Psst! I have a secret

Psst!  I have a secret.

All diets suck!  They all fail.  They are all over promoted and oversold. They all over promise and under deliver.  Many of these programs are written by straight up grifters.  Wait a minute, that's no secret!  However, my real secret changed my life and may change yours, too.

Riddle me, this?  Why do we buy so many diets books when every one of them says some variation of the exact same thing:  eat less, move more.  There isn't an adult alive that doesn't know the weight loss formula:  weight loss occurs when calories burned exceed calories consumed.  And yet, there is a multi billion dollar industry essentially built around selling ice to Eskimos.  However, the one nugget (the secret) that is so carefully omitted from all of these books is the only thing you really need to know.

Now, here's the secret.  Your success with a diet and exercise program, or anything else for that matter, has almost nothing to do with the "how" and everything to do with the "why."  If your "why" is strong enough, you will figure out "how," no matter the "what."  Let me remix that.  If your "why" is strong enough, you will figure out "how," no matter the "what" AND no matter what.

Every diet program tells us in laborious detail what to eat, how much to eat and when to eat it.  Exercise programs tell us what to move, how to move it and how often.  This is not what we need from our programs.  We need to know how to stay on the damn things in the first place!  This is the Special Sauce and we all know that a Big Mac ain't a Big Mac without the Special Sauce.

The strength of your "why," the reason for your effort, will determine how much sacrifice you are willing to make to reach your goals.  The right "why" is that thing that is so important to you that you will place it above your urge to fall off the wagon.  The diet books get it twisted, either accidentally or on purpose, by trying to convince us that their program is so easy that it will help us overcome a lack of motivation.  And this is why all diets suck!  Diets are restrictions which are, by definition, hard.  They can only be made easy by someone whose mind is made up.  There is nothing in world more powerful than a mind made up!

When I found my "why," in 24 hours, I went from someone who would not run across the street to avoid oncoming traffic to someone who was willing to start running to train for road races.  I have since gathered many more "whys," which have strengthened my resolve to the point that it's nearly bulletproof.  And, trust me, you can do the same!

The secret to success in fitness, and in nearly everything else, is discovering your "why." Don't buy another diet book without it!