Anyone who has struggled with their weight knows that there is no quick fix to losing weight and keeping it off.

Sure, you can lose a few pounds over a couple weeks – but it will almost certainly end up back on you if there is not a longer-term maintenance program to keep your weight off put in place.

My own weight loss success story involves a 6-month program keeping 5-pounds of extra fat off my own mid-section through an ongoing effort to improve eating, cut out late night snacks, drink more water and exercise at least 45-minutes 3-times each week.

Sure, I’ve slipped, but always recovered the next week understanding that failing now would mean that I would be freeing myself to gain even more weight.

In this article just posted today, the weight loss success stories were overweight children who showed marked improvement over a 4-month period ONLY if they were part of an ongoing maintenance program that focused both social reinforcement from their families and behavioral feedback (having to test their weight daily and act if there is any increase in weight). 

What this tells us is that a good portion of our struggles with weight loss are learned behaviors that – given the right ongoing maintenance program – can be reversed creating weight loss success stories.

For you and I this means not only going on that 2-week diet, but to change our routine’s to include…

1. Extra emotional support through family, friends or help groups
2. Personal development, self-esteem and stress management
3. A system for daily behavioral response to your weight management
4. A long-term weight loss program including diet, well-being and exercise over months

What would be interesting to know is at what point the weight loss success stories are self-sustaining – that your behavior is modified to a healthy state where you can reduce the dependence on maintenance as it becomes second nature. 

Jeff