Which Wolf?

This morning I was looking through my town's local paper and I saw this statement in a Weight Watchers ad: "Diets don't work, meetings do!"

Now, my industry, as much as I love and respect it, has a bit of a history with overly simplistic, provocative statements designed to get people to buy stuff. It's the nature of the beast. The thing is, like many of these types of assertions, my response is, well, not necessarily so.

For instance, diets can be defined in a number of ways. A short-term, radically restrictive diet (either in terms of calories, food groups, or both), rarely leads to healthful, long-term leanness and a robust fitness level. But athletes and fitness models often use carefully planned, nutrient-rich, structured eating plans to lose a certain amount of body fat and even get very lean for a particular event. And I would certainly call my own life-long eating plan a diet, but not in the "grapefruit only" or "low-carb-lose-ten-pounds-in-a-week" definition of the word. More like the "my old dog is on a special diet so he doesn't get brittle bones" definition of the word.

And while meetings have definitely been a great support tool for many people trying to lose weight, the meetings alone won't guarantee success (just ask anyone who has been on and off these programs repeatedly for years or even decades.)

What's really critical for successful weight loss is a combination of commitment, accountability and self-discipline. You need to want it bad enough to stick with the program, you need to hold your level of adherence up to ongoing honest evaluation, and you need to do what's hard even when it's really, really hard, just because it means that much to you.

And, of course, you need a good program.

The one distinguishing characteristic that separates my clients who are successful from those who continue to struggle, is that they integrate those three qualities. They choose to put their energy, attention and time into the program rather than fall prey to the momentum of past, not so healthy behaviors.

It's sort of like the old parable about us each having two wolves inside us. One that leads us in the direction that ennobles and empowers us; another that leads us down a darker path.

The one we feed is the one that grows.

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Below are some of my favorite youtube links. A couple may be a little raw for those with delicate sensibilities. just so you know...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1TZCP6OqRlE&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t_6bXjrrZFo
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ZmyH4DSxII
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ynnLf1mlk8&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iur3eWKynqE&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aA4HwFHiYyA