How Not to Diet: Tough Love Strategies for Permanent Weight Loss

New York, NY (PRWEB) June 4, 2007 -- Eating right on the run just got a lot easier. In today's mobile society, people on-the-go who want to lose weight will often enlist the help of a nutritionist for advice on how to eat right between meetings or when traveling. However, most don't have time for a face-to-face meeting. Weight management consultant and certified sports nutritionist Sophie Pachella is now offering remote service by phone or online through her company, EatStrong (www.eatstrong.com).

EatStrong is founded on a philosophy of educating people and giving them the tools they need to change their lifestyle rather than offering quick-fix solutions that inevitably lead to muscle loss and frustration. Executed the proper way, Sophie's strategy builds a relationship between the mind and body based on a simple yet effective "clean, mindful eating" approach. EatStrong's clients range from Wall Street tycoons to avid athletes to new mothers, who all say they have "tried everything" with little or no success. Sophie has become accustomed to being a last resort for her clients, who urgently want to get in shape and achieve a higher level of health and well-being. Working with many personalities over the past several years, Sophie has identified what she considers the single most important factor in achieving permanent weight loss and optimal fitness: "being on your own side."

"Dieting just doesn't work," says Sophie, who is also a new mother. She knows how difficult it is for many women to lose their lingering post-pregnancy pounds. Passionate about helping people who want to reach their optimal weight and feel their best, Sophie is convinced that traditional diets are ineffective and often harmful, because they don't explore why we eat or offer appropriate guidance for permanent weight loss. "Having tried time and again to shed the extra weight, many think that losing those last pounds is just about impossible. We resign ourselves to being somewhat overweight, convinced that our metabolisms or genetics are to blame, which could not be further from the truth," says Sophie.

Sophie's widely appreciated philosophy has led to her frequent contributions to iVillage.com, AmericanBaby.com and a wide range of magazines. She also lectures on a regular basis at the New Age Health Spa, has lectured at The State University of New York (SUNY), and is the nutrition consultant to the New York chapter of the American Heart Association.

Love thyself as thy neighbor ...
As Sophie explains, "I start with counseling clients to treat themselves as though their body belongs to someone else. The paradox is that we all know the right thing to do, but we don't treat ourselves as well as we would treat others. You wouldn't, for example, make your spouse or friend starve all day. You'd rarely, if ever, feed them junk food. You'd help them find healthier ways to cope with stress or boredom.

Excuses, excuses: she's heard them all ...
The two biggest excuses Sophie hears are: "I had no other option" and "I didn't want to waste it." So she asks: "You'd rather use your body as a garbage can? That's ridiculous," Sophie says. "I actually thought I'd heard it all, and then a client said, 'I had to eat the cupcakes because otherwise my daughter would have wanted them, and I don't want her to eat junk.'"

"The key to success," says Sophie, "is finding your personal blueprint and adopting it for the rest of your life."

The major obstacles her clients report are:

1. Emotional eating. Food is the main source of comfort for most of us. But filling a void with junk food is the ultimate no-win solution. Know your food "triggers" and substitute new, better habits.

2. Eating on the run. Busy people, especially those who travel frequently, often take an "all bets are off" approach. Here again Sophie offers tips on how to plan ahead so that you're prepared for all contingencies and don't "just grab."

3. Not eating enough. Sophie's clients are often successful, busy people, and as smart as they are in their professional lives, many are "quite literally starving themselves, thereby compromising their metabolism and making fat loss all but impossible. For every overweight client I have who is overeating, I have one who is undereating, with similar weight issues," she says.

"Losing the last excess weight you are carrying around is more about why you eat than what," says Sophie. "The key to success," she reports, "is to understand and be prepared for the common traps that derail us."

For more information and practical tips from Sophie, visit www.eatstrong.com or email her at info @ eatstrong.com.

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