Dedication + Discipline = Diet Success

"No steam or gas ever drives anything until it is confined. No Niagara is ever turned into light and power until it is tunneled. No life ever grows until it is focused, dedicated and disciplined."- Harry Emerson Fosdick (1878-1969, American minister)

One of the first questions I'm always asked is if I ever cheat on my low carb lifestyle maintenance diet, when, and how often. People are curious about what kind of dedicated discipline it takes to maintain my weight loss for so long - and because lately I've even shaved off a few more pounds.

Since losing my initial 130 pounds in 2.5 years and now successfully keeping it off, plus a bit more, into my 6^th year - I still have my during-the-week cheat moments now and then. But on the whole, I try to save any real diet destroyers for special Saturday nights.

Bear in mind: Once you indulge in the forbidden food and slide down that slippery carb-laden slope, you have to atone for it somewhere else along the way, and you'd better snap out of it and make it soon - like the very next meal, the very next day - even if that's a Saturday - if you know what's good for you. The longer you wait - the longer you continue to compromise your diet with the wrong foods - the harder it is to climb back on the health and fitness wagon. Besides, isn't that how you got up to where you are on the scale in the first place - by frequently eating what you shouldn't, by constantly cheating on your diet, by ignoring your health and not having a daily fitness plan?

Take last Thursday, for instance: Nothing especially stressful about it, so there was no reason to binge out.

However, I started the day off kind of hungry, didn't eat enough protein for breakfast - in fact, I skipped it altogether, and then committed the second Cardinal Sin of Low Carb Weight Loss and Maintenance: I left the house without any low carb snacks in my bag. No cheese, no nuts, no apple, no Atkins bar, nada. I plumb forgot.

Next thing I know, there's the Rock-N-Roll McDonald's right, smack in front of me as I zip up Ontario Street - and I've been dying to try one of their new Angus 1/3-pounders, anyway - so, stomach growling, my car took a sudden hard left and into the McDrive I went.

Once in line, I also found myself with an incredible craving for a vanilla shake. You know how it is when you start reading the menu. I quickly ordered a medium to go with the burger. At least I didn't order a large, I think. Someone once told me, "No one needs a large size of anything to eat or drink." I heartily agree. My direct downsizing gets me extra willpower points right there.

Then, I took the burger home - it was too big, juicy and garnish-laden to snarf down while driving like a regular, daintier cheeseburger. Besides, I wanted to savor the experience and not wonder what in the heck I just ate.

Unwrapping the burger, my conscience and a tummy full of vanilla shake got the better of me, prompting me to cut the 1/3-pounder in two and eat half with all the trimmings - minus the white, starchy-carb bun, of course. More will power points. And a lower number on my scale.

And it was worth every fat gram, too.

Never once in all the years it took me to lose and now maintain my new weight did I EVER count calories, fat grams or anything else in my food but hard-core carbohydrates. I swear.

It's all that white starch and sugar you're still eating that's keeping you fat - not the dietary fat, trust me. I'm living proof after a lifetime of chronic obesity.

So when you come right down to it, the only damage I did to my diet was raise my carb count for the day from the sugar in the medium vanilla shake. I know that if I stray over the 30-35 carb-a-day line, I will not lose an ounce. The lower I keep my carb count for the day, like around 20-25, the easier it is for me to lose weight.

The following day, I'm right back on the scale and right back into my low carb routine till the next Saturday evening.

I look at it like this: I used up Friday' evening's cheat - on Thursday afternoon - so now I have to pay up, carb-wise by being totally carb wise.

If I learned my low carb lifestyle lessons well, and really want to exercise my willpower over crappy carbs, I'll focus my discipline and keep totally away from all white starch and sugar till next weekend, which is exactly what I'm going to do. Just because I know I can and I know it will only benefit me in the long run.

Focus. Dedicate yourself to being disciplined when it comes to your low carb diet, daily cardio and wellness routines. Your healthy future depends on it.