The diet and weight loss industry rakes in billions of dollars every year. With so many companies offering so many different plans or programs, how can you actually take positive steps to healthy weight loss and not waste time or money and get the results they want? The answer to that question is really quite easy, but before we answer it, let's talk about you. After all, there is a reason you are reading this article.
You need to see this article as a mirror. Sometimes when you look into the mirror, you don't like what you see, but you can't argue with what is there. Likewise, this article may present you with some very poignant questions that you make not like, but you should make every effort to answer. It will confront you with the truth, and the truth can sting a little bit. But make no mistake about it, it will help you to take positive steps to healthy weight loss. And, the most important thing is that you face the questions posed here, deal with them, and move forward more intelligently and with a renewed vigor. So, shall we begin?
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Think about all of the diets or weight loss programs you have tried. Now, think about how you felt after trying it and then deciding to move on. First, how did you feel when you initially decided to start the plan or program? Excited? Hopeful? And how did you feel after deciding to quit? Frustrated? Disappointed? Like a failure? I know there isn't an official quit date. Usually it is a gradual thing.
Maybe you are not a diet or weight loss plan or program jumper. Maybe you have one plan that you keep starting and stopping for whatever reason. The same questions apply. How do you feel when you start? How do you feel when you stop?
Think about why you switched programs or why you keep starting and stopping. Why, even with the best intentions in the world, do you ride the cycle of hope, frustration, and disappointment? These are legitimate questions that you really need to give some serious thought to if you have a genuine desire to lose weight and keep it off.
For most, somewhere in the answer to one of those questions is you basically wanted to lose your unwanted wait faster than you put it on. Probably considerably faster than you put it on. It took years to put on, but you want it off in days, weeks, or a few short months. So with that mentality, you jump from one weight loss plan, program, or idea to another trying to essentially find the magic bullet - the plan that will allow you to lose all of your excess weight fast with very little work or inconvenience. And, if you are a starter-stopper, this way of thinking also applies.
By the way, the word 'plan' is used very loosely, because chances are there probably was not a whole lot of planning in your last venture into weight loss. Don't feel bad. That approach is not very uncommon in the least. But like any undertaking, if you fail to plan, then you can pretty much plan on failing. So what is the answer to taking positive steps to healthy weight loss? Or, to put it another way, how can I plan to succeed and succeed with my plan?
That is a great question to ask. After all, they say that the first step to solving your problem is admitting that you have one. And by asking for a plan to succeed, essentially what you're saying is how do I stop failing at losing weight, get on the right track, and finally become successful.
Well, first, it is time to stop going down dead end streets. And let's identify the names of some of those streets. If you are looking for quick, fast, or easy street, you are definitely headed in the wrong direction. As a matter of fact, any company that is promoting quick, fast, and easy weight loss is doing exactly that with your money when you buy their product. The weight loss/diet industry is perfect for finding prey to make quick, fast, or easy profits. Instead, what you should be looking for is safe, healthy, efficient, effective, and long term.
Think about the last plan, program, or idea you used to lose weight. Was it safe? Was it healthy? Did it you give you the tips, tools, techniques, strategies, or knowledge to lose the amount of excess weight you wanted? Did it work like you wanted or expected it to? Were you able to lose the weight and keep it off? No one is checking so feel free to be honest with yourself. Chances are your last weight loss plan wasn't the right or best way to lose weight for you. It might have worked for others, but it wasn't the right one for you. That is why it didn't yield the results you were looking for.
If you are truly serious about losing weight, it is time to make a serious change. I know it may sound airy-fairy, but you are going to have to change your mindset - how you view weight loss. The bottom line is this. If you are not willing to change, how in the world can you expect change?
Would you consider yourself insane? A definition often given for insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result. Let that soak in for a minute, and think about it as it relates to your previous weight loss efforts.
Here is why you need to change. When it comes to doing anything, if you keep doing what you are doing, you are going to keep getting what you have always gotten. Understand, that can be a good thing, but in the context we are talking about here, it is not.
Alright, let's get down to the nitty gritty. The weight loss program that you are involved with should address you mentally as well as physically. For example, the most effective programs have components dealing with your mindset, your goals, your discipline and commitment, your exercise regimen, and your diet.
As a matter of fact, if you remember only one thing from this article, remember this simple but extremely powerful phrase and never ever forget it. "Change your thinking, change your life." You see, change mentally equals change physically. Literally everything you do begins with a thought about it, and when your mind is right, the body will follow. If you are ready to change your life and take positive steps to achieve healthy weight loss, then you need to follow these two steps:
1. Change your thinking. Effective immediately, you need to start seeing losing weight as a long-term, ongoing lifestyle change as opposed to a quick, short-term diet. If you start seeing it this way, you will never or rarely experience failure, disappointment, or frustration when it comes to weight loss. As a matter of fact, you need to get to the point where it is not even about losing weight (so you won't use that term anymore), but more about your lifestyle choices.
2. Plan effectively with realistic goals and expectations. Most people spend more time planning a week's vacation than they do about living a healthy life. You need to develop a plan that you are excited about and will help you lead a healthy lifestyle. Yes, it will involve changing what and how you eat and what your activity level will be. But what will kill your plan even before you start is that trying to make significant or massive change all at once before you are ready for it. Plan in gradual phases. Think about where you are and where you want to be in terms of your health then fill in the blanks of what it will take to get there.
This is not about losing 20 pounds in 20 days with very little exercise and still eating bad food or starving yourself. First of all, that is not very healthy, and it is totally unrealistic. Using the analogy of planning a cross country trip, you would think about all of the sights you wanted to see, how long you wanted to stay, when you needed to makes stops, and about how long it would take to reach your destination. You know that on your trip you can't travel 150 miles every hour. It is unrealistic and definitely not very safe. So you have to plan and set realistic goals with realistic expectations. Doing this would make for a more enjoyable and safer journey. Wouldn't you agree?
In conclusion, it is important to remember that Rome was not built in a day. In other words, its taken some time for you to put on those unwanted pounds, and it is going to take you some time to get them off. However, it is important to understand that it first starts with the fact that if you change your thinking, you can change your life. This means that it goes beyond losing some unwanted pounds. You must develop the proper mindset that you want to live healthy for the rest of your life.
Having an effective and realistic plan for yourself that you are excited about will keep you from being discouraged, frustrated, disappointed, feeling like a failure, or losing focus. The end result is a new, happier, healthier you!
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