I got an interesting call from a friend of mine this week. She was watching one of the talk shows and they had been focusing on juicing all week. She wanted to know, "Is this something I need to do to lose weight?".

It is hard to sift through all the information and figure out what will work for you. Much of this journey is personal. I have been saying for years the key to weight loss is finding your personal formula (not someone else's). You have to be able to build a healthy lifestyle around foods you like and can eat, exercise your body can do, and things you will be able to stick with for the long haul. For me, just any weight loss "plan" won't work because I am a kidney patient and have specific restrictions and needs. I had to create my own. You can, too. The key is to remember the truth; there is no quick fix, weight loss requires hard work, and maintenance requires dedication. So what is the truth? Do we all need to buy juicers? Or cleanses? Jump starts? Colonics? No, none of that is necessary. What is necessary is a solid understanding of the truth when it comes to health, fitness, exercise and nutrition.

Truth: Natural food is healthier than manufactured or processed food. Nature knows what it is doing. High quality whole foods contain essential amino acids (complete protein), lots of fiber and all the vitamins and minerals we need. You know how all the nutritionist say to shop the perimeter of the grocery store? That is where the healthy food is - the foods that support your health. You can choose to snack on things that come from a box or bag, but remember that these foods aren't healthy food no matter how they are marketed. They are stripped down, processed pieces of stuff that used to be food. They strip out the healthy stuff so you are left with sugar, fat and salt. Any time you have that combination - no protein, no fiber - you are eating low quality food (empty calories, low nutrition). Unless you are running ten miles a day, it's tough for your body to burn all these low quality carbohydrates. This includes wine.

Truth: Foods like meat and cheese are often heavily processed. Read your package of chicken breasts, for example. Up to 15% salt solution added. This is to make it last longer on the shelf and to kill bacteria. I worked in a milk plant when I was in college. The milk trucks that came from farms that were rejected for having too high bacteria counts were sent down the road to the cheese factory where lots of salt was added to the milk to create cheese. If processed meat and dairy are part of your life, it is recommended that they be eaten in limited quantities. And it is worth the extra effort to seek out preservative-free meats. The link between processed meats and certain cancers is as strong as cigarettes and lung cancer.

Truth: Unhealthy foods have screwed up our metabolism, and healthy foods will reset it. There are complex process that control hunger and metabolism and when they get out of whack, the result is diabetes, heart disease, and obesity as well as the feeling of never being satisfied. The way to reset this is by eliminating the cause (over processed junk food, especially sugar) and replacing it with the cure (plant based whole foods, especially fiber). Sugar is the poison, and fiber is the antidote. If you have been stuck for years counting calories or points but have never really looked at the quality of your food choices, try it. Ten Triscuits may have the same number of calories as an apple, but the body responds to them very differently. Calories in/calories out is only one small part of the equation. What do those calories do to your metabolism, your insulin, your circulation, how are those calories treated once they enter your body. That is just as important.

Truth: Commercial diets have a long term success rate of 5-20% depending on the program. That means that 80-95% of people who lose weight on Weight Watchers do not keep it off. How many of us tried program after program, and may even have had short term weight loss success while on the restriction, but then reverted back to our default habits as soon as we went off. If you can go ON something, you can go OFF it. You have to change and commit to those changes for life. That is the Lifestyle Change you keep hearing about. It is the truth. At no time in this weight loss and fitness journey have I been able to revert back to the way I used to live. I still work out 5 times a week, I still lift, I still walk, I still eat lots of vegetables, I still drink my water, I still eat as much fiber as humanly possible, I still limit processed sugar, I still avoid the deadly fats, I still watch my sodium intake. If I think I can give up any of those and maintain what I have worked for, I am lying to myself. I am committed to these changes for the rest of my life because I'm not ever going back.

Truth: The answer is not outside of you. I don't have the answer for you. I am here to teach you how to exercise properly, to provide motivation and accountability, and to encourage you to make extraordinary choices. You can have lots of teachers. Weight Watchers can teach you portion control. Going Vegan can teach you that plant based whole foods make you feel amazing. P90X can teach you consistency or intensity. Yoga can teach you mindfulness and connection to your body. Pilates can teach you how to activate core strength to originate your movements. You can have as many teachers as you need. But the bottom line is eventually you have to say 'thank you for the great information, I am now going to take radical responsibility for every choice I make, get unstuck and change'. It is all up to you.

Truth: Exercise is the foundation of a healthy life. There are so many options. Walking, running, Zumba, hip hop dance, BodyPump, spinning, strength training, swimming, elliptical work, kickboxing, yoga, Pilates, old school aerobics class, boxing, working with your trainer, total body conditioning class at the community center, Tai Chi...there are as many ways to exercise as there are likes and dislikes. You have to find what you like that you can do. If your knees say no to running, no problem; swim! If you hate the water, no problem; get on the elliptical, etc. If you don't like any of it, too bad! Do it anyway because the truth is you cannot lose weight and keep it off without exercise. And in addition to looking and feeling better, you will change the health of your arteries, your heart, your brain, your insulin system, your sleep and many other processes that have a DIRECT impact on your blood pressure, cholesterol level, diabetes, heart disease, strength, stamina and quality of life. It is worth making the time.

Truth: One hour of exercise is exactly 0.59% of your week's total time. That's around one half of one percent. Think about that and get real about what's actually going on when you say you don't have time. If you can't be radically honest with yourself, it will be almost impossible to make changes that last. Here's the truth for most of us: We are not willing to give up the time we spend (insert your thing here)...watching TV, on Facebook, online, ironing, reading, shopping, sleeping, drinking wine...because we are stressed and tired and need to do these things to check out for a while. I get it! But what I want you to get is if you take just one of those hours to work out instead of chill out, your energy will be boosted. Two hours a week and you'll really start to notice. The truth is you will feel so much better.

It is hard to get to the truth. There are a lot of magazine articles, a lot of TV commercials and shows, and a lot of books written about health and fitness. You can probably find a study to support almost any personal opinion about what to eat and the importance of exercise. We have to be very careful about looking at things that will never help us change. Let's commit to keeping our gaze upon that which will support our journey and our dreams. Remember, what you focus on grows. Focus on healthy eating - plant based whole foods in healthy portions - and consistent daily exercise. Make it a priority and deal with old ways of relating that get in the way. Ask for help. Say no to things that you don't want to do. Say yes to things that are good for you. Make the time. Get honest and watch what happens. The truth is you will feel better about yourself than you ever dreamed possible and that is something well worth the effort.

Now get moving.