Why do people think they can NOT follow the rules and be successful?! This has been a thought that has been brewing for a while now. I can restrain myself no longer and must comment!

1. Rules (or program guidelines) are in place for a reason! Not to make you mad or deprived or to be mean or take away your individuality. They are there because they work—plain and simple!

2. Success does depend directly upon the individual. How much are you willing to give to this process? How committed are you really?

3. Truth. Each person must be honest with others as well as, or more importantly, with self. I know a lady that has been going to WW meetings for 5 years and has not lost an ounce and has in fact gained 20 lbs. But she shows up for the meetings faithfully and swears she doesn’t know why she is not losing weight because she is following the program. Come on people! I work for a diabetes doctor and this one is huge! Patients come in and say they are following their ADA diet to perfection and walking 2 miles a day, 5 days a week but their A1C (3 month average of blood sugar) comes back at 11.6 (normal for a diabetic is 6.0 and maybe even up to 7.0 if the patient is insulin resistant). Yeah, right!

4. Work smarter not harder. There are certain ways to do things. Not my way or your way but the proper way. You can’t always change things because you want to do them your way. Well, you can but you are just making more work for yourself and possibly setting yourself up for a huge disappointment.

5. Accountability. Don’t blame others for your lack of commitment. I have seen this in other blogs and I have heard it at meetings. “If my husband would just do the program with me, then I could do better.” Yes, it is easier if your spouse is on board with you. But not impossible if he/she is not. And yes, I do speak from experience here. “If my friend wouldn’t have missed those meetings I would have lost more weight.” Again, it is easier when you have a buddy. But it is up to you to decide to what extent the program will be followed. Meetings are a way to connect to other people so reach out and make some new friends. Accept that your weight loss is your responsibility.

6. Goals. Set them! Reasonably. Don’t expect to lose 20 lbs in a month or cram a whole day’s work into 2 hours. Resolve to lose a couple pounds a week for a month or to drink more water or walk 5 days a week. I have seen people with an “all or nothing” attitude that quit at the first setback. Face it, most people can’t lose 50 lbs in 6 weeks and maintain that type of rapid loss. But the “slow and steady” attitude of aiming to lose those 50 lbs in 6 to 8 months is reasonable.

7. Staying positive. You can’t go around moaning about how much work you have to do or how much weight you have to lose. Embrace your journey and stop looking back. I don’t mean ignore the problem but accept it and move forward. Break down your work or weight loss into mini goals. Make it manageable for yourself. Get inside your own head and tell yourself that you can be a healthy person, that you can meet your goals, you can live without chips, cookies or even cheesecake daily. Don’t let a setback (delay or a weight gain) destroy you. Accept it as part of your life’s journey and move on. Keep a positive “I can do” attitude. You will be surprised how far this alone will take you!