"Secrets" To Success

"You may encounter failure at the thousandth step, yet success hides behind the next bend in the road. You will never know how close success lies unless you turn the corner." Og Mandino

People often approach me and ask me "what's your secret?"  I'm here to tell you I have no secrets, there is no magic pill, no ritual chant, no magic dust.  I've achieved 75lbs of weight loss by the oldest tried and true method around: healthy diet, exercise, and everything in moderation.  Of coarse, there is MUCH MORE to succeeding at weight loss than simply eating right and exercising.  I can't share any secrets, but there are LOTS of guidelines that have helped me in this process.

1. Goals: 

"Obstacles are those frightful things you see when you take your eyes off the goal." Hannah More

The most basic rule in anything we set out to accomplish is you need to have a goal. Whether its a pair of jeans you want to fit into again, an event you want to look great for, or losing 100lbs - we all have a goal, but we can't get there until we have an idea of "where" it is we want to go.  Setting goals both big and small are very important.  For many wanting to lose a significant amount of weight can be intimidating, scary, and even seem impossible.   Before we even get started we can get derailed with thoughts like "Its too much", "Its too hard", or "I'm not strong enough". Setting smaller goals along with your big goal can help.  For example, my ultimate goal is to lose 85 pounds.  In the beginning that idea was terrifying!  It seemed like so much and I honestly didn't know if I'd ever get there, or even HOW I'd get there.  Instead of focusing on the #85 though, I set daily and weekly goals for myself.  My list of goals included: drinking 8 glasses of water per day, cutting out fast food and soda, going to the gym or doing something active 5 days per week, staying with in my desired calorie range of 1200 to 1500 per day, saying 3 positive things about myself daily, lose 0-2lbs per week, eat two fruits and two veggies daily, and many others.  Focusing on the daily tasks helped me by introducing healthy habits and taught me to focus on my daily achievements rather than the big picture.  All of these habits not only set the foundation for my  healthy lifestyle, but showing myself I could accomplish these goals, and many of them easier than I ever imagined, only motivated me more!

2. Accountability: 

“There's a difference between interest and commitment. When you're interested in doing something, you do it only when it's convenient. When you're committed to something, you accept no excuses; only results.” -Kenneth Blanchard

We live in a society of convenience and over indulgence.  An article on ABC News states "Over the past 20 years: Hamburgers have expanded by 23 percent; A plate of Mexican food is 27 percent bigger; Soft drinks have increased in size by 52 percent; Snacks, whether they be potato chips, pretzels or crackers, are 60 percent larger.  Not surprising, the prevalence of adult obesity in the United States has increased from 14.5 in 1971 to 30.9 percent in 1999...". In another article from Rueters "Numbers posted by the National Center for Health Statistics show that more than 34 percent of Americans are obese, compared to 32.7 percent who are overweight. It said just under 6 percent are "extremely" obese."  Its evident that our overindulgence and the extrememe availability of unhealthy choices are not helping us!  Even when we think we are being good and 'eating healthy', we are misled - even tricked.  The biggest eye opener for me was a book called Eat This Not That by By David Zinczenko and Matt Goulding.  This book outlines popular chain restaurants menu's explaining what items are the healthier option, and which to stay away from.  MUCH to my surprise, many items restaurants deem "healthy" or feature on their "Light" menu are FAR from good for you.  For example, Arby's lists its Market Fresh Turkey & Swiss Sandwich at 710 calories, 30g of fat, 8g Saturated Fat, 1g Trans Fat, 85mg Cholesterol, 1680mg of Sodium, and 74 carbohydrates.  For a person like me who aims for 1200-1550 calories per day, that sandwich makes up for HALF of my calories for the day.  A single sandwich that is labeled as "fresh" and implied as a healthy option, that is not so good!  Compare that to Arby's Regular Roast Beef and Cheddar Sandwich, it has 440 calories, 20g of Fat, 6g Saturated Fat, 1g Trans Fat, 1270mg Sodium, and 43g Carbohydrates.  While its not the healthiest option out there either, its alarming that a sandwich essentially of cheese whiz, bread, and meat is the smarter choice over the 'market fresh' option.  This is how we are often misled into making poor decisions, and more often why the "diets not working??".  Tracking your food, having a goal caloric intake for the day, and investigating our choices before we indulge gives us the upper hand.  On the same token, tracking your food with a journal, counting Weight Watchers points, or with an online tracker like the one on SPARKPEOPLE  (like I use) teaches us how to eat.  Logging/Tracking your food makes you accountable.  Not to mention, scientific studies have shown that those who track their food are more successful at keeping off the weight.  Seeing in black and white that the cookie you just HAD to have was 300 calories or a 1/5 of your entire daily intake helps to put things in perspective and ultimately teaches us how to make better choices.

