"10th Rule: Don't Give Up"

                                         

Written by: Tony Schober,

     How many times have you started a weight loss program, only to get frustrated and throw in the towel? Frustration and lack of results are two of the biggest killers of motivation. What many people don't realize