It's that time of the year again, folks. If you haven't filed your taxes, then I'm sure you are hoping that extension is approved. Don't worry, I understand most are, and I wish you the best.



Now, this isn't supposed to be a political discourse on the our political parties' monetary policy. But I do want to talk about the results of a different type of tax and spend policy. That policy refers to one too many people buy into-dieting to lose weight.

As a nutritionist, I have seen too many people diet, repeatedly, with the same result-gaining weight. Yes, they do lose weight at the beginning-and that is because all diets work. The problem is that once you go ON a diet, eventually you'll go OFF the diet, and any weight lost will come back (I suppose you could say there is a return on your investment-unfortunately this is one investment you'd rather not see grow).

What happens when you lose weight, and lose it quickly (as with many of the low carbohydrate, very low calorie diets) is that a large part of that weight loss is water loss. Sadly, part of the weight you lose is also muscle mass. Some of it will be fat, but sadly, not as much as you want to think. When you are on a diet that deprives you of foods you like, eventually your desire for that food overcomes your desire to eliminate it from your life, and so you start eating. You find that not only do those pounds come back, but they usually bring new friends with them, resulting gaining more than you ever lost. You body responds by not gaining back muscle, but by increasing your body fat. Now, that wasn't part of the original plan, was it?

Folks must give up dieting (after all, diet means deprivation!) and learn to become at peace with food. It is a risk for many people, but those who have tried it know what it is like to no longer be afraid of eating and being obsessed with their weight.

Becoming "at peace with food" involves taking a journey-one that includes developing a new way of relating to food, a new relationship with what you eat. Instead of being frustrated and disappointed, afraid of the competition between your and what you eat, food will finally fall into place as simply one of life's many enjoyable activities-including being with family, friends, work and activity. And, like these other activities, it should be pleasurable.((In order to be at peace with food, you need to learn about yourself and why you have the relationship you do with the food you eat. Like all relationships, your relationship with food took time to develop, and it will take time to change.

So, as April 15 comes and goes, along with filing your financial history for the last year, and assessing what changes you have made (and need to make), you can also consider filing a plan for changing the way you assess your dieting and eating behaviors. While it won't be easy (changing age old behaviors never is), consider it, shall we say, a good investment in your future.