Everyone wants to lose weight, right? That’s how it seems. The weight loss diets are everywhere. They take over the news, my Facebook feed, conversations, and I even heard about a diet on the radio this morning. It’s overwhelming. No wonder there is so much confusion on how to lose the weight for good.
Some people have it figured out and many more are still trying to find the magic equation. There are mathematical equations to help, but those won’t really help you lose weight, they are just a guide. There is pretty much only one thing standing in the way of weight loss – You.
Not diet, not exercise, not health books or claims or that secret piece of gym equipment that promises to melt the pounds away. Nope, it’s you. When you get YOU convinced, then comes diet and exercise.
If there is one thing I’ve learned from counseling clients on weight loss, is that regardless of the awesome information I give, and handouts and numbers and goals…if you’re not ready, then the weight will never come off.
It takes 5 things to lose weight
1. Readiness: This has to happen before anything else. You have to be ready to commit time and effort. You have to know in your heart that now is the time to get healthy. Just remember – skinny does not equal happy. Find happiness first and then love yourself enough to lose extra weight that could be harmful to your health.
2. Accountability: If we face the facts, they are this. We need to all start becoming accountable for our actions. Not just for losing weight, but to take responsibility for the weight in the first place. We all have a million excuses and no one is immune to weight gain. When we are held accountable, then we can start to own it. Accountability is also essential in weight loss to do what we say we will do. Tell someone that you’re losing weight – and get creative. Give someone $100 tomorrow and then have them weigh you. If you don’t reach your goal weight by…then they get to keep it. Chances are, you’re getting your $100 back.
3. Hard Work: Anyone who has lost weight will tell you, it’s hard. If it was easy, there wouldn’t be millions of dollars spent on gimmicks telling you it was easy. This is probably the hardest fact for everyone to get. Our lives have gotten exponentially easier with modern advances and technology and perhaps we just assume that everything should be easy, even dropping unwanted love handles. If we can just settle this here, that would be great – losing weight is hard, maintaining a healthy weight can also be hard. Let’s just assume that there will be some hardships in the quest to stay at a healthy weight If that sentence is hard to handle, revert back to #1.
4. Willpower: This is a hard one, but it is manageable and can be overcome. Let’s examine how we got in this weight struggle to begin with. Turning down tasty food is oh so difficult. Do you know what else is difficult? Saying no to seconds, cutting back on going out to eat and ditching that second glass of wine. In order to lose weight, it’s essential to turn things away that could sabotage your goal. It means sticking to healthy foods and keeping serving sizes appropriate. It takes amazing willpower to turn away from donuts, chicken wings and fast food delights. But they are not doing you any favors. Weren’t you always told to stay away from people who are a bad influence? This applies to food too.
5. Determination: Everyone has that inner voice that says “you can do it”. Know that the days might get long and set backs are inevitable. You will have more than one moment where you fall off the wagon, but don’t let that send you on a path to yo yo dieting. Kick that feeling to the curb and get back on track. Determination is the trait that helps you set your goals and it must remain in order for you to finish what you started.
Weight loss is not impossible. People are succeeding at it every day. You can too.