I am always very hesitant to give weight loss advice. I firmly believe that everyone must find their own way, but that doesn’t seem to stop people from asking. So, without further bloviating, here’s my updated weight loss advice:

1. Change your mind first. Without healing your mind, your weight loss will be temporary.
2. Be a scientist on your own behalf. Obesity is a symptom; the result of something else, and often a combination of many factors, both physical and mental. Don’t stop learning until you figure it out. Don’t just treat the symptom; be diligent about treating the causes.
3. Don’t go on a diet. Diets are temporary. If you want longterm success, you must commit to making longterm changes.
4. Know your own nature. If you know your lifelong tendency is to change everything at once, get frustrated, and quit — then don’t intentionally repeat the same pattern. Instead, experiment and make small changes. You have time.
5. Throw away expectations and time tables. They are not your friends. It’s great to dream of what your future might be like, but you should be living in the present.
6. Understand that everything comes at a price. Be willing to pay it. Changing yourself is an emotionally expensive process, but well worth the investment.
7. Learn to juggle. Your life will change, and those changes will not always be what you expect.
8. Keep being you. Extreme weight loss may change your perspective and your ways of thinking, but you are essentially the same person. Often, the outside world thinks you are not; don’t believe them.
9. Sail your own course and adjust when necessary. Don’t restrict your options, but don’t swing with the wind, either.
10. Insulate yourself from opinions. Everyone has one when it comes to losing weight; the entire diet industry thrives not only on selling you an ideal — but on the nearly 100% chance that you’ll fail. Always remember that. Find your own path without them.
11. Be realistic when choosing your path. You must be able to live with the solutions you choose, or you will set yourself up for failure.
12. Shortcuts lead to failure. Avoid them. This is not a race. Progress is incremental.
13. Do your own research. Reject common myths and see them for what they are. It’s your body; find out how it works without trusting commonly held assumptions that may not apply to your situation.
14. Enjoy life. Don’t punish yourself. There are times for celebration and times for contemplation.
15. Enlist support. Make yourself accountable. Stop hiding. We’re all in this together.

No, I won’t tell you how I did it; I had to find my own way. I don’t mind discussing things one on one, but in a public forum, I won’t endorse any single methodology. Figuring out what works for each of us is mandatory hard work, and shying away from it is a surefire way to invite failure.

Besides, I’m only an expert on what works for me. I can’t tell you what will work for you; only you know that. Trust that you can find your way.