Let’s place a military analogy to long-term weight control efforts. The “War” refers to the quest to conquer your weight control problems forever. “Winning the war” means that a successful outcome occurs and not only do you lose the weight, but also keep it off.
“War” usually involves a number of “battles”. Getting back to our analogy to weight control, the “battles” that occur daily/weekly/monthly are mostly with the attempt to keep steadfast on a high protein/low carb dietary approach when so many factors try to defeat our efforts. Some of the “enemies” to our goal-direction are internal such as slow metabolism, chemical cravings for carbs, habitual immediate gratification behaviors , etc. There are outside “enemies” trying to defeat us as well, such as business travel, people trying to derail our efforts, time spent taking care of everyone else’s needs other than yourself, etc.
Here is the important point: You will not win every battle but can still win the war. There will be days/weeks/months when the external and internal “enemies” will derail your efforts and weight loss/control will not occur. However, there are many battles left to win in front of us. Re-gathering motivation, strength, fortitude and focus will allow us to turn the tide in our favor. Do NOT allow the discouragement of one week or more of poor results to discourage you and abandon your efforts. That is when the “war” is lost.
We have read many headlines in the news about “The War” on (fill in the blank). Drugs, homelessness, poverty, global warming and many others have declared wars. Your personal “war” on weight control will have dire consequences if not won. Give yourself the “Braveheart” speech and let’s win!