Agreed...great post. I do agree that the same skills & discipline that make you successful in other areas such as work & school definitely apply here, because I have tapped into them myself. But before I started doing that, I did sit down & reflect on what has made me successful in my career to see if I could borrow any strategies for this "project." I grudgingly agree with Dr. Phil on his opinion that successful weight loss has to take a "project" status, & by viewing it that way, it has been easy for me to make it top priority. Being an IT nerd, I deal with projects a lot so that was a very relatable analogy for me. I plan my meals & have both short-term & longer-term plan for my exercise. I have short-term milestones all along the way, so basically every 2-5 pounds marks an achievement of some sort for me, which is critical for my motivation since this journey is not a short one. In general by taking a more scientific approach, my emotions & motivation do not dictate my progress, which is a good thing since those things are difficult to regulate. Are you doing post-mortems when you have your slip-ups & regress? If it's happening repeatedly, it's probably a good idea to go back & see where you think things went wrong so you can plan for the next time that situation arises. Anyway, plenty of rambling from me...I will leave you with my favorite Chinese proverb (that I recently added to my signature :) ): The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second best time is today.