The Secret to Weight Loss

When people ask me what I've been doing to lose weight, I feel like they think I stumbled upon some magical SECRET and they all want me to share.

First, I proudly tell them I'm on Weight Watchers. But here's the thing - there's no secret to losing weight. It's not about changing one thing - it's not about avoiding carbs, or some wacky grapefruit or fasting diet, because here's the secret: there's not one thing you do to lose weight - There's a million things. A million tiny things...

It's about making decisions every day. And slowly turning those decisions into habits. And having those habits become your new way of living and eating. For instance -

• Decide between yogurt and fruit for breakfast and feel good about your choice, or decide on donuts at work cause they're "there".
• Decide if you're going to take the stairs instead of the elevator.
• Decide if you're going to pack your lunch so that you are guaranteed a meal you like that's within the points you're willing to spend - of if you're going to order take out because it's easier.
• Decide if you want to splurge for your birthday guilt free and get right back on track the next day.
• Decide if you want wine with dinner. Or dessert. Or both. Or neither.
• Decide if you're going to challenge yourself to walk a little further, or add a few minutes to your workout.
• Decide if you're going to let someone push food on you, or if you're going to stand up for yourself.
• Decide if you're going to stock your refrigerator and home with a healthy variety of food or succumb to temptations outside your house.

Think about it: There's so many decisions you have to make every day that will assist or hinder your efforts and long term goals. You're faced with choices and challenges every day, at every meal and at every event. You need to make better decisions more often than you make not-so-good ones. That is what will make you successful. And the more you do it, the more easily you will choose wisely  because you will learn the immediate and long term consequences of the less healthy decisions. And you will not enjoy those consequences or the feeling of loss of control.

That's why I stress repeatedly that if you make "a mistake", just get over it and begin again immediately. Put it in perspective: It was one decision- One meal is not going to undo all the good things you've done. But if you let that one decision or meal turn into a free for all, it will be that much harder to start over and the damage can be greater.

Think about it tomorrow. Think about how many food related choices you make and how every one of those tiny decisions effects your results. You have so many chances to make a choice that will push you towards your long term and short term goals - and you are in control of every one of those choices. So choose wisely!