My son was born 3 months early. Here's what I've learned so far.

I haven't written for a while. For good reason.

I’m actually writing this from the NICU (Neo-intensive care unit).

My son was born on Saturday, January 21st. Three months early. His due date was actually on his older brother's birthday – April 5th.

Asher won’t be coming home until the end of March. To say the next few months are going to be tough is an understatement. It feels like I’ve been visiting him in the NICU for months already.

I’ve been reminded of a few things over the last week or so that I wanted to share with you because I think we can apply it to our journey.

ONE) The doctors keep talking about small wins. The only way Asher is getting out of the NICU is if he has lots of small wins like being able to handle more milk or requiring less breathing support. Each small win matters a lot!

------> The only way we’ll get to where we want to be is by focusing on small wins too. Weight loss is never about a hammer hitting plate glass. It’s about the accrued power of thousands of meals. Each and every one counts. Our body never lies.

Examples of small wins:

-Eating slower

-Finding ways to move more

-Planning and preparing our meals ahead of time vs deciding in the moment

-Pausing before we eat

TWO) The doctors keep telling us this is going to be an emotional roller coaster. There will be some good days and there will be some bad days. Ugh. They weren’t lying!

-------> It’s amazing how some people think they’re never going to face any tough days/weeks on their journey to better health.

Here’s the reality: There's going to be challenging days and weeks. There's going to be times when you don't feel like continuing. There's going to be times when you question everything. There's going to be tough times.

The question is what are you going to do when you experience it?

When it’s easy…it’s easy. Success happens when it doesn’t feel easy, though. (Eventually it will. What's easy now was once hard. Just ask any of our clients.)

Use us when (not if) those times come. We are here for you. This is one of the reasons why MBT works so well.

THREE) I keep telling myself Asher will be okay because he’s a fighter.

-------> On the flip side, I think we’re all fighters when we’re young. We have a strong will to live. We have all sorts of goals and dreams. We have all kinds of expectations for ourselves.

Then, as life goes on, we start to lose our idealism. We start to rationalize away our goals and dreams. We start to fear change and what that entails.

The reality is: We either realize our goals or rationalize them away.

FOUR) The doctors keep telling us he’ll be fine. That's a relief.

Whenever we’re having a tough day, I remind myself of this. I do sincerely believe he’ll be fine “in the end” so it makes the day to day setbacks more tolerable.

I also trust the doctors and nurses. They’ve been doing this for a long time. This is what they specialize in.

We'd be doomed if we didn't believe in the doctors and nurses. We'd be doomed if we didn't believe Asher would be okay in the end.

-------> Unfortunately, some prospective clients doubt the MBT process. They’re skeptical and close-minded. It’s as if they’re looking for reasons why this won’t work so they can do the easiest thing of all: nothing.

As soon as you decide something won't work, you look for reasons to support that decision.

Unfortunately, weight loss doesn't come from doing nothing. It comes from trying something that sounds reasonable, and ultimately sticking with it. We don't have a choice with Asher.

You do.

Yet, unfortunately, some people immediately look to make it another thing that "won't work for me" in their never-ending weight loss "attempts" so they can keep the narrative of "nothing works" going. It's easier that way.

Here’s what you need to remember:

You're reading this for a reason. Our clients are open to our input. In fact, they want our input and want to learn from us because they trust our process, our track record, and us. They realized that if they could have done it alone...they would have.

[I get it. Some prospective clients may be closed to trying the program for many reasons: perhaps a poor experience in the past, or maybe a lack of confidence in their own ability to perform. But if you keep doing what you've always done, you're going to keep on looking and feeling the way you always have.]

You owe it to yourself. Be open-minded. Trust our process.

We've been doing this for a long time. This month makes 10 years. Crazy!

I eat, sleep and breathe MBT. This is my life's work. I intend to do this for the rest of my life.

When you join MBT, you're part of the MBT family. You're not just another client. It's why I take your results so seriously. It's why I'm writing this from the NICU!

FIVE) "Is this your first?" In the first few days, the nurses kept asking us that.

They wanted to know what our situation was like at home. When we said Asher has an older brother who is excited to play with him, they wanted to know who was watching him.

In other words: They wanted to know what our support system was like. Thankfully, we have incredible support and I'm so grateful for it.

-------> Support is so necessary on this journey. Otherwise, it's too easy to get caught up in your own head. It's too easy to say, "I'll start fresh tomorrow!" I can't stress this enough: We are here to help you.

We've seen it all. Anything and everything you're going through - and will go through - we've dealt with...just like the doctors and nurses for Asher.

Get the help and support you need - as opposed to just saying, "Forget this. This is just too annoying!" or, "Life is just too crazy right now!" or, "I'll focus on this when..." and finding reasons to support that decision.

-Adam