Is there a universal answer to weightloss?

So, I get a lot of questions about what my secret for weight loss is, or advice, etc. For the post part, it's "just buckle down and do it." Because that's what most of the problem is. People are stuck in the wanting to lose weight stage, without wanting to do anything to change it... Uh... Yeah.

But once you're out of that stage, there are TONS of tiny things to learn and remember to help along the way... To increase your success and to keep you motivated. These are my oft-repeated tips in a nutshell:

Expect to lose 1-2 lbs per week (or roughly 5 lbs per month). If you lose more than that consistently WW will actually increase your points target so you lose the weight in a safer manner.

The most important things are to remember that it's a marathon and not a sprint, and that it's a lifestyle change, not a diet. Even if you only lose .5 lbs in a certain week, every .5 adds up. and the longer you take to lose it, the more ingrained the habits will be, and the longer the weight will stay off. So if I have a milkshake or hot dog or something, I'm living and enjoying my life, and I'll be more successful in the long-run because I won't go off my "diet." Also, it might be beneficial to compare your new habits, with the old ones. So instead of beating yourself up over having some pizza, realize that you ate fewer pieces than maybe you would have in the past, and that's progress.

You have to track everything. It's actually pretty easy because you can just google food items or restaurants if you don't have the nutrition info handy. WW also has points values in their database for lots of stuff. It will teach you so much about food that you may not have known before. It definitely did for me. I didn't pay attention to what I ate at all.

Another great thing was that I had another friend that was doing WW, and my mom was too. None of us "joined together," but it was good to be able to ask for advice on food/brag about progress. I think that having other people around is a great motivator.

I've also noticed a pattern that every 100 calorie pack I've looked the points up on is 3 points. It's not 100% firm that 33 calories is 1 point, but it's a useful tool if I'm away from my computer and wondering the points of something.

At the same time, who am I to give YOU advice on your weight loss? What works for me, might not be what works for you. Or, the difficulties that I have might not be the difficulties that you have...