Weight Loss: Three Things Standing In Your Way

No one wants to be overweight. But if weight loss were as easy as simply willing yourself to be thin, we wouldn't have an obesity crisis in America. Unfortunately, the solutions are a bit more complicated than most non-experts think it is. "Just stop eating," is a refrain any overweight individual has probably heard more than a few times. But it isn't that simple. Well, it is and it isn't. Obesity has a number of root causes and complications. If you want to overcome, you have to find out what yours are and overcome those issues as well. But here are three of the main things standing between you and that body you've always wanted.

Your Viewpoint:
Too many people start their weight loss journey because they want to look good at their high school reunion, or they want to feel okay about going to the beach this summer. They don't see any long-term goals, because it's much easier to just concentrate on the present. But this way of looking at your journey is doomed to lead to failure.

We live in an extremely fast paced world. When you lose twenty pounds over a period of months and don't really see much of a difference in the mirror, it can be very challenging to keep up the motivation. You're sacrificing so much, and for what? You have to rid yourself of these superficial goals and make the commitment to change for the sake of change. This is the only way you can keep going in the face of de-motivating factors like a non-moving scale.

Working Out:
Regular exercise is one of the best things you can do, not only for weight loss, but also for your general health. Consistency is the most important factor. The issue most people have (and it comes back to that short-term goal oriented approach again) is this: revving up the intensity way too quickly and burning out almost instantly. If you are killing yourself every day in the gym, it is going to take a superhuman effort of will to keep going back. If you go each day and do some exercise you find enjoyable, however, you'll find it easy to keep that consistency. The pounds will drop off. More slowly, perhaps, but you don't care about that because you've already changed your viewpoint.

Dieting:
The problem with dieting is closely related to the problem with working out. Sure, anyone can go on a liquid diet for a couple of weeks and lose ten pounds. You'll be miserable and you'll gain the pounds back almost instantly when you go on an out of control binge when your willpower snaps, but you can do it. But if you go the slow route and just cut calories back safely and reasonably, you can make steady weight loss progress and never need to go back to your old ways.