The Click

Have you ever felt like you had reached the end of your rope, and that something had to change in your life? There are many terms for it - the last straw, rock bottom, wake-up call - but they all refer to a defining moment that makes you realize that you are DONE with whatever has been holding you back. Something has to change, and it begins in your mind. This is especially true if that something involves losing weight.

That's the essence of "The Click", which I experienced on January 15, 2016. It was the 1 year anniversary of my mother's death. I weighed 200 pounds when she died, and had gained even more weight since then.

For years I had struggled with my weight, going on diet after diet. I might lose 20-30 pounds, only to put it all back on. Successes were short lived, and the lost weight would always find its way back to me. I couldn't seem to manage long-term weight loss, and it frustrated me to no end.

After getting married in 1995 and having triplets in 1997, the struggle continued. My weight hovered near the 200 pound mark for years. Then in 2006, I discovered the treadmill desk. Finally, an easy way to exercise at home! I promptly lost 50 pounds, and thought I'd solved my weight loss problems forever. Wrong. A series of devastating setbacks left me overweight yet again, this time without my mother's calm voice of reason and loving support.

Which brings me to that cold January day in 2016. I was 60 years old, standing at my mother's grave, and ... something finally clicked. It was like the flipping of a switch. It was time to reboot my life. I didn't have a name for it yet, but just knew that it had to start with shedding the pounds that were weighing me down.

What would be different from before? After all, I knew how to lose weight, and had done so many times. No, the big question would be, how to keep the weight off for more than a few weeks?

Well, a lifetime of yo-yo dieting had taught me what NOT to do. Here's what I finally realized...

The way you eat has to be a way of life, not a diet that you start and stop.

"Diets" in the traditional sense do not work long term because they are temporary. Any weight you lose on a diet will usually find its way back to you.

If you look at diet as a verb, well, you can do anything for a short time and lose weight. So technically, yes, diets do work. But most are not sustainable. You must find a way of eating that you can do forever.

I had lost weight before, but it was always temporary. This time would be different because of the lessons I'd learned along the way. I knew better than to follow any diet, or to deprive myself of anything I wanted. I was NOT giving up any of my f...