Welcome to the Top Ten Weight Loss Pearls - the ten most important things you must know and/or do in order to achieve long-lasting weight loss success.

1. Chill.  Approach the weight loss race like a Seasoned Marathon Runner.  Fad or crash diets never work long-term.  Never make any changes to lose weight that you cannot continue for the rest of your life.  Once you start making the changes, slow and sure, sit back and wait for good things to happen.  Be patient, as it may take time to see the fruits of your labors.
2. Focus less on food.  If you're like most people, too many activities are centered on consuming calories.  Do whatever it takes to change or reduce the focus, or at least to make your eating and drinking choices healthier.
3. Learn to pay more attention to your hunger level ("Check Your Fuel Gauge").  Try to get accustomed to feeling "satisfied" instead of "stuffed."
4. You do not have to be "perfect" to have long-lasting weight loss success.  However, you do have to be "good."  You cannot expect permanent weight loss without permanent changes.  Be willing to step up and make some hard choices regarding those habits that are most harmful to your weight loss efforts.  However, remember point #1 above.  Changes must be slow and livable.
5. Most (80%) of your efforts need to be focused on your eating habits, and 20% on exercise.  "If you don't put it in, you don't have to take it out."  However, exercise is also crucial (see # 6).
6. Long-term weight loss is essentially impossible without a regular exercise routine, and it has little to do with the calories it burns.  It has far more to do with an investment you are making in your health that then empowers you to make healthier eating choices.  In other words, you try hard to protect your investment in health (manifested by committing to a regular exercise routine) by eating smarter.  And that is the main reason those who exercise regularly lose weight.  Until you begin exercising regularly, you will have a hard time convincing anyone that you are serious about losing weight.
7. There are "three R's" to a productive exercise regimen (one that helps you accomplish your weight loss and fitness goals):  Ramp up ("start low and build slow" ), Regular (at least three times per week), and Rational (not going to extremes).  If you do not follow these three R's, you will work up such an appetite when you exercise that you will usually eat more calories afterwards than you burned off by the exercise; and you will erroneously blame the resulting weight gain on muscle.
8. There are many things that contribute to weight gain, but the number one cause is a person's drive to eat, which has many contributing factors (including genetics and stress), and varies widely from person to person.
9. Stress is a major contributor to one's drive to eat.  It is crucial to identify your greatest stressors, and one-by-one focus every last bit of mental effort on overcoming, reducing, and/or managing each one.
10. Everyone is different.  Although physical laws and general principles of energy balance apply to everyone, a particular person's drives, genes, knowledge, and habits can vary widely from one to another.  Therefore, the road to long-term weight loss will vary significantly from person to person.  You must learn what works for you, and stick with it.

by Douglas M. Cluff, M.D.