Rules for success

1. Never lie to yourself
2. Never break rules
3. Don't fail
4. Don't eat too much

difference of opinion I guess.

1. Make this about you. Whether it's for your health, your vanity, your sanity. Don't do this for someone else, they aren't the ones doing the work.

2. Not every day is going to be perfect. You might eat more than you should, you might eat less. you may not get enough steps in, or drink enough water. Know this is going to happen, and accept it when it does. Strive to make better adjustments going forward knowing the same thing can happen again.

3. Weight Management is different for everyone. What may work for someone may not work for you. Trial and error your choices. Don't be upset when you find it is an error because you didn't know if it was going to work in the first place. Again, make a different choice and move forward.

4. When faced with a tough decision, look at the long-term and short-term, and decide at that moment what you want more. I'll use an example on this one: Last night, my fiance and I were at Cracker Barrel, and he ordered the double-chocolate coca-cola cake. It looked incredible, it smelled incredible. He asked if I wanted a bite. I had already finished my dinner and I would have loved eating some of that cake. But I've been on a good downward trend weight-wise, and I didn't want to jeopardize that. I wanted the weight loss more than I wanted the cake. The same could not be said for the chocolate torte I ate for valentines day dinner =P

5. Sometimes dieting/maintaining is just a *kitten*. Enjoy the pleasures that life has to offer, but be mindful and make better choices to balance it out later.

6. Weight loss is not linear. You might lose a bunch over a little time, or you might lose a little over a lot of time. Look and the trend, not the day to day. Don't stress the small fluctuations.