Harsh but True

Many people start a new diet or weight loss program believing it may be like a magic pill that will suddenly just melt away the fat. It may be harsh but true but It is not the case. I wish it were but if weight loss was so simple, we’d all be super slim. I’ve said it before and I’m sure I will be saying it again but weight loss does not happen over night, it takes patience, it takes courage and commitment and most importantly it takes time. The good thing about Why Weight Ireland is that you do not have to starve yourself by drinking shakes or other “special” diet meals – it is just all your normal everyday food but learning to moderate your portions and types of food. The positives are that you are gradually changing the way you think about food, the diary itself encouraging you to make better food choices. The BAD news…….it will only work if you STICK TO IT!. Whichever diet you choose, it will only work if you stick to it, be honest with what you are actually eating and if you are ready! There is no point starting a new routine if you are not sure if you are ready. You need to KNOW you are ready.

Why do we always think we can’t do this? Why do we always try and look for a shortcut when it comes to weight loss? We always seem to find a way of setting ourselves up to fail before we even start!

Answer me this: If you were given two choices but each choice had an outcome, which would you pick? If I said you could lose a stone in a week or you could lose a stone in a month, which would you pick – remembering that each answer has a different outcome?

I know the majority of us would jump straight for the option to lose a stone in a week!

Why? Because it’s quick.

Only a tiny percentage would chose to take the option of the stone in a month.

Why? Simple…it takes too long!

But what everyone seems to forget is that your mind is thinking hhhmm a stone in a week YES PLEASE but your body would say, HEY, NO WAY.

Why do you want to lose weight in the first place? Answer, because you are more than likely over weight for your sex, age, and height. So if you lost a stone in a week, 99.9% of you will put that stone back on PLUS INTEREST! Besides not being good on the body to shed so much so quick, you, your mind and your body would not have learnt anything about food and your food choices. This is where the courage and commitment comes in to play. Starting a weight loss plan takes courage to start. You need to be in the right frame of mind or else you will give up after a short period. Once your weight loss journey has started it needs commitment. You need to put YOU and your journey FIRST – you need to be committed enough to say NO when it comes to getting offered food or when you are out and about. You also need to be realistic when it comes to your commitment. You can’t say “okay, I promise to be committed for the next month or two”. You need to say, “I will be committed UNTIL I have reached my goal”. You need to set a period in your daily schedule to do exercise. Just like you might say, “sorry I have a meeting on so I can’t or won’t get time to do exercise” – make exercise the excuse.

You will need patience throughout your journey. While you start to lose weight you will get excited and confident and raring to do more but your body doesn’t always follow a script! Some weeks you will get on the scales and you will look down and it will say Zero lbs lost or ½lb lost when you have tried so hard during the week. This is when most people “fall off the wagon” because they think why do I try so hard if I didn’t lose anything or only lost a pound and that will be the end of their journey. You need to stick with it and be patient. You need to be patient and let your body react to losing weight and the changing of your bodies’ routines and this can take time. I’ve written about the dreaded plateau before so have a read of that. It’s also important if you are losing weight to take your body measurements – when you do hit the scales and you get a result that you are not happy with, check your measurements as they may tell you a different story – a happier story – taking measurements won’t consider water retention or things like this so you will give a better picture of how your weight has been for the week and may prevent you from falling off the wagon.

Time is so important. When losing weight and wanted to successfully lose weight once and for all, you need to change how you see food, eat food, buy food, how you exercise and how much you exercise. This does not happen over night – it does take time – some longer than others, but by the time you have hit your goal weight you will have been through all the emotions and will have learnt all you need to know on how to maintain your weight. You can not go into a weight loss plan thinking you can give it an hour a day – a weight loss plan isn’t an exercise workout – it is 24 hours 7 days a week and for some people 365 days a year (depending on your start weight). It will not work if you say well I am a very busy person and I’m not sure I’ll have time to do it! You don’t have time to lose weight but you have time to put it on? These are just excuses and the minds way of setting yourself up to fail before you even begin! If you are in this mind frame then you are more than likely not ready to start a weight loss plan that will end successfully and this is why people spend so much money on fad diets and why they usually fail. They want a quick fix, don’t want to put the hard work in and are not psychologically ready to lose weight – each time they fail it turns into a vicious cycle of YO YO dieting!

If you are stuck in any of the positions I have spoken about above you may find help in previous blogs I have written:

https://www.whyweightireland.ie/falling-off-the-wagon/

https://www.whyweightireland.ie/plan-to-succeed/

https://www.whyweightireland.ie/dont-give-up/

https://www.whyweightireland.ie/diet-plateau/

If you really want to lose weight – YOU CAN. This blog maybe harsh but true but no matter how much you want a change in your life, nothing will happen until you DO something. You can talk about starting an exercise regime and eating healthier foods all you want, but nothing will change until you START DOING IT.  Change your schedule, if possible. If you exercise in the afternoon but overeat while watching TV at night, try exercising at night. Go to work earlier, come home later, schedule your walks during times you know you’re vulnerable to snacking. Switch things up to help break bad habits. If you are working in the home and have kids jumping on you try and make exercise a family thing – don’t use them as an excuse.

PUT YOUR SELF, YOUR HEALTH & YOUR MIND FIRST – YOU CAN DO IT

Hannah x