get thrown to the wind, it’s easy to fall into a real struggle with food. Most diets set us up for struggle. They make some foods “good” (which doesn’t line up with what our mind says is “good”), and some “bad.”

But even an old pro like me has a momentary brain fart around food.

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Holidays bring stress to most of us. Also trying to lose weight? More stress!

And what if stress is a major food trigger for you? Consider that stress quadrupled!

Santa
Often, after a period of successful weight loss, we develop expectations of how our holiday should go, or what we can accomplish during this frantic time. Those expectations can be unrealistic, given the pressures and demands of family, friends, celebrations, the social calendar, etc.

On one hand, it’s not productive to use the holidays as an excuse to abandon healthy goals and routines.

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I want to share a Thanksgiving story with you as we approach turkey day in the U.S.

I started losing weight in March of 1996. By the time November rolled around, I was feeling great about the changes I had made in my life. The prospect of Thanksgiving, however, loomed. My memories of that particular holiday weren’t fond. Even though I would tell you that I “loved” the food we traditionally had on the Thanksgiving table, the day always ended in pain.

Giving thanks = pain….

Mmmmm, no. Something was wrong with that equation!

So, I knew my next Thanksgiving had to be different.

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