A customer in my nutrition store was talking to me today about The Positive Solution. She was going on vacation and thought – “maybe now isn’t the right time to start the program.”

Many of us feel like we have to wait for the “right” time to start a new way of eating or living. This is a powerful instinct.

Here’s a quick audio note explaining how in fact, NOW is the time to make change in your life.

I’ve said this to myself and hear customers at my nutrition store say it almost everyday.

I’m here to say “NO YOU HAVEN’T”.

With the exception of underlying physical issues, such as thyroid, hormones or certain prescriptions drugs, if you really have tried everything, you would have succeeded.

So what’s missing?  Earlier this week I had this exact conversation with a customer.  She was quite defiant that she had tried everything.  Her skin was pale, dark circles under her eyes, and she was unhappy and grumpy.  Every suggestion I gave, was met with “I’ve done that”.

NO YOU HAVEN’T.  Of course I didn’t say this and I don’t mean to sound harsh, but I’ve been there. I’ve made this same statement.

After six years of immersing myself in the world of weight gain and weight loss education, I know that I darned well wasn’t doing what needed to be done to lose weight once and for all.  In the case of the unhappy and pale customer, it was obvious that what are missing in her diet are foods rich in nutrients, instead she was looking for the latest quick fix (in this case, a Dr. Oz recommendation).

To lose weight, it is essential to bring your body back to balance.  To release weight you must eat and you must eat wisely.  You must eat fat, protein, macro nutrients, micro nutrients.  How you eat, when you eat, and why you eat, is all part of the body in balance equation.

If you have tried everything, please try this:

#1:  Make sure you are eating enough fat, protein, carbs for your height, weight and activity level (many nutritional needs calculators available online).

#2:  PLEASE feed your body nutritious food.  Give it what it wants, and it will give you what you want!

#3:  Eat 5 to 6 small healthy meals through out the day.  Set your watch or cell phone alarm for every three hours.  Have a health snack, and three smaller meals.

#4:  Watch your portions.  We Americans eat ‘weigh’ too much!

#5:  Drink water.  Do you get that afternoon slump?  Often this is attributed to dehydration.  Drink up!

#6:  Keep track.  It is so easy to nibble here and there and nibble your chances at success away.

#7:  Eat low glycemic nutrient dense foods.  A GI of 55 or less (look this up online).

#8:  Find support.  The Positive Solution™- Healthy Weight Loss for Life program teaches you how to eat, live and think for weight loss success.

#9:  Say to yourself,  “I am following these steps and releasing weight easily and effortlessly”.

Now you can say, “YES I NOW HAVE TRIED EVERYTHING” and I feel great and look radiant!

A recent study showed that when doctors tell heart patients they will die if they don’t change their habits, only one in seven will be able to follow through successfully.  Desire and motivation are not enough: even when it is literally a matter of death.

According to the authors of ‘Immunity to Change’ by Robert Kegan and Lisa Laskow Lahey our individual beliefs create a natural but powerful immunity to change.

Lahey and Kegan suggest choosing ONE big improvement (personal growth goal).

Let’s look at weight loss.  You want to lose weight, but what are you doing instead?  They then suggest listing all the benefits, as if you have already achieved your [weight loss] goal.  Next list all behaviors you are doing, or not doing that undermine and get in the way of your goal.  From these lists, competing behaviors begin to emerge.  I call this becoming ‘mindful’.  What is the connection to the behavior that keeps you from choosing foods and making lifestyle choices that will support your goal?

To reach your goal, decide what you want – then what you are willing to do – to get what you want and stick to it.  Identifying the behaviors that are getting in your way are paramount to your success.  You have all read the fine print “before starting any weight loss program, consult with your physician”.  I would add, “before starting on any weight loss program, check with your psyche”.

Make the first step of embarking on a lifestyle program (notice I did not say ‘diet’)  – the step of observation.  Spend a week in total awareness.  When do you eat, why do you eat, what emotions make you eat, how do you feel when you eat, what ‘excuses’ do you use for not exercising or reaching for unhealthy food?  Write them down, in fact, write in the moment.  Carry a journal with you.  When you reach for food, stop and write down what you are feeling.  This step alone, could be your final ‘resolve’ to making change that sticks for a lifetime.