Today's mail brought email from Milton Bevington, touting his new book "Losing It: Reflections on Mindful Eating." The Harvard MBA offers more than 250 reflections on the journey from initial weight loss to permanent weight control. Including these:

• "The journey of a hundred pounds begins with a single meal. Every task, no matter how great, begins simply. It takes only a small move in the right direction to make a big change."
• "Relaxing me is not food's job. There are better ways to address the anxiety of modern life."
• "Think the bite through. Am I really hungry? Do I really want it? What am I feeling? Is it worth it? What lie am I telling myself to justify it?"
• "Instant gratification is not fast enough. I depend too much on quick emotional fixes from food. There are more durable solutions."

Read Bevington's story online. Today's reflection has this stop-the-presses headline: "Permanent weight control is 10% belief and 90% practice."

Yes. As anyone who's ever yo-yo'ed knows.

What could be more refreshing on a steamy summer day in North Carolina than a frosty glass of iced coffee? Can't you just feel the chill? Mmmmmm.

Well, uh oh! Not so fast. The Daily Meal, a site that describes itself as the home of all things food and drink, has revealed the "7 Fast-Food Iced Coffees to Avoid" and it'll scare you straight, believe me.

A large Iced Cappy Mocha Blast at Baskin Robbins has 610 calories, the site reports, and 10 grams of fat, more than a two-scoop ice cream sundae. An Iced Caramel Mocha at McDonald's with whipped cream, chocolate syrup and drizzle has more calories (390) than a medium-sized order of fries. And on it goes.

It's a chilling post that you should check out.

For a long time -- ever since my first diet in 1988 -- I've made a point not to drink calories. I stick to diet soda (and much less of it these days than I used to), black coffee, unsweet tea and good old H2O. If I do enjoy some iced coffee, I take it skinny, with skim milk. A 16-oz. glass is less than 100 calories.

Now, THAT's refreshing.

Weight control has a lot to do with confidence, according to my weight coach Charity Husk, who shared an email from a behavioral specialist in response to a question she asked about a client struggling with resolve.

The email offers some food for thought (calorie-free) for all of us waging the battle of the bulge. Retooled, here are some questions to help you pinpoint what's going on when you just can't stay committed and ways to cope:

• What made yesterday a good day and what made today a bad day? What was the difference between the days?
• What things were out of your control and what was within your control? Can you let go of the things you can't control and build on the things you are able to control, the things that have made you successful before?

The behavioral specialist, Nicholas D. Frye, of Medifast Inc., notes that when we focus on things that made us successful in the past, we build confidence. Also affecting confidence is whether we have workable ways to overcome our challenges.

• Ask a friend or a coach to help you create a menu of strategies to overcome challenges. This way, you have many options to choose from instead of turning to food for comfort or just feeling miserable and not being able to do anything about it.

Take a pleasure trip to Chicago, add a week at home with new cooking equipment and no more exercise than a quick trip from couch to kitchen and what do you get?

Ashley Suarez-Ortiz, News Clerk, writes: First I wanted to take the chance to apologize for my lack of posting recently. Things have been quite hectic lately. I am going to try to do better. That being said, I have realized my problem when it comes to losing the baby weight, I so desperately want to lose.

We Americans get about a quarter of our calories from between-meal snacks, according to a report by UNC-Chapel Hill researchers that was featured in the latest issue of AARP The Magazine.

If you're a guy who hopes to become a dad, listen up: If you're overweight or obese, you might not produce enough sperm.

Ashley Suarez-Ortiz, News Clerk writes: Well, I have been away for a few weeks so now its time to update you with my life. 

After my unexpected trip to Maryland, I returned home to just to have my husband go out of town for a week for work, leaving me to care for our boys and home alone - it is not easy doing everything all alone. But I managed to survive. 

My birthday was last Wednesday, on the 28th, and so I celebrated happily with my children  and have yet to feel the effects of adding another year. (laughs)

So things are starting to get back to normal as we enter April and I am glad that things are slowing down. I have been trying to read a few books... joining in on The Hunger Games fad. 

I haven't weighed myself since I was sick, so I am sure I most likely have gained weight instead of lost... but that is life. I will just keep working and hoping that eventually my hard work pays off. 

I hope all is well and I hope to hear from you all soon. Please leave comments below and you may also tweet me at @_itsAshleyS. Thanks for reading!

I had candy for breakfast. Long, chewy strips of sugar. Red vines. My favorite candy ever.

Mind you, I didn't eat one vine. Or two. Or even three. You know this is not leading to happy ending...

Ashley Suarez-Ortiz, News Clerk writes: So the last week and so I have been on a whirlwind... or so it seems. My son has a sinus infection and I have been dealing with that and then I had to take a unexpected trip to Maryland. 

Luckily, things are calming down with the family and so I will be returning to North Carolina soon. I have been trying to watch what I eat and when I last checked, I had still lost some weight which is a continued step in the right direction. 

I already cooked most nights but I am going to really make it a point to pack my lunches when I go to work and another thing I am horrible at lately... eatuing breakfast. When I was younger, I never missed breakfast but now as an adult, I find I forget to eat in the morning all the time. So, going to work on that as well. 

I hope things are going well for all my readers. I would love to hear from you. Feel free to leave me your comments below and for anyone that uses twitter, feel free to follow me at @AshleyNSuarez and leave me a tweet!