Resolution reality

From my experience, here is what I’ve come to know so far; losing weight and keeping it off for good is a journey. A journey by definition is “a travelling from one place to another, usually taking a rather long time”. So why is it that so many people lose weight and put it back on again? Because they aren’t taking the journey, they are trying to sprint their way to successful weight loss.

If you want the weight loss to stay off you need to make lifestyle changes, one at a time until they become your new lifestyle habits, and then you’ve made the journey successful. Going into this New Year, how can you begin the journey now so next years resolution isn’t the same?

Start a journal; the first part of the journey is to write down your weight loss goal. That’s correct. Get writing because when you write it down it’s a real goal, you’re committing to something concrete and not just wishing on a thought in your head. “I wish I could lose weight, I wish I could do this, I wish I could do that” doesn’t usually yield results. 

So you’ve written down that you want to lose 20lbs for example, now write down all the ways you sabotage your own success. These are the excuses you usually make for not exercising and making poor food choices and any other emotional, physical, financial or social obstacles. Let me warn you this part may take a few days, a week or even a month for some, this part of the journey is awareness, and it’s not always pretty. 

Now once you have that list of obstacles, you’re going to be smart and write down a solution or two for each obstacle.  This may end up being a big list but that’s okay, because you’re on a journey to weight loss and now it’s a successful one at that. Going into the New Year you are now armed with solutions, not just resolutions!! Each week or two pick one of your obstacles and one of the solutions and work on the solution(s) becoming your new healthy lifestyle habit(s). Keep layering your solutions one at a time on top of one another and by the end you’ve travelled from one place to a marvelous new place and you’re staying!