Awesome advice and tips!! I'm going to breeze right through this ;). Well, at least it'll be easier with these great tips. I'm going to make it a little special & do things he doesn't care to do, watch my tv programs, take a new workout class, try new recipes!

Define success in such a way, that you can experience success frequently. Not so frequently that there's absolutely no challenge, but not so rarely that the failures looms larger than the successes.

I failed at weight loss most of my life, largely because I defined success in such a way that it was rarely acheivable. And it wasn't all my fault, because in this culture, we're taught to be incredibly unreasonable in our expectations for weight loss.

For me, making weight maintenance (just "not gaining") my primary goal (and while I'm at it, trying to lose "maybe just one more pound"), essentially eliminated the temptation to quit.

I'm never tempted to quit, because I can start most days with the "success" of having not gained (or at least the success of not having gained more than I've lost).

Because every day's goal is "not gaining" first (and the secondary goal is losing), even if I don't succeed at losing, I've still succeeded at "not gaining." Or, if I've gained, I still have success to point to. For example, if I've gained even 8 lbs (which I can easily do during TOM), I can still celebrate the success of having kept off 90 lbs. My successes always outnumber my failures, so discouragement usually isn't a problem (unless I forget that my successes outnumber my failures).

I really wish I'd learned this when I was younger, healthier, with a faster metabolism and a less sedentary lifestyle, but I didn't. It just burns me up sometimes that I learned this lesson so late of accepting slow weight loss, preventing backsliding, and simply just not giving up.

I mean we all know we're not supposed to give up, but I'm not sure we know that we're making giving up nearly inevitable by defining success in such a way that it's virtually unacheivable.

I strongly suspect that the most common obstacle to weight loss is frustration, so preventing frustration really needs to be made a bigger priority.

Learn to cook.

Learn to throw together fabulous salads.

Weigh everything.

Find an exercise that you are in love with.

Originally Posted by Unna:
Find an exercise that you are in love with.

I agree . . . or at least find one that you don't dread! For years in every weight loss attempt, I would do the usual gym routine even though I dreaded them. I mean, at the time, during the exercise, I didn't mind so much, but I literally dreaded the thought of going to the gym and doing what seemed like purposeless activity. I would count down the seconds on the machines. Ultimately, I would give up.

I learned so much about myself over the years, and one thing I've learned is that I'm extremely efficient. I don't like wasting time or energy unless something productive comes of it. I decided that the idea of wasting both is what most bothered me about exercising. (I know with exercising, the "productive" part is the improvement in how one looks and feels, but I needed a more immdiate benefit). So, a couple years back, I learned that a doctor from the Mayo Clinic had developed the idea of a tread-desk, where you walk slowly on the treadmill while working at a computer station. I do a lot of work on my computer from home, so I had my husband create one for me on my treadmill. Since then, I have consistently exercised on my treadmill while still getting my work done.

I also combine work and activity in other ways: I vigorously clean my house, purposing putting in more energy into it. This has actually resulted in me becoming a neater person. Now, instead of just standing around waiting for the coffee to brew in the morning, I wash the dishes, or dust the ceiling fan or fold a load of laundry---whatever. I just keep moving. I also park farther from stores and from work and walk more to my destinations----suggestions I had read for years in magazine articles but never took seriously.

I think with both eating and exercise it is important to eliminate as much dread or frustration as possible.

Originally Posted by Beck:
The best piece of advice is to write down all the reasons you want to lose the weight and to read it multiple times a day. Sometimes it's so easy to lose focus, but this habit forces us to remember.

This is great! I'm going to do this tonight!