Ok, so you probably won’t want to hear these things. But my guess is, if you haven’t given them at least some thought, you can kiss any long term weight loss and fitness achievements goodbye. So here goes: 5 things you probably don’t wanna hear!

1. There is no off-the-shelf, one-size-fits-all, easy answer. So, you have to know enough about yourself to find what works for you.
2. Sugar is not your friend.
3. Limiting your food intake is the ‘easiest’ way to lose weight, but you have to exercise too – for your health and wellbeing, and to build and maintain muscle that will increase your burning power.
4. Losing the weight is not so much the trick as keeping it off.
5. Tracking. You don’t wanna, but you’ll learn a lot from keeping track of your eating and activity, and, research suggests, be more successful at reaching your goals too.

Today I’m going to talk about number 1 and I’ll get on to the other points over the next few posts.

1. There is no off-the-shelf, one-size-fits-all, easy answer. You have to know enough about yourself to find what works for you.

Everyone is different and we all function and are motivated in different ways. What naturally suits you might not suit me. So, consider these:

• are you an early riser or a late nighter?
• do you like a firm routine or do you like to change it up?
• are you a planner or a spur of the moment type?
• do you like to be ahead of the game or do you need time pressure?
• are you competitive?
• are you a hare or a tortoise?
• are you ambitious or unassuming?
• are you social or happy solo?
• do you strive for goals or prefer a process?

The answers to these types of questions will be individual to you and can help you to work out how best to succeed at losing weight and/or getting active. Joining an early morning running group won’t work if you’re a late night solo type. Walking happily with your neighbour might not be ideal if you thrive on competition. Planning to lose 20 pounds in 2 weeks might not suit you if you’re actually a slowly-slowly tortoise type. You need to have enough self-awareness to set up the right system for you.

(And does it need to be said that without the right system, we are just asking to fail. I for one don’t need any more marks in the failure column!)

So answer those questions (and any other similar ones that occur to you), and see what picture starts to form. Play to your qualities and preferences, whatever they are, for best results.