Think Long Term For Successful Weight Loss

Successful weight loss seems like the impossible dream. Many people who have succeeded in other areas of their lives with successful careers, happy families, yet fail at losing weight. Why is losing weight so difficult? And what can be done about it so that the weight comes off and stays off?

Don't Blame Yourself

Theoretically, losing weight and keeping it off should be easy. Eat fewer calories than your body burns and you will lose weight.

Eat exactly what your body burns and you will maintain that weight loss. The problem is that your body has what is called a metabolism. It's not your fault you have a slow metabolism. Some of it's genetic. But you can learn to speed up your metabolic rate by exercising.

Metabolism is an inner survival mechanism that helps us stay alive in case of famine.

What happens is when you go on a starvation diet, your body thinks it is starving and slows down your metabolism. It holds onto every calorie and fat cell. That is why when you eat too few calories, you feel so tired and irritable. Your body wants you to stop burning those precious calories so it does not starve to death. Your body does not know you are on a diet and want to lose weight.

You may even lose some weight on one of these diets, but as soon as you go back to your old eating habits, many people gain all the weight back and some weigh even more. That is why reaching fitness goals seems so impossible.

Lose The Diet Mentality

It is possible to lose weight and keep it off but you will have to forget about "going on a diet" and commit to changing your eating habits.

You will also have to commit to an exercise program that includes resistance training. Exercise can actually increase your metabolism so that you can lose weight and keep it off or a lifetime.

Successful fitness plans encourage you to do cardiovascular exercise for at least 30 minutes a day and do resistance training every other day, making sure to work all the major muscle groups. To achieve weight loss, you should give your body at least 24 hours rest in between weight training sessions. Resistance training (weight lifting or using exercise bands) will increase your muscle mass.

Muscle weighs more than fat so don't be discouraged if you gain weight in the beginning as your muscle mass increases. Muscle will eventually increase your metabolism so you will succeed at getting fit.

Find New Ways To Measure Success

Be patient and measure your achievement by how you look in the mirror or in clothes instead of the number on the scale. Remember not to overeat because you just worked out. Plan to have healthy snacks during the day. Six small meals are better than three large ones because your blood sugar stays level and you are less likely to overeat.

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