Here's how to keep from waving the white flag

“You started out strong and motivated, but now you're wondering if you can stick with it for the long haul (or whether you want to). Here's how to keep from waving the white flag:”

It's always darkest before the dawn. Wow, that's so (not) uplifting. Yet, when it comes to losing weight and getting in shape, it is true to some extent. Some days, it can seem downright hopeless. You may be wondering, "Will I have to eat salad the rest of my days? Is there no dessert menu in this new life? Are fried foods as dead to me as Colonel Sanders?" As you start losing weight and eating better, you'll probably make a lot of changes. Everything is so different from what you were having that the current menu seems as foreign as balut or ya shui tanga; believe me, you don't want to know what these are. You may really miss your old foods and the old habits - like sitting down to watch a movie with a big plate of nachos or a bowl of ice cream. How can you possibly just sit there, and jus****ch? If you do stick with it a strange phenomenon will occur: You will start automatically picking better choices. You may find you don't miss the larger portions at all, that you really are okay with having just a bite of chocolate instead of a big slab of cake, and that you actually crave fruit in the afternoon. Your whole perception of food will change. You may still occasionally indulge, but your indulgences won't be what they once were. Hang in there and you'll learn that the "new you" that is on the way will not only be okay with the "new you", but you'll wonder why you ever sweated it in the first place.