It is now January 2011. We just finished the eating frenzy known as the Holiday Season. The average American gained about 10 lbs between Thanksgiving and New Year’s Day, and an additional one million people now have a BMI (Body Mass Index) over 30%. This means an increased risk for Heart Disease, Diabetes, Liver Disease, Cancer, and many more health risks. So it is no surprise that about 60% of us have made a resolution to get back to their pre- Thanksgiving weight. Within the next 90 days most of us will not keep to our resolution. We will start the yo-yo pattern that has made the US # 1 in obesity. What can we do to beat the odds and reclaim our health? I was in the same place three years ago that 60% of Americans are in now. I wanted to lose weight, but even more, I needed to do it for my health. I found myself in a very unpleasant spot as you can see below. I lost most of this weight within 11 months. I did it without surgery, drugs, or heavy exercise. My life was so changed that now I want to help others. I have helped hundreds of people reach their weight and health goals. So how did this happen? I made a resolution to change like everyone else but this time got very different results. I focused on WHY I wanted to change instead of how I was going to change. I call this finding your “WHY”. What makes your “WHY” so important? It gives your willpower leverage. When you start something new you have a lot of willpower to change. But willpower is limited because it can only focus on one thing at a time, sort of like a spark plug in a car. Willpower can create a spark, but without fuel its effects will quickly be focused on another pressing problem. So your “Why” is the fuel needed to power the spark and create an ongoing fire that will continue even after your willpower is focused on other issues. When you decide to make a Change, you are making a decision to not do something that was giving you a pleasurable moment (though not a pleasing result). Your “WHY” for making a Change needs to be greater than the pleasurable moment. This is because the pleasurable moments are comfortable, the patterns has been around longer and you know just what to do.. As a matter of fact you are a 100% successful at making short term pleasurable moments because the pattern has been around a long time. So your new plan has to have a stronger reason to exist then your current desire for short term pleasure and comfort. So I will share my “WHY” and how that helped set in motion the events that allowed me to shed a 150 lbs. and start reclaiming my health. My “WHY” is in two parts. First I decided on my desired positive outcome. I wanted to weigh less than 300 lbs. (then my wife would stop bugging me about being over 300 lbs.). Secondly I realized the negative outcomes and what was at stake if I didn’t change. A BMI of 30% or greater (that is just 30 extra lbs.) increases your cancer risk by 300%, not to mention heart disease, type 2 diabetes, and liver disease. I was looking at a shorter life span. If you look at our population active adults who are 80 years and older and enjoying their lives you will not see 30% BMI’s. This was not about just losing weight, it was a way to make sure I stayed around. My Why is always changing, just like Life. Now that I have changed, so have my Whys. If you just have 5 lbs. to lose it is still oppressing you, and keeping you from having all that life has to offer. What are the costs and benefits of keeping those 5 extra pounds? Having a strong “WHY” is the first part of Change because all Change is personal. You have a unique life with unique responsibilities and habits. You deserve health and vitality. To create a new plan/ lifestyle will require not just change but trial and error. Sometimes you will feel like you are moving backwards, when you actually are making great progress. Without a big “WHY” you will quit before ever seeing the results you need, and deserve. Thomas Edison decided to make a light bulb. When he started he didn’t have a clue. No one had done it before and he said he was going to do it. It took Edison over 3000 Filaments before he came up with his version of a practical light bulb. When asked about his results he said, “Results? Why, man, I have gotten lots of results! If I find 10,000 ways something won't work, I haven't failed. I am not discouraged, because every wrong attempt discarded is often a step forward....” and that “Many of life's failures are experienced by people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up.” The good news is unlike Edison you don’t have to invent a light bulb. There are many short cuts so you don’t have to fail 3,000 or more times. People have gone before you and there are many proven strategies and methods of achieving your weight –loss goals, but these tools will be most effective with the knowledge and power of your “Why”.