Getting started with a new weight loss program always comes with a bit of a thrill. Is this the step that will take you to where you want to be? Is this how it happens? Is this the beginning of your new healthy way of being?

Weight loss surgery is a great resource, especially for those who have struggled to lose weight in the past. By combining ongoing guidance and support from your weight loss surgeon with helpful dietary and exercise advice, all together with the physical changes made to your body to help you stay full despite eating fewer calories, weight loss surgery is often the key to success for those who have tried to lose weight in the past but have failed.

However, just getting weight loss surgery on its own won’t help you reach your long-awaited weight loss goals. Weight loss surgery may be the path to success, but you still need to push yourself down that road and cross the finish line.

There are strategies that can help you become more successful with your weight loss efforts, many of which are simple and can be started right away. Simply learning how to think like a successful weight manager can set you up for long-term weight loss success.

The National Weight Control Registry (NWCR) surveyed thousands of people, looking for the strategies that helped them become successful in reaching their weight loss goals. They ended up finding six specific strategies that appear to make all the difference.

These success strategies include:

• Engaging in physical activity for at least one hour every day
• Sticking to a low calorie diet, like that outlined by your weight loss surgeon
• Eat breakfast every day! It is important to get the day started out right.
• Monitor your weight at least once a week to make sure you are staying on track.
• Be consistent with your eating patterns from day to day, including weekends and holidays.
• If you slip up, let it go and move on. Don’t let one small slip turn into something larger that could potentially derail your efforts.

These are strategies that absolutely anyone can try. They don’t require any further investment or any special products. Instead, these are fundamental changes to the way you currently think about eating and exercise. Try getting started with these helpful strategies even before you get weight loss surgery to give yourself a head-start towards a healthier lifestyle.