Attitude, patience, discipline are key

This is a comment about the Monroe woman who lost an incredible amount of weight starting in 2006. (Kristi O’Harran’s Tuesday column, “How Katie Ciarcia went from a size 22 to a zero.”) This is a real inspiration for others who want to achieve the same goal. However, it is important to remember, as with any other weight loss program, that it comes down to discipline.

Be it the Mayo Clinic Diet, South Beach Diet, doctor-directed diet, or any other diet in between, the Monroe woman had to discipline herself to get to the gym every morning and change her eating habits. I would just like to say that I know how difficult it is to take on a weight loss program, being that I dropped from 230 pounds to a comfortable 195 with my own regimen.

The important thing to remember is that results do not happen overnight. It is very easy to become disheartened to not see any real results right away. Also, you would have to want to do the diet. If you feel you are forcing yourself to exercise and eat better, then the diet becomes self-defeating in the respect that mentally, it is negative and you would be prone to quit too early.

It is crucial that someone have the postive and “go get ‘em” attitude when it comes to their challenge. One last thing: if she can do it, so can you. I commend anyone who reads the Tuesday column and becomes inspired to do their own. Just remember to not give up. You’ll thank yourself.

Chris Lopez