I saw this on Yahoo this morning and found it to be interesting and inspirational:

Myth Vs. Fact: Weight Loss Resolutions

by Anne Fletcher, M.S., R.D.
Myth: A resolution to lose weight is an empty gesture; hardly anyone succeeds.

Fact: Sure, many people fail to keep their resolutions, but there are also plenty of folks who resolve to win the weight battle - and then do it.

Consider this: For my book, Thin for Life, I located more than 200 success stories fairly quickly just by word-of-mouth, posting fliers in public places, asking newspapers to query readers and asking weight-loss programs for their "graduates."

On average, the men and women I spoke with had lost 64 pounds and kept it off nearly 11 years.

Since then, the National Weight Control Registry at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine has recruited about 3,000 people who have lost weight and kept it off. They all had to start somewhere, with a resolution of sorts.

Myth: Only 5% of all dieters keep the weight off - the rest gain it back.

Fact: Dismal statistics such as this come from academic studies of obesity, which tend to attract people with the toughest weight problems. There hasn't been much research of people who've lost weight independently, or with the help of a commercial weight-loss program.

So, what are the real odds of success?

In one recent study, Maureen McGuire, Ph.D., a researcher at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, surveyed a representative sample of 500 people across the United States. In phone interviews, she asked each of them if they'd lost weight, how much and how long they'd kept it off. Her estimate:

"Over 20% of overweight persons have achieved successful weight loss maintenance."

Those are far better odds than are commonly reported. On average, her respondents who lost weight and kept it off had shed approximately 42 pounds and kept it off for an average of about seven years.

Myth: Dieters who habitually lose weight and gain it back should just give up making resolutions to lose weight.

Fact: Most of the people I located with weight-loss success stories told me they had tried to lose weight three to five times - or more - before they succeeded. Nine of 10 people from the Weight Control Registry who are successfully maintaining weight loss reported that they had tried to lose weight previously.

Even people who've been overweight for a long time can take heart: Seven of 10 long-term success stories in my survey - as well as in the registry - had been overweight as children or teenagers.

The moral of this story: If at first you don't succeed, try, try again.

Myth: Forget crash dieting as a way to keep a weight loss resolution; it will only make you fatter.

Fact: "Diet" is not a dirty word for everyone. On the contrary, cutting way back can be a springboard to success for some people.

According to Rena Wing, Ph.D., and co-founder of the Weight Control Registry, two-thirds of those who were asked to explain the difference between their successful weight loss attempt and previous efforts said: "This diet was stricter."

I've surveyed hundreds of slimmed-down people who've lost weight once and for all, and here's my conclusion: You have to find what's right for you.

While some lost weight with diets, others used more of a reduce-your-portions, step-up-your-exercise "undieting" strategy. If you go on a strict diet, the key is to view it only as a tool to get the weight off, not as a long-term solution. Eventually, you have to leave the diet mentality behind and shift to strategies you can use for the rest of your life - healthy eating and regular exercise.

Myth: The problem with following through on a weight loss resolution is that it's so painful.

Fact: Maintaining weight loss doesn't doom you to a lifetime of eating celery sticks and going to bed hungry. Ninety percent of the weight-loss masters I interviewed who've maintained their weight loss surveyed said they don't feel like they're on a diet. The vast majority said they enjoy food.

Most eat three meals a day, often with snacks in between.

The No. 1 way they handle food cravings is by giving in to them - but in a reasonable way.

These weight-control masters aren't downing hot fudge sundaes every night - they're continually vigilant about portion sizes. They also eat lots of fruits and vegetables, and less fat.

But over and over, they make it clear that any sacrifices are well worth the payback. They never want to go back to being overweight.

Anne Fletcher, M.S., R.D., is the author of Thin for Life (Houghton Mifflin, 1994), Eating Thin for Life (Houghton Mifflin, 1997), and Thin for Life Daybook (Houghton Mifflin, 1998).