I often get asked to share the details of how I lost 50 lbs years ago. And as I’ve shared in other posts, I’m a firm believer that what worked for me may not have any success in your journey. Having said that, I wanted to share some of the simple rules that I live by that have worked for me then and still do.

Consistency and patience is key to long-term successful weight loss.

I know, I know. The struggle is real! You decide you’re finally going to lose the weight. You weigh, measure and record every morsel that you consume for a whole week. You buy a special container that ensures you drink enough water. You hit the gym 4 times, burning tons of calories on the elliptical. You make your daily goal of only eating 1200 calories, which basically means you went to bed early and hungry every day that week. And then the moment of truth comes. You remove clothes, shoes, jewelry, everything except your dental fillings and step on the scale. Drum roll, please…and you’re down .3 pounds. Are you serious?? Aw come on, you scream as you grab your kid’s pop tart in total disgust! The challenge with using the scale as your only gauge for success is that it’s flawed for so many reasons. You may be retaining water or some hormonal shift has caused all your hard work and dedication to seem unsuccessful but I promise you, this is not the case. Many times I watched as my personal training clients felt defeated when they got on the scale but there are so many factors to consider. The true gauge was doing whole body measurements and a body fat analysis. Even using a pair of jeans as a guide can be the motivation that you need to keep going. Time and time again, clients would see no progress on the scale but suddenly, the weight would start to come off and they could see the evidence of it in how their clothes started to fit. Weight loss isn’t easy. You have to know that going in. Just making right food choices isn’t going to mean that years and years of overindulging is going to reverse in a few weeks. It just doesn’t work that way. But perseverance does work. Your body will eventually stop fighting back and thinking that you’re starving it and give in. Don’t quit just because it gets hard.

If junk food is in the house, you’ll be more likely to eat it.

This is so true, at least in my case. I love sweets. There’s no denying it. But I have to admit that, for the most part, I make sure that when I do indulge in dessert, it is totally worth the splurge. It has to be homemade and made from quality ingredients. I can pass up mass produced grocery store cakes and muffins, store bought ice cream and cookies. But don’t get in my way if I am in the presence of my husband’s from scratch chocolate cake or a local specialty gelato. You may lose a finger! I just know that I can’t have it in my house. Or I will eat it and eat it until it’s gone, even if I can’t button my jeans by the time it’s consumed. Instead I fill the fruit basket with colorful fruits and my pantry always has some quality dark chocolate, for when that sweet tooth hits.

Weight loss is more of a mental challenge than a physical one.

Now I understand that this may not be true for every single person seeking to lose weight. I know many people who want desperately to be healthy but their bodies don’t cooperate. But more times than not, it’s harder to get your mind in line than your body. What do I mean by that? Well, let’s just say that I’ve always been the kind of person that hates to be told what to do. Now I don’t mean that I’m openly rebellious but if I don’t want to do something, you’re not going to be able to make me do it. When I made the decision to lose all that weight, I had come to a place in my life where I finally decided it was for me and not for anyone else. I had tried to do it for other people, for years with varying degrees of success. In fact, my body bears the scars of my years of yo-yo dieting. I could lose the weight but when the early honeymoon stage of a new diet wore off and the weight loss stalled, there was no motivation to keep me going. I had to come to the place where this was something I wanted to do. Gratefully, I did come to that place and it was then that I dug my heels in and kept going when I wanted to quit. When I would run on the treadmill at my gym, I would purposely choose one that was in front of a mirror. You have to understand that I hate mirrors and avoided them completely. But I wanted to be able to tell myself to keep going when my legs started to ache from the workout and I wanted to quit. I would tell myself that I was strong, that I was worth this sacrifice and that I was beautiful. I still do that today. Because it’s true. And it’s true of you.

Find your motivation. Yes, we can use an upcoming wedding or vacation as a motivation but usually it doesn’t last. Dig deep and ask yourself what is your goal and what are you willing to do to achieve it when it comes to your health? Go into it with a plan, armed with the knowledge that it’s going to be a fight but that you are so worth it. Find some accountability partners that can help keep you on track. Quiet the excuses and find a way to meet those goals. But most of all, do it for you!