The Lifestyle Change Needed For Weight Loss

This post is not about willpower. I don't have much of it, so I'm pretty sure I'll never write about it.

This post is about my recent conversations and commentary from different people about weight loss and weight management. What is the main difference in the conversation content between those people who are successfully taking or keeping off weight and the strugglers? I will tell you in this post.

I'm pretty sure that I could go through the blogs I regularly read and fairly accurately predict who will successfully lose or maintain a weight loss this year. I also could do fairly accurate predictions at my weight loss group too.

It is *not* about what people are eating that gives it away. Actually, the strugglers often eat very strictly. And I believe them when they say that.

It *is* about the attitude people express regarding losing weight and weight management.

The words "willpower" and "responsibility" are signs of a struggler. The struggler's comment sounds like this, "I need to have exert more willpower toward my weight loss attempts. It is my responsibility to take care of myself. I will force myself to do better this week." They usually talk about the prospect of weight loss in subtly resentful ways. They are going to tolerate calorie restriction.

Another thing I've noticed is that strugglers have a lot of emotional content in their comments about weight management. Their explanations about weight gain or excess pounds nearly always involve how mad, frustrated, sad, stressed...they are about life events.

In contrast, the people who are more successful with weight loss are not talking about "willpower" or "responsibility." They have a more positive tone in their comments. They might talk about sharing their restaurant meal with their best gal friend or their daughter. They might mention that they found a new food that is low-calorie but big on taste. They might describe walking their dog in the Wisconsin winter with new rubber dog boots. Or they talk about a new gym routine or next run they have scheduled. None of these comments involve willpower, responsibility, or any tinge of resentment. It all involves healthy and fun life style choices.

When they gain a little weight, the people who are more successful with their weight easily admit to eating more calories that week than usual. Nobody did that weight gain to them. They focus on their process and their calculations. Comments will usually be about more accurately counting calories, more food journaling, more exercise, drinking more water, getting better sleep, etc... There is very little emotional baggage to their comments.

Weight management is primarily a mind game. I would waste your time to describe how to eat a healthy diet because most of you know that information as well as food dietitians. So that isn't it.

Quite simply, a person has to learn to get happy about eating less calories, day after day, for the rest of their lives. Willpower and responsibility and any other resentment-tinged character trait cannot last that long. You have to learn to really like being a person who consumes less calories.

And because this post has already gotten this long, I'm keeping my specific reasons for why I really like(!!!) being a person who consumes less calories for the next post.

Lastly, I want to say if you are a person whose attitudes fit in the "strugglers" category, every day is a new chance to change. It is never too late for *you* to have a successful weight. :D

What do *you* think? From your experience, does this ring true? And, as usual, say anything you want to add.

Have a lovely day!

:-) Marion