What Jared Can Teach Us

Remember Jared, the Subway guy, who went from 425 pounds down to 190 by eating Subway sandwiches?

Since I'm always interested in people's weight loss adventures, I picked up the book he co-authored with Anthony Bruno entitled, "Jared, the Subway Guy Winning Through Losing: 13 Lessons for Turning Your Life Around."

While I don't necessarily condone the nutritional quality of this "diet" Jared went on, he certainly made amazing progress from his size 60 waist, and ultimately is much healthier now then he was before all the sandwiches.

Jared's story is interesting and useful because it speaks to so many of us. Jared tried virtually every diet under the sun, and still was not able to lose weight permanently. Despite social isolation and the accompanying depression, Jared kept "falling off the wagon." This led to even greater depression and more eating and increased pant size.

What Jared did to finally be successful was so smart...he considered the process. He thought about what he would like, what he could do, not what he was told he was "supposed" to do. (You know, like cut out all carbs to lose 20 pounds, or restrict your intake to a liquids only or some other crazy approach.)

You get the picture.

Jared saw the big picture. After many failed attempts to lose weight, he realized that fads which bring about quick results soon lead to dieting burnout and eventual failure.

His advice is helpful for all of us, and applies to other areas of our lives besides our health.

Jared encourages us to not depend on someone else's program or plan to get done what we need to--no single approach works for everyone. Find what works for you...the process needs to fit you, or its doomed to failure.