Recipe for Success: Commit

Weight loss (or any big life changes in general) isn’t for the indecisive.  You’ve got to make a commitment.  And I’m not just talking a commitment to eat healthy or get to the gym every other day.  I mean a commitment to change: life-long change.

When you make commitments to lose weight, all you’re doing is setting a goal.  That’s not a commitment.  When you make a commitment to eat healthy or go to the gym regularly, those are also only a couple behaviors out of many behaviors and habits in your life that have lead to your weight gain.  You need to commit to an overhaul of all behaviors—emotional, physical and dietary—that are interfering with your weight loss.

I find that visualization works particularly well for me when making big commitments.  In August 2009, I considered what it would be like to be involved in the 20/20 Lifestyles program, what my life would be like afterward, and all the changes that my decisions would entail.  I imagined what it would be like to change the way I ate, cooked and grocery shopped; the changes it would have on my husband’s life; the way those changes would affect how I spent my time and how I prioritized my values.

Think about a time that you were able to commit to serious life change: going to college, having children, buying a house, etc.  Would you say that you went into your last diet with the same mindset that you went into the above situations?  Probably not if you’re still looking for a way to lose weight.

Here are some questions you can ask yourself to gauge your commitment:

• How would I feel if my daily routine completely changed?  What do I like about my routine?  What do I want to change about my routine?
• How do you deal with change in your life?  Are you able to anticipate and plan for your own reactions?
• How do you feel about new benefits resulting from changes?  How about sacrifices?  Are both benefits and sacrifices going to be worth the changes?