The first thing that pops into the heads of most people when they start thinking that it is time to lose weight is a diet. Most give up on the idea before they even start the diet and many more give up not long after starting. Why? Because diets do not work. The worst offenders are the myriad of fad and gimmick diets that seem to sprout new life life constantly. If you want to succeed at permanently losing those extra pounds then you need to stop dieting. Properly losing the weight means doing it for the right reasons, setting realistic goals, avoiding frustration, and making lifestyle changes.
So many people fail at losing weight because they begin the process for all of the wrong reasons. You can’t lose weight because you want to look like your favorite celebrity, or because that cute person that you pass every morning on the way to work might notice you if you do, or even because you woke up this morning and your pants just don’t fit anymore. You can’t lose weight for other people whether it is because you want to look better for them or because you want to have more years of life to spend with them. All of those things will come with losing the weight. But weight loss has to be a personal, self motivated decision. You have to want to do it for you to make it work.
Stop setting unrealistic goals for yourself. No matter what they try to tell you on TV you are simply not going to lose 10 pounds in 2 days. One to two pounds a week is a much more reasonable goal that is achievable. Meeting your goals will leave you feeling better about yourself and make you want to continue.
Failing to meet your unrealistic goals can leave you feeling frustrated and wanting to give up. This can lead to what is known as the yo-yo effect where you spend long periods of your life watching your weight continually going up and down. You lose a few pounds but aren’t satisfied that it is enough so you give up and end up gaining back even more than you lost.
To achieve long lasting weight loss what you really need is not a diet but a lifestyle change. You can’t make drastic changes for a short time in order to lose the weight and then go back to all of the bad habits that you had before without gaining all of the weight back. You need to develop a lifestyle for yourself that you can live with for the rest of your life that includes healthier eating, proper exercise, and eliminating stress and negativity.
So stop dieting and lose weight! You need to decide to lose the weight for you, not for someone else. Set realistic goals for yourself that you can meet and that will inspire you to continue on your weight loss journey. And understand that this journey is a lifestyle change that must include more than just changing the food that you eat.