by Ed Chaltry

Fifteen years ago I lost over 45 lbs while on a liquid diet under the supervision of my doctor. Within 6 months, half of that weight was back on. Within 5 years it all caught up with me. So over the past ten years or so, I’ve been fighting (and losing) the “battle of the bulge” to take the weight back off. I tried numerous “fad” diets or specialty diets to try and lose weight including Atkins, the Zone, and South Beach. While most diets led me to some level of success, I was never able to realize my long term weight goals. As soon as I moved “off” the diet, the weight found me again.

In any case, it became apparent to me that each of the previous “diets” was just a specific set of food I ate in order to lose weight. Most of the diets taught me how to lose weight; only a few helped teach me how to eat healthy to keep the weight off. In any case, none of them really focused on the combination of healthy eating, practical eating (given my busy lifestyle), feedback loops (where I could easily monitor my goals and correct behavior where required), and exercise. I can’t speak for everyone, but in my case all of these pieces were necessary for me to meet my goals.

In March 2009, I happened across an advertisement for a weight loss challenge on one of the email lists I monitor. The article caught my eye, so I clicked through the link to the web site of Nutrition for You. Once on the website, I started searching for the small print and cautiously explored for the “gimmick”. I wasn’t able to find one. When I realized that this site wouldn’t try and sell me special food and wouldn’t try to lure me into an expensive ongoing contract, I was interested. After reading the details of the weight loss challenge, a 12 week plan that was as much about lifestyle education as it was losing weight, well that was good enough for me.

In the end, the training, information, sample menus, tracking, and personal consultation provided by Nutrition for You helped me to successfully reach my goal of losing 28.5 lbs in the 12 weeks. Better yet, I feel that I finally received an A+ education in not just the ‘what’ to eat, but also the ‘why’ and ‘how’ of eating and maintaining a healthy lifestyle. The tracking of habits on the website, both eating and exercise, have really made me aware that I was probably never honest enough with myself with regards to how much I actually ate and how little I actually exercised.

The completion of my weight loss challenge didn’t mark a destination for me; it marked the beginning of a new journey, hopefully down the path of healthy habits, exercise and weight maintenance. In fact, I’m still losing weight at the moment. Only time will tell if I succeed for the long term, but I am much more optimistic than I ever have been in the past!

Nutrition for You has launched its 2010 New Year’s Weight Loss Challenge.  To learn more and sign up today check out the following link.

http://www.nutritionforyou.com/nutrition-for-you/learnmore/weight-loss-challenge.aspx