Recently, researchers investigated several popular weight loss programs to find out which one really worked the best for the most people. What they discovered was probably a bit disappointing for the promoters of these programs. There was almost no difference in the effectiveness of the programs the researchers compared. It didn’t really matter how lose weight programs were set up in terms of their particular diet and exercise recommendations. What the research found was that the key to whether or not any weight loss program worked for a given person was how well the person followed the program recommendations.
Despite the hype that weight loss plans advertise about being “the best” or the “most effective”, the reality is that they are all pretty much about equal in terms of results. This is of course when talking about sensible weight loss programs, not fads like the cabbage soup diet or something just as silly. But what it comes down to is that any reasonable program for losing weight is about as effective as any other.
So, if losing weight is as simple as just choosing a sensible weight loss program and sticking to it, why do so many people go from weight loss plan to weight loss plan without losing weight? The obvious answer is that they aren’t sticking to any of the programs they start. Now, they may be telling themselves they tried the program and it just didn’t work. But is that really what happened?
People can get quite self-delusional when it comes to their weight loss efforts. In my experience, many of those people who complain that “the diet isn’t working” have actually been cheating on the diet repeatedly. In some cases, I have discovered people were cheating on the diet recommendations I’ve made for them on every single meal, despite their insistence that they were doing “everything right”. Some who complain about how hard they’ve been exercising and not getting anywhere may turn out to only be exercising very sporadically.
So, the first step to weight loss success in my experience is for the person to get real, be honest with themselves, and keep a diet and exercise log to keep track of what they are really doing and can determine if they are actually following their chosen weight loss program.
The second problem to consider is the underlying reason why the person might not be following their weight loss plan to begin with. Usually the person simply does not have adequate motivation. Sure, they may truly want to lose weight, but only if they don’t have to work very hard to do it. Motivation is key to sticking to a weight loss program and being successful with it. But most people jump into weight loss activities without giving much consideration to how to stay motivated.
To get adequate weight loss motivation, it is necessary to take the time to really consider why you want to lose weight and really get some strong emotion about it. If you find a good enough why, it will be much easier to stay focused, follow your program, lose the weight, and keep it off long-term.
Besides just finding your reason to lose weight, there are a number of techniques that can be used to enhance your level of motivation. Techniques such as self hypnosis, neurolinguistic programming, and others can dramatically intensify the motivation you get from the basic reason you want to lose weight.
For additional weight loss motivation resources, and to get free diet and exercise recommendations suited to your particular type of weight gain, please visit TrainYourBrain4WeightLoss.com.
Dr. George Best is a holistic health care provider in San Antonio, Texas.
Tags: effective weight loss, how to lose weight, losing weight, weight loss motivation
