Shelley A. Sonnenberg

What  inspires you to lose weight? Do you have an upcoming occasion for which you want to look especially good? Do you want to get the attention of that special someone or to be given opportunities that are usually only given to thin people? Do you just want to feel healthier?

There are many reasons people want to lose weight today, but unfortunately the pervasive myths in our culture concerning weight-loss often discourage people from even getting started. In my upcoming book, No Salads Required! How I Lost 159 Pounds without Salads, Celery, Sit-Ups or Surgery and How You can Too! I address four of the reasons that I was obese for 32 years. I really did not want to live on salads or celery! I had spent too many years eating much more delicious foods and I was unwilling  to resign myself to that menu! I also did not want to do sit-ups. I know that some TV fitness trainers swear by them, but honestly when a person is as morbidly obese as I was when I started my weight-loss program, sit-ups were an exercise in nausea!

As for weight-loss surgeries, I knew they were not right for me either. I realize some people may find them helpful, but in my case, the problem was not in my stomach. The problem was in my brain! I was using food as comfort and entertainment and ignoring the obvious fact that somebody as short and fine-boned as I was should not be eating high calorie foods in large quantities. In my book I also mentioned my naturally slow metabolism and said that though God had created my body to work like an economy car,  I had spent years fueling myself up like an eighteen wheeler! Obviously l needed to make a change, but how?

The first thing I needed to do was start a weight-loss program and make it a priority. In No Salads Required! I shared how I reached the decision to do this, as well as how I came to the understanding that if I was going to succeed at weight-loss, my program had to be on my own terms. For me, that meant designing my own weight-loss plan that included eating only foods that I enjoyed and doing only exercise that I liked to do and sticking to that program tenaciously until I reached my goals. This may sound wild, but it worked beautifully for me. I lost the 159 pounds I needed to lose in fourteen months!

I think approaching weight-loss on one’s own terms is so important that I encourage my readers to do the same. No Salads Required! contains a chapter with lists of recommended foods and suggestions for readers on how to design their own meals as well as permission to choose only the foods on the lists that they enjoy. I did also put together a chapter full of suggested meal combinations for people who wanted help getting started and who would appreciate specific recommendations. However, even in that chapter, I suggested my readers pick the meals they like and customize them as needed with other foods on the recommended lists according to their own preferences and what they find currently available in the grocery stores.

Fortunately, due to international trade, there are now many more fruits and vegetables available in grocery stores throughout the year than there used to be. This makes shopping much easier.  Also, my readers with green thumbs might enjoy planting and growing some of their own fresh produce. Gardening is not only a fun and healthy activity, but it also opens the door for people to enjoy varieties of fruits and vegetables that are not commonly sold in stores. A few years ago one of my friends decided to grow tomatoes, but not just any tomatoes. She planted a type of orange ones that I had never seen or heard of until she told me about them. Once those tomatoes began to ripen they were all she could talk about. I have never talked to anyone so delighted about eating tomatoes in all my life! She really enjoyed them and that made her extra effort to grow them completely worthwhile.

When it comes to exercise, I also encourage my readers to set up a program that is pleasant for them. After all, if a person plans to start doing something on a regular basis it makes sense to be sure they will enjoy it! For readers with problems  exercising due to injuries  I suggested in No Salads Required! that they seek the guidance of their doctor and possibly a physical therapist as well. It’s amazing how many safe and effective  methods there are for  injured people to exercise! A few years ago one of my friends was facing serious health problems that were complicated by morbid obesity. While she was in the hospital for treatment of these conditions,  her doctor referred her to a specialist, who helped her set up a manageable exercise program with the goal of building her strength. I was completely amazed! What I learned from her story is that if there is a will there is a way!  If that woman could find a way to exercise in her extremely  difficult circumstances, then all the rest of us can find an exercise plan that will work for us if we seek the right advice and make the effort to follow it.

So now it’s up to you! Are you ready to chase your weight-loss dreams on your terms? No Salads Required! will be available to order from Amazon.com and other stores in late August or early September of 2015 and I encourage you to buy it, read it and it discover how fun and exciting weight-loss can be. In the meantime I will be sharing “sneak previews” on this blog on a regular basis to give you a taste of what’s to come. I also will be sharing entertaining stories about my life as a writer and what I am doing to maintain my new figure now that I have it. Stay tuned!