The 5 Secrets of the 5%

When you belong to a community like thedailyplate.com, you become the recipient of all sorts of information – most of it pretty good information – about dieting, exercise, eating, etc. The people in my groups are always sharing websites and articles with each other. Of all of the articles and websites I have read since I began this journey, the most helpful to me was The 5 Secrets of the 5%.

The premise of the article is that only 5% of people who try to lose weight are both successful and able to keep the weight off long-term. I don’t know how scientifically accurate that statistic is – it certainly feels accurate for those of us trying to lose weight and keep it off! But that is another topic. The point is, those who do lose weight and keep it off long term have certain things in common – certain characteristics or behaviors that enable them to succeed. The article summarizes those 5 “secrets.” Now, you can read the article for yourself, and I encourage you to do so, but I can summarize it as the 5 P’s:

Publicity – If you want to succeed at this, you cannot do it by yourself. Join a group, recruit supporters, write down your goals and share them with people you know & trust. Make an accountability partner, or an exercise buddy. Join a website where others are walking the same path you are.

Pay Attention – You need to track what you are doing – either on paper, on a website, with a tape recorder – something! It is so incredibly easy to be unaware of your own eating choices. Tracking or journaling keeps you aware of what you are doing, which helps keep you from sliding into old habits.

Positive Attitude – Not to be a Pollyanna, but you are not going to succeed if you have a fatalistic, Eeyore attitude about this. If you tend to be a pessimist, you need to find some supporters who are optimists. You need to tell yourself positive messages daily – write notes to yourself, send yourself ecards – whatever works to keep a positive mindset.

Patience – You didn’t put on this weight, or get out of shape, in 30 days; and it is not going to take 30 days to get back to healthy. Concentrate on small changes, baby steps…don’t try to change everything at once because you will fail and get discouraged. Reader’s Digest did a campaign a couple of years ago called “Change One Thing.” The idea was you just change one thing at a time, and one you get comfortable with that change, change something else. Not a bad strategy.

Permission to Fail – If you think you are going to do this without making any mistakes, well, think again. Let me break it to you now – you ARE going to fail. You are going to blow it, and the only thing that matters is whether or not you get back up after you do. The only difference between success and failure is how many times you get back up. So forgive yourself, and get back on track.

Think about those you know (yourself included) who have tried to lose weight and failed. It is easy to pinpoint which of these 5 things they (you) missed along the way. I think (and this is my personal opinion only) that practicing 3 or even 4 of the 5 things is not enough. You have to consistently apply all 5 at the same time to have any ongoing success. Start today, and consciously apply the 5 P’s. You might be surprised at your own success.