Sunday, May 15, 2005

Commitment

It's getting easier for me judge whether someone will be successful in achieving their weight goals just by listening to them and watching their body language to determine whether they're committed to the task or not.

I believe everything you need to know to lose and control your weight is either covered directly in my book or referenced there because that's all the information that I used to lose 30 extra pounds and keep it off. But knowing information and being committed to achieving a goal is two different things.

Some people know they aren't committed to the goal. For them, having to modify their lifestyle is simply too high of price to pay to lose a few pounds. Unfortunately, many of these people are sorry down the road when they suffer a heart attack or adult onset diabetes or one of the other myriad complications that may result from a lifetime of abuse to the body.

Others think they're committed, but aren't. These people aren't good at being honest with themselves. For example, when discussing investments these type of people always discuss their winners, but never their losers. Likewise, with weight loss, they tend to remember the days they followed the plan but not the days (or even just a few bites in a single day) that they didn't.

Knowledge (my book), consistency (previous post) and true commitment are the three key ingredients to achieving your weight loss goals. If you haven't succeeded in the past, think hard about which of the these three areas stands in your way.