3. PLANNING AHEAD: 

"Failing to Plan is Planning to Fail" Alan Lakein

Have you ever been at work and said "Oh shoot! I forgot to pack my lunch, I guess I'll have to run out and get something fast" or "There's nothing at home to eat, lets go out for dinner" or how about "I don't feel like cooking tonight, lets order in".  Much of my success I can attribute to planning ahead. When an NFL football team goes out on the field, they have a game plan, a strategy how they are going to score.  Much like an NFL team, those of us who want to achieve weight loss also need a game plan.  How prepared are you each day to achieve your goals?  Simple tasks like making a grocery list and planning your meals in advance (even cooking them in advance for when you are low on time) can help thwart impulse purchases and last minute poor meal choices.  Stocking your fridge and pantry with fruits, vegtables, and healthy choices are all essential in helping us stick to the plan and reaching our goals.  I work for a construction company in Phoenix, AZ, a desk job. On our street with in 1 mile of my work are over 2 dozen fast food restaurants.  Rather than leaving each day to chance or cravings, I prepare in advance how I am going to attack my day aka I make a game plan.  I start the night before by packing my food for the next day.  I plan a sensible breakfast like cereal with fruit, a mid morning snack like 1 cup of grapes or a banana, a healthy lunch like grilled chicken breast and a salad or a turkey sandiwch on low calorie bread, and a mid afternoon snack like yoplait light yogurt or fruit. I have two kids and anyone with kids can attest that they can make life a little hectic at times.  Preparing and planning dinners ahead of time has greatly helped my efforts.  Just like lunch, the night before we plan the next day's dinner.  Of coarse we can't plan for everything, but being prepared is KEY.   For fitness, I plan ahead each week based on my schedule where and when I will work out.  Writing down the plan also helps, going back to accountability, seeing your goals in black and white make them more real.  You wouldn't put together a bookshelf with out the instructions (okay I've seen some men try) or with out the proper tools, so why would creating a healthy life style be any different?  We are only as good as how prepared we are, so lets arm ourselves with the proper tools for success!

4.  Reward Yourself: 

"Arriving at one goal is the starting point to another.” John Dewey

Another crucial element to succeeding is giving yourself a pat on the back.  Figure out a reward system for your goals.  Think back to when you were in grade school.  When you got a good grade on a test your teacher more than likely put a star, or a "way to go" stamp on it, aka positive reinforcment.  Perhaps when you brought home good grades on your report card, your parents treated you to something special.  When you helped do the dishes or other chores maybe you got an allowence.  When you potty train a puppy, and he does his business outside where he's supposed to you scratch his ears, your voice goes all high pitched and you say "good boy good boy good boy!".  Just like that, we have to positively reinforce our achievements.  Most people don't liek doing things with out incentive, and sometimes we get discouraged and the weight loss isn't incentive enough. Or perhaps our goals aren't weight loss at all, so what incentives will you put in place for your goals?  No one is going to put a star on a chart for us, so we have to figure out what motivates us to keep wanting to work towards our goals.  My personal reward system included a tangible reward every 5lbs I lost.  Some examples of rewards include a pedicure, new running shoes, a heart rate monitor, weights, a new work out DVD, a trip to my favorite store New York & Co., and a cute new hair cut.  Now, how will you reward yourself? 

5. Dealing with Discouragement:  

"There will be no end to your success if you remember that determination not destiny, makes all the difference in life. In all matters of consequence never, never, NEVER give up" Author Unknown.

It is inevitable that at some point on your journey you will face disappointment, get discouraged, question yourself, plateau, and maybe even want to throw in the towel. You're not alone! Everyone faces it at some point. My advice is to be realistic, patient, and persistent!  Perhaps your doing everything right, your eating healthy, your tracking all your food, staying with in your ranges, and your exercising but the scale just wont budge? My advice to you: BE MORE STUBBORN THAN THE SCALE, ULTIMATELY IT WILLGO DOWN!  We all hit plateaus, and sometimes even though we can't see the changes our body is making, its still changing.  I encourage everyone whose goal is to lose weight to start by taking measurements and taking bull body progress pictures (EEEK scary I know).  When the scale isn't moving, these are the tools that will show you that your efforts are not pointless.  For these times ask yourself how you feel? Do I feel better than I did a month ago? Am I sleeping better? Do I have more energy?  If your committed and doing everything right the answer should be yes, and for this you should be PROUD, so don't give up.  Also its important to be realistic.  Everyone's journey is different so don't compare yourselves to others.  The contestents on The Biggest Loser lose 6lbs a week and more so why can't you right? But we aren't on a TV show, and we don't have Jillian and Bob's crazy work out routines. At times of discouragment or during plateaus make a list of all your achievments. Even if its as simple as "now I can run for 3 minutes with out stopping instead of 2".  Give yourself credit because your doing something amazing for yourself.  Look at your starting pictures, listen to your friends and co-workers when they say "You look good", take your measurments you could have lost inches, and how are those clothes fitting? Getting looser?  Remember that every 6 weeks it is important to change your work out routine, switching from running to spinning, or just increasing intensity, you'll see more results when you keep your body guessing and changing things when your body adapts.

6. Slow and Steady Wins the Race:

"Be not afraid of going slowly; Be afraid only of standing still" Chinese Proverbs 

For most of us, we didn't become over weight over night.  I know for me it took years of bad habits, and bad choices that caused me to pack on 85 extra pounds.  So why is it when we decide to lose weight we think it should happen quickly? Why do we get discouraged when we only see the scale drop one "measley" pound?  BUT THINK ABOUT IT: A pound is 3500 calories, thats a WHOLE LOTTA exercise and calories burned, a pound is 4 sticks of butter, a pound is a guinea pig, a pound lost every week for a year is 52 pounds lost!!  Even though we are in a rush to lose the weight and reach our goals, its important to lose the weight slowly for several reasons.  It increases your chances of KEEPING off the weight, and allows your skin time to stretch back.  Don't diminish your triumphs no matter how "small" they may be.  More importantly, realize that this journey will take time, maybe even a long time, but the important thing is you are working towards a worth while goal.