Get Ready... Get Set... Take this Quiz!

n my years as a registered dietitian, I've learned a couple of important things about weight loss that I didn't learn in school. The first is that I can teach someone everything I know about nutrition, healthy eating, and weight loss, I can give them tools like healthy recipes to make at home, and I can even offer them three or four healthy prepared items from Recipes from Jessica's Kitchen in our service deli, but, in the end, I can't put the food in their mouth for them—it's up to each individual to choose what, when and how much he or she will eat and drink. The second thing I've learned is that it's not enough for someone to know that they need to lose weight, or for their family to want them to lose weight, or even for the overweight person themselves to want to lose weight. There needs to be an actual "a-ha moment" or epiphany that comes from within that drives your behavior change.

Successful weight loss really comes down to being ready to make permanent changes. I can't flip that emotional switch in your head, but I can help you figure out what position your switch is in and how close it might be to the "ready" position. Losing weight requires more than just a desire to shed fat. It means being able to commit to trading in your current habits for a whole new lifestyle. It is this emotional readiness that separates those who are successful from those who are not.

Ask yourself the following questions to find out if this January will be the last time you ever have to try to lose weight:

1. Are you ready to give up many of the usual foods you eat?

2. Are you ready to take the time to learn about making healthy food choices?

3. Are you ready to try new foods, especially vegetables and whole grains?

4. Are you prepared to eat differently than your family and the people around you?

5. Are you ready to commit to a consistent exercise routine?

6. Are you willing to stand up to the people in your life that sabotage any of your attempts at improving your health?

7. Are you able to honestly evaluate your self-destructive behaviors, identify the reasons behind them, and devise solutions for changing them?

The good news is that if you're still reading this you're at least at the point where you're informed about the need to lose weight and you're interested in changing your eating behavior.

If you answered "yes" to six or more of the above questions, then congratulations! You're either getting ready to make your lifestyle changes in the next month or you may even be in the process of implementing your plan of action. Your task now is to look at the questions you asked yourself and come up with specific strategies for meeting each of these actions. For help with strategizing and planning, you can go to the "nutrition archives" at www.gelsons.com to read past issues of this newsletter and you can call me at 1-800-GELSONS with any questions.

If you answered "yes" to 3-5 questions, you may be ready to make changes in the near future, but January is too soon. You're undecided about whether you want to stick with your old comfortable habits or go all out and do the hard work it takes to make these important changes. The best thing to do is to keep reading about nutrition and health, get a check-up at the doctor's office, and then take this quiz again in six months. It often takes a defining moment, like a friend's illness or being diagnosed with an illness yourself, to really spur you into action. Don't give up on yourself now, but don't go on a diet now either; you'll be much more successful if you wait until you're ready.

If most of your answers were "no," then you may be in denial about the dangers of your current situation. It's easy to rationalize your behaviors with statements like "I'm too busy to exercise" or "cooking healthy food is too expensive." These rationalizations may indicate an underlying fear of failure that needs to be addressed before you can truly take control of your life.

The power to change comes from within ourselves. You have it in you, but that doesn't necessarily mean you're ready to use it. No matter what stage you're at, having the knowledge about nutrition and the resources to implement your knowledge will help ensure the success of your weight loss—whenever you're ready.