Secrets of the 5 percent

[Guest guest]

Have a happy holiday!

I'm thankful I found this yahoo group, because I've been focused since

March.

This is an article from Sparkpeople, (I think number 5 is the most helpful

to me)

5 Secrets of the 5% What You Can Learn from Successful Dieters -- By Mike

Kramer, Staff Writer SparkPeople Sponsors help keep the site free!

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More elusive than Bigfoot, more mysterious than the alien residents of Area

51—they're so anonymous, we're tempted to ask " do these people actually

exist? " I'm here to tell you that YES they do exist. You may even know one

or two.

They're the legendary 5% of people who have lost weight and actually kept it

off for the long-term. If you've never met one these people before, don't be

surprised. They prefer to stay relatively unknown. Having discovered the

prized secret to a healthy lifestyle, they tend to enjoy their status and

privacy.

But what about the other 95% of us who have struggled with weight loss and

continue to do so? Are we doomed to a life of frustration and failure, with

no promise of good health in sight?

Of course not! At SparkPeople, I've witnessed a lot of these 5%ers in

action. I wondered, what do they do differently than the rest of us? After a

non-scientific review, I was able to boil it down to a handful of key

strategies and tactics that are pretty common among people who succeed. For

the first time, their secret is out. The doors are blown off. Join me in

exploring these secrets and use them in your own life. Pretty soon, you can

be part of this group too.

*The 5%…*

1. *…Make It Public.* The 5% generally don't keep their weight loss

efforts to themselves. They recruit supporters. They ask for help. They swap

war stories with friends. They give and take encouragement. Often a goal

buddy is involved, or at least a positive, supportive friend who holds the

dieter accountable. Studies show that just by writing down or announcing

your goals, you automatically increase your chances of success. Keeping a

Community Journal or blog is a non-threatening, productive way to make your

goals public.

2. *…Pay Attention.* A permanent, healthy lifestyle is created on

purpose. Planning, tracking, reading menus, asking questions, following

progress reports—they're all part of the 5% strategy of knowing what's going

on and preventing setbacks. This crowd doesn't believe in fooling themselves

or relying on chance to make things happen. Usually (if not always) aware of

the foods they eat, and on the lookout for opportunities to stay active,

they know that good health is no accident. Nutrition

Trackers<http://www.sparkpeople.com/myspark/nutrition.asp>and Fitness

Planners <http://www.sparkpeople.com/myspark/fitness.asp> play key roles

in this strategy.

3. *…Enjoy Themselves.* There's a reason that a healthy lifestyle sticks

around for this small minority. They make weight loss a positive experience

and have fun with it. Because they feel good about their goals and their new

habits, they also feel good about themselves and what they've accomplished.

Programs based on negative messages, dread, resignation, or criticism are

doomed to disappear. Optimists are proven to reach more goals than

pessimists. They also live healthier, longer lives.

4. *…Make Gradual Changes.* The 5% know that permanent change is a

process, not a 21-day event. Able to see what waits on the horizon, they

spend time building a few small habits at a time, rather than diving into a

program that's totally incompatible with their current lifestyle. Too much

too soon is like moving to a new country and expecting to adopt the new

culture and language in a week. It works much better if you simply stick

around and pick up a few bits and pieces at a time.

5. *…Allow Themselves To Fail.* It's a guaranteed certainty. Every one of

the 5% has failed at some point along their weight loss journey. The

difference is that they learned to forgive setbacks and refused to beat

themselves up. Every failure is simply one step closer to ultimate success.

With this outlook, and using lessons learned along the way, they kept these

setbacks from turning into full-fledged disasters.

Not so mysterious, now that you know their secrets, huh? A permanent,

healthy lifestyle may be closer than you think!

--

Sheila

" So much attention is paid to the aggressive sins, such as violence and

cruelty and greed with all their tragic effects, that too little attention

is paid to the passive sins, such as apathy and laziness, which in the long

run can have a more devastating effect. " Eleanor Roosevelt