I don't want to harp on this losing weight thing, but if you're someone who needs to do it, here's one hugely important thing you should know

I feel like I've mined Weight Watchers, weight loss and general health topics for all they're worth when it comes to blog material over the last few years. And I honestly wasn't looking to write about it anymore, but something occurred to me that I think is important for people to know.

First off, please know the last thing I want to do is to discourage anyone. Weight loss and maintenance is NOT an impossible dream. You can absolutely do it, and I don't mean that in a fake inspirational way. You really can.

But there's a cold truth that has to be faced.

If you're going to put your body into pound-shedding mode, you of course have to eat less than you are now and likely move more than you do now.

You already knew that.

What you may not know, if you've never done the weight loss thing successfully, is what that means in practicality. It means you're going to want to eat something that you used to eat all the time, and you're going to have to say no.

Then you're going to have to do that again, probably an hour or two later.

Then you're going to have to do it again the next day. And the next. And the next.

For the rest of your life. Or until you give up and decide you didn't mind being overweight.

Because for most people, those are your only two choices.

Again, I'm not here to discourage you. You will be amazed at the capacity you have to make the correct food choices, and to do it again and again. I don't care who you are, you can do it.

But it takes a willingness to change your thinking, both about food and about yourself. And about the things that make you feel good and get you through the day.

It takes the ability to understand the worth of health, and of feeling and looking good, over the momentary pleasure of that chocolate cake. You can and should still have that cake on occasion, but in reasonable portions. And sometimes not eating the cake at all is easier than trying to confine yourself to a single small slice.

The point is, you will face a hard reality, and you will face it continuously. How you react to that reality and the choices you make in those moments will define whether or not your weight loss and weight maintenance will be successful.

If you acknowledge now the difficulty of doing the right thing, and you still make up your mind to say "It doesn't matter how tough it may seem, I'm going to lose the weight once and for all," you will be successful. I guarantee it.

It's a mental game, and one you can win.

So go do it. Seriously, go do it. I finally did, and it has changed the game for me in many ways. The same will happen to you, too.

I just thought you should know.