Rebecca Webber

Ah, Shelly, but you can’t blame God for making you splurge on Ice Cream. Not EVERYTHING is under his control. He has given you free will. It is your responsibility, then, to make good choices with your free will. Splurging on ice cream is a bad decision. The ice cream will always be there. You can always eat more of it later. If you just…[Read more]

I actually like that … because when you bought the size 14 you also bought the size 8. I think I would have preferred it more if you had bought all the way down to size 2; I don’t want you to stall when you are in your size 8’s because you don’t have skinnier jeans to work into.

YES! Even one little health issue puts an end to the discussion. You HAVE to do this diet until you cross the finish line lest suffer the consequences of that health issue for the rest of your life.

I also like the idea of learning to go without having something in your mouth–even gum. While gum is a good tool for those who aren’t ready to…[Read more]

I think you need to start doing something significantly for dinner. First, make the commitment that TONIGHT you are going to start this journey PERFECTLY, and you aren’t going to let up until you are done.

Then, have a cup of coffee before dinner (that’s different, right?) Even if the coffee makes it harder for you to sleep, oh well! It’s just…[Read more]

Everyone will find their own sweet spot. In the book I recommend weighing just once a week–I think it ensures that you are truly committed to the program and aren’t using the scale to cheat and see how much extra food you can get away with. But everyone has their own comfort level. Seeing the weight go down a pound or two every day is quite…[Read more]

The thing is, there is ALWAYS another reason to eat too much. Another holiday, birthday, family reunion, etc. A few a week. And you won’t remember the extra bites you eat on the Fourth a few days later, so DON”T.

But, if just can’t stick to 5 bites during these festive times (I would argue that sticking to five bites makes the occasion even…[Read more]

When you are feeling a little dizzy, you are TRULY using up excess reserves of fat, and your BP is dropping a little. This is GREAT! But please be patient: it will take a day or so for those symptoms to resolve. Great work! :cheer:

Great, Letileti! Keep practicing the 5BD. It will give you absolute control over your eating disorder. Experiment eating one bite of 5 different items of food. Then, twenty or thirty minutes later, recall the meal. You will still remember the flavors, but not how much or how little you ate. You will come to realize that the amount of each…[Read more]

NO! You are not eating enough “healthy” stuff in just 5 bites to make a difference. NEVER eat for health. Similarly, never shy away from food because it is “bad.” (This may change a little once you cross the finish line, but we’ll wait until you are there before we discuss maintenance.)

If you would rather have 5 bites of crab than 5 bites of…[Read more]

Thanks, Shelly.

If I were you, I’d keep this journey to yourself as much as possible. If your friends ask you if you are still on that “crazy diet,” tell them that you’ve put it on hold for awhile. But quietly go forward on your journey. You husband will know, and those of us here. But mostly it’s all about you. You are doing this for you.…[Read more]

Thanks for sharing this with us, Shelly. Yes–we all should be losing weight primarily for our health. Extra fat cause both inflammatory damage, mediated by cytokine production that causes metabolic disease (hypertension, high triglycerides, low good cholesterol, elevate uric acid and gout, kidney insufficiency eventually leading to kidney…[Read more]

Ah … but focus on the fact that it feels SO GOOD when you are perfect. So keep trying and trying again. Overtime you do, you feel great. And eventually, the good feeling you get from being perfect overrides your enjoyment of eating extra bites of food, and you will fall into the weight-loss groove beautifully. Until then, just keep working…[Read more]

Shelly–I have told you for years that Breakfast, for you at this point, is deadly. It is expressly forbidden in the 5-Bite plan. All it does is keep your hungerstat turned up, and the extra weight is shortening your lifespan. That is undeniable. So why have you all of a sudden bought into this whole “breakfast is so important” hype? I don’t…[Read more]

The beautiful thing about this diet is that you are always on … and often off. We just want, in the end, to put together more “on” days than “off” days. But life happens.

But when you have fallen hard, and given that you TRULY want to be thin, then just start again at that moment. Make the personal, internal commitment to finish this race,…[Read more]

Shelly–one of the effects of excess cytokine production from fat cells is the desire to forage for food, giving you constant food cravings. They are a result of foo much fast on the body. When you are skinny, those cravings will go. So again, it’s all about doing everything possible to get to the finish line as quickly and predictably as…[Read more]

Ah, Pia, but you are doing so well. You’ve already turned your hungerstat back down and are on the losing train again. BUT, when you think you are struggling and can’t seem to finish this thing, then, MORE THAN EVER, you need to eat perfectly. So now, (ESPECIALLY NOW), I want you to eat nothing but five normal-sized bites for each meal. 5…[Read more]

I think that whatever it takes to get started again is great. Fasting for a few days is fine–but hard. Still, if you can do it, do it! BUT, when you do break your fast, eat ONLY 5 bites. Trust me: you won’t be hungry for more. But don’t eat more thinking that, for some reason, you “need” the food. You don’t. You don’t need ANYTHING until…[Read more]

No. You can’t convert matter to energy (First Law of Thermodynamics). Fat is composed of tangible matter. You can see it, you can feel it. It’s made up of almost 100% carbon. And the PRIMARY way we rid our body of carbon is by breathing. That is why all living animals breathe. Plants then take up that CO2, break the O2 from the carbon (in a…[Read more]

Bullion is almost pure salt–I don’t think many calories–and in that sense it’s ok. You’ll then drink a lot of water, because your body’s going to demand it, and you’ll put on some weight (water weight), but it will all wash out of your system relatively soon. But for those who have heart or kidney problems, bullion is NOT a good idea.

Franca – Whenever you feel this way, stop fretting it. It just doesn’t matter. Just lose the most amount of weight that you can at this point, which means that you need to pretend like this is day #1 of the diet. Be excited with your success to this point, and most of all, get excited about where you are going. Then, actually look forward to a…[Read more]