Rewriting Beethoven

The honest truth is that I have a tendency to want to color outside the lines and make exceptions for myself - just a little tweaking here and there, don't you know.  While I may understand the principles and know the rules, "fine-tuning" things for myself has often been my approach.

When I was a senior in high school (just a few years back!) my piano teacher assigned Beethoven's "Moonlight Sonata" as the next piece for me to work on.  Well, "Moonlight Sonata" is written in four sharps and I didn't (and don't) particularly like to play in sharps.  So . . . I decided to play "Moonlight Sonata" in three flats instead, pitching the piece down one half step.  (For those of you who don't read music and don't have a clue what this means, stay with me . . . ).  The song sounded the same to me, just a half-step lower, and it was SO much easier to play!  I worked on the piece all week and was full of confidence when I sat down at the piano at my next lesson, sure my teacher would applaud me for my brilliance.  Well, that's not exactly what happened . . . about three measures into the piece, he stopped me and asked what on earth I was doing.  I explained that I had decided to drop the pitch half a step to make it easier to play.  He was NOT impressed :-).  I then was given the piece again and told to learn it the way Beethoven intended it to be played.  I think he was shocked that anybody would try to improve on Beethoven!  In trying to improve upon Beethoven, I found out I wasn't quite as smart as I thought I was and it was hard to relearn "Moonlight Sonata" as written because I had worked so hard to learn it my way.  But I eventually DID learn it through repetition and a commitment to practice. 

So what's my point?  I see people all the time who try to "improve" upon this program, who think that they have discovered a better way to do Take Shape for Life's 5&1 program.  A little tweaking here and there, a little substituting of things that have "similar" carbs, calories and/or protein.  A little wanting to color outside the lines.  What I know is that this program has been proven effective in over 30 years of business and in a multitude of clinical studies.  When followed as written, it really does work and there are lots and lots of people who are living proof - people, like me, who never thought they could really lose weight and keep it off.

I tried to "rewrite" every other weight loss program I'd tried, too, and through my repeated failure finally admitted that I wasn't quite as smart as I thought.  When I started on 5&1, I made the decision to just follow the program as written - what a concept!

How are you approaching this program?  Are you trying to rewrite it as you go, or are you following the protocols of 5&1?  How you decide to do this program is up to you, but choose wisely :-)