If you would like to lose weight and keep it off over the long term there are 2 very important qualities which will be a great help to you in reaching your goals.
These are: Patience and Persistence
Why are these so important?
Well you need patience to appreciate and accept that reaching your desired weight is going to take time. Plus you need persistence to keep going month after month, maybe year after year, without quitting until you get the results that you want.
Now maybe this doesn’t sound too exciting, especially because we live in a world where most people want things right now, and they want them without putting any effort or time in.
But let me ask you a few questions…
How long did it take you to put the weight on? (Months or years?)
Now how long do you expect to take the weight off? (Weeks or a few months?)
The key here is to be realistic about how long it will take to lose the weight. If you gradually gained weight over a few years then it’s unrealistic to expect to lose it all in a few weeks or months.
Many people go through life looking for the next quick fix or trying to get something without first giving anything. This is like the person who tries the magic diet in the hope that they’ll lose all their weight in a few weeks, even though their excess weight and poor health came about from years of neglect.
They waste valuable years of their life trying the next quick fix, often one after another, and struggling with their weight. The thing is, all along they could have applied some patience and persistence and got everything they wanted much sooner.
Don’t try to get something for nothing!
You have to put in the time and effort if you want to experience the rewards. You have to use patience and persistence if you want to get good results and get results that will last you a lifetime.
Yes you can try to take short cuts by doing things like crash diets or taking slimming tablets. You can try to get something for nothing by trying to lose all the weight without giving much time or effort in return.
But what do you get?
You get all the weight quickly going back on as soon as you return to your normal lifestyle. You feel demoralised and frustrated that you’ve just wasted weeks, months, or even years of your life trying to lose weight and are no better off than before.
If you are impatient and want instant gratification then it’s likely that you’ll keep searching for magic diets, potions, or pills. Maybe you’ll even try a certain exercise for a while but then try something else because you want super fast weight loss and you want it right now.
If you think that you can put the weight on over months and years and then lose it in weeks, and keep the weight off, then it’s time to think again. It’s time to understand your situation and start being realistic.
The good thing is that when you are realistic and you appreciate that losing weight is going to take a sustained period of time and effort, it becomes much less frustrating. You now have realistic expectations, rather than unrealistic expectations that are never fulfilled and leave you feeling frustrated and disappointed.
Exercise like my circuit classes and running classes help you get everything that you want with your weight, health and fitness, and body…
But you need the patience to understand that it’s going to take time, and you need the persistence to keep going and not quit.
You’ve got to say to yourself…
“You know what, I realise that I’m not going to magically lose weight or reinvent my body, I know that it’s going to take plenty of time and effort, but I’m going to stick at it and get the results I want”
When you do that, it feels easier to lose weight because you’re realistic and don’t feel as much frustration. Plus you actually lose weight quicker and keep it off because you put in the time and effort that’s needed to get results.
In the end you get out what you put in
You can’t trick your body into losing weight, getting better health and fitness, or having a better body shape, you have to do it!
I’m sure that many of you reading this have learned, or are learning, these lessons the hard way. The key now is to use those learning’s and move forward with patience and persistence. That way you most certainly can lose weight and keep it off.
James Porter