Is this the Hardest Thing We Do?

My Weight Watchers members are an amazing group of people. They inspire me everyday. In fact, I think they know it, too. Oh, I am not saying they think they are all that, but they know they have had some spectacular accomplishments. And they wonder, why is losing, and maintaining a weight loss, so hard if they've succeeded at so many other things?

I have a few thoughts. First, many of our accomplishments have a finish line. Getting through college, or putting a kid through college, building a house or training for a marathon have a beginning and end. Living a healthy lifestyle is, well, for life. You are going to have more ups and downs in a lifetime. And long term efforts can easily weight on your patience, even when you know it's good for you.

My other thought has to do with some studies on "willpower." or "no power". The study stated that we seem to have a limited amount of mental fortitude. So if we say no to the cookies, we may say yes to the beautiful necklace. If we have to work hard in too many instances, at some point we break down. So, in a week when we volunteer, help out our parents, give a scabilion rides and change over to our spring clothes, we may not have any mental energy to figure what to cook for a healthy dinner.

I know my members are great people. They are not going to say no to a difficult project at work. They are not going to leave their kids at school when they need a ride. They are not going to skip picking up medications for family members. So when they need to exercise or say no the the high point dessert, you have no "willpower" left. You are last on the list.

Please try as often as you can to put the oxygen mask on you first, then on others. And if one time you don't, there will be another chance if you don't give up!