The overwhelming majority of the people residing in the U.S. will think about losing weight this year but only a small percentage will actually follow through and succeed in losing weight and keeping it off. What is the secret of the people who succeed in their weight loss journey? That would be nice if there was a one size fits all diet that worked for everyone but the facts are people process macronutrients (carbohydrates, fat, and protein) differently. Some people can efficiently metabolize carbohydrates and others tend to store carbohydrates as fat easier. The unfortunate answer is there is no one size shrinks all equally diet, and your success depends less on the food that encompasses your diet than you might think. I am going to make the assumption you are intelligent enough to know losing weight requires a healthier diet with fewer calories than you have been consuming. The diet plan is typically not the issue, it is executing the plan that causes the overwhelming majority of people to fail. There are several components that make up a successful weight loss program, instead of listing them in order of importance to lose weight, I will list them in order of what’s important to succeed long term. The three biggest keys are mental approach, support, and the actual nutrition program, meal plan, or diet itself. The mental approach in a weight loss program encompasses a lot. The first and most important part is acknowledging and accepting you will be making major wholesale changes to your diet. You have to be committed to change in the beginning because there will be more bumps in the beginning of your weight loss journey than there will be 6 months down the road if you have sustained success. Setting realistic goals is another important aspect of achieving long-term success. If you want to lose 50 lbs and haven’t been at your goal weight in 20 years, which happened to be the summer before your senior year in High School, you have set yourself up for failure. Not everyone can afford a medical or professionally supervised weight loss program that offers tools such as a detailed body composition analysis that could tell you exactly how many pounds of fat you have and help determine how much fat or weight you can lose. Set goals that are more realistic and while it is good to have a short-term goal, make your ultimate weight loss goal 6 months or longer down the road.