subject: Three Guaranteed Ways to Fail at Losing Weight – Why Your Current Exercise Plan Isn't Working For You [print this page] Three Guaranteed Ways to Fail at Losing Weight Why Your Current Exercise Plan Isn't Working For You
A major problem that many people face when it comes to their weight loss goals is figuring out why their current exercise plan isn't working. They leap frog from diet to diet, or exercise program to program, and might see initial results for the period of their involvement, but the majority revert back to, or near, their original weight. This regular reversion period makes the weight loss industry lots of money every year, especially around New Years. The good news is that the enemy can be identified, and "the enemy is us." Lets look at the three reasons why your exercise plan isn't working for youor three guaranteed ways to fail at any exercise program.
Excuses
We have to stop making excuses. The only thing you get from making excuses is an infinite number of additional excuses to fuel your complaining. If this sounds harsh to you, take a step back and be objective about your situation. Ask yourself, "Am I making excuses in my life to avoid, reduce, or distract myself from exercise?" If you are, that's good news, because now you've uncovered a major problem and you can now begin to work through it.
We all have days where we would rather not work out. We also have days where we'd rather not play with our kids, or walk the dog, or go to work, but we go any way don't we? Why? It's usually one of two reasons. We're either afraid that we'll get fired or mess up some how, or we feel a sense of responsibility to others. How come we don't feel that same sense of responsibility for our own well being? Believe me, if you don't take care of yourself first, you will never be able to take care of the ones you love. This leads us to the next reason we fail.
Quick Fix Vs. Process
We have to begin to appreciate the process. Regardless of what most of the products out there tell you, there is no quick fix. Yes, you can lose weight very quickly by doing the right exercise and eating the right foods, but if you want to sustain that, then you have to begin to make the process a part of your life. Most lottery winners end up right back where they were financially within a few years, and the same is true for most people on a weight loss program. If you don't change your mindset and commit to integrating the process into your daily life, you will never see long term results.
Same Old Lifestyle
This leads us to the third ingredient in weight loss failure: the inability to change our habits, also known as "reverting to the same old lifestyle." The biggest change in my life actually came when I stopped thinking about losing weight and I started thinking about doing activities. Do you see the difference? The mindset with losing weight is to get rid of something, while the mindset of doing activities is to involve or engage with something. These are totally opposite mindsets that actually bring the dominant focus of your thinking into your life. It's hard to gain health when you are trying to lose something.
Let me give you an example to clarify my point. Have you ever wanted to eat Mexican food (or whatever your favorite food is)? Did you get to eat it by thinking about not eating Vietnamese food? Of course not. You focused on what you wanted instead of on what you didn't want, and so you showed up at the Mexican restaurant and had a grand ol' time. If you change your habits, the way you think and then act on things, you will integrate healthy living into your lifestyle which will naturally result in losing weight for the long term.
