“The wrong underpants can put you off your game, lose you a tennis match, make you snap at your partner, prohibit potentially delightful sexual encounters, and generally be ruinous to your well being,” writes Mimi Spencer in her new book 101 Things to Do Before You Diet.
Visible panty lines add pounds to the way we feel, she says. Try seamless panties or thongs.
But what is advice about underwear doing in a book about weight loss? The answer is, Spencer believes passionately that dieting doesn’t work. Instead, enjoy your food, feel good about yourself, change your eating and exercise habits for the rest of your life, and use fashion to look your best, she believes.
Spencer is a 40-something fashion and beauty journalist in the U.K. She’s a mother of two children, who has always obsessed about weight and has tried countless fad diets over the years.
Finally, she ditched the diets and started to find ways to feel better about herself. And she lost those last few pesky pounds of baby weight.
Dieting is wildly popular. The weight loss industry in North America alone is worth $50 billion, yet obesity remains a problem.
According to a report in the Canadian Medical Association Journal, most dieters gain back the weight they lost within five years.
“It’s truly rare to meet a woman who is happy with her body shape,” Spencer tells Metro. “The book examines this phenomenon and seeks to reset the mind set. The issue here is as much psychological as physical.”
Readers may recognize themselves in the witty advice in 101 Things. Take No. 16, for example. “Give food your undivided attention. You know you’re not engaging when: You find crumbs in your keyboard; There’s a Ben & Jerry’s Chunky Monkey stain on your nightie; or You use three implements during supper: knife, fork and remote control.”
Some advice is purely practical. For instance, No. 11: “Eat more … of the right things. Opt for carbs that are slow-burning, such as oats, basmati rice, whole-wheat bread, instead of fast-burning (brownies, muffins, anything made by Entenmann’s).”
Other points are quirky, but may be worth trying: “If you’re feeling peckish, brush your teeth. Some people believe that a new taste in the mouth sends a signal to the brain that you are full.” Spencer advises all women to get fitted for a new bra, as part of her mantra to dress thin and look gorgeous.
Above all, she says, don’t diet. “Stop! Develop new ways of behaving around food. Begin to see that you are beautiful already. Learn to be at your best — by dressing thin, by understanding hormones, by tackling your inner demons, by changing perspectives and learning some of the secrets of the style industry.
“You’ll look great and lose weight — no diet required!”
