Life is HARD!

I often sign my letters to Weight Watchers members with the following quote:

Being overweight is hard
Losing weight is hard
Maintaining is (not quite as) hard...
Choose your hard!


Being overweight is not a fun thing. I remember the many pains of feeling fat. When I was younger, it was the pain of clothes shopping, the pain of dressing well, the pain of not being the best I could be. Being overweight is HARD. And as we get older, the extra weight affects our bodies in such harmful ways- the knees, the diabetes, higher cancer and heart risks. Don't you agree? Being overweight is hard.

Losing weight is not a picnic either. It is hard to lose weight. You have to commit- you have to spend a lot of time shopping for healthy food and preparing it. You have to continually make difficult choices. You have to hang in there even though you lose momentum and feel like quitting. Yes, it is hard to lose weight- changing habits is difficult for all of us.

And let's say you actually manage to lose a good amount of weight- it could be five pounds, ten or you might even achieve your goal. It is hard to maintain your new weight. You have to practice all the good practices that got you to your new weight. It is hard to keep shopping, chopping and chewing all those veggies! So much easier to run for some convenience food and make the "easy" choices.

So yeah- it is ALL hard. Hard to be overweight, hard to lose it- and hard to maintain a loss.

But, pick your HARD! Life is hard.

Think about what accomplishments you have conquered in your lifetime. Have you started a business? Have you raised a troublesome teen? Have you worked on your marriage? Have you lived through a divorce? Have you done something hard that you are proud of?

Harness that energy, the enthusiasm for accomplishment that you have already proven to yourself. When you really WANTED it, you went after it and didn't let anything get in your way, even when it was hard. That is how you succeed on any mission, goal or diet plan. You commit. You hang in there, expecting ups and downs- and you keep your eye on the prize....even though is it HARD.

Wishing you all the best of luck with your weight control program. It is hard, but so is being overweight. You take your pick of where you want to dwell in the land of hard.