This blog was first published in September 2007.

Have you seen them? Those messages on the guestbook or over on the Tracker where someone comes on and says something like, “I did this challenge back in 2000 and lost 18 pounds and looked great. Then, life got in the way, and I am actually at my heaviest and fattest and unhappiest ever. I’m hoping this still works as well as it did last time.” What happened? How could they have put that much work into twelve weeks, seen that much success, and then somehow just let it all leak away?

Well, I’ve had some experience in that regard myself, and in my case it was always an injury that kept me from working out for several months, or in te last case, an injury plus sadness and depression from losing a dear friend unexpectedly during a lung transplant surgery. I think for most people, though, it’s an entirely different reason–failing to hear the two most important words in the book. “FOR LIFE.”

Those are the words in the book–they’re even in the title–that many of us read but just don’t hear. In a society that values appearance and freedom over continuity and lasting relationships, the words “for life” just seem to zing right over our heads. This is true even though Bill Phillips takes great pains to point out to us that he still does exactly what has worked for him for so many years. That is, he does the 20 minute aerobic solution in the early morning three days a week, lifts weights in an intense manner three times a week, and eats six times a day. What happened to the people who did the post I mentioned at the beginning, and to lots more of us, is that even though they were great at making changes over the short term, they never really saw this as something that they’d need to do for life.

Anyone can learn to exercise and do it regularly. You see those people at the clubs every day–doing exactly the same routines and in the same ways every single day. And they’re not changing a bit, are they? No, not for the better or worse–they’re just staying in place. What makes the changes is what they don’t do, and we need to keep doing–eating the six small meals a day. For me, and for everyone, that’s the hardest part.

We are literally pushing back against a lifetime of three squares a day tradition, and it takes months to develop that habit. I told a reporter who interviewed me for BFL that it took six months to really develop that habit of eating six small meals a day. Really, it was probably closer to a year, but I didn’t want to scare people off!

Take my word for this. Once you develop that habit, you’ll adhere to it as well as every other one you’ve truly developed, but it really does take months, an it really is the key to this whole program.

Six small meals a day. That’s the key to your success!