In anything I endeavor to do, all I need is one person to help me be the person I wish to be. That person is me. It's nice to have "a little help from my friends", but the real work to make this permanent has to come from me.

Lately, I have been reading about very successful folks on SP, who through sheer will and determination, have lost a considerable amount of weight. Now that they are realizing their goals, and have successfully maintained it for long stretches of time, even years, they are finding themselves bingeing and eating, when the hard-fought results are not being maintained. Chicken and the egg kind of thing. They hit a "plateau", cannot account for it, and then the destructive elements rear their ugly heads. Some have even posted pictures of these "events". It's painful to see. Not the excess of eating, but the pain that is being experienced.

Others have noted about folks who succeeded who are now scarce and wonder why. Is it because they are so successful that maintenance is a breeze and they no longer need SparkPeople, or is it because they have started with the "creeping back up" of the weight lost, that was hard-fought, won, and now show signs of slippage? It's a curious behavior, but far from rare, and I have noticed it, too.

Which brings me to what I have always stated: In order for this to be a lifelong success, deep exploration is really required. I do not believe, as someone told me not so long ago, that "we just like to eat a lot, and that's the way we were taught as children". It's not that simple, I think. Especially with the evidence that abounds about healthful eating, and how adjustments have to be made in poor eating behavior. I still believe one has to go to the dark places, do a sincere analysis of why they have allowed such unhealthy behavior for so long, self-correct, and then see if this doesn't "fix" the problem once and for all. This I truly believe is the key to maintenance, but who wants to explore the dark corners of one's soul? Many are loathe to do so. Hey, I'm with you there. But I really want this to be the last trip to WeightLossVille there is in this lifetime. So.....

.....anyone got a flashlight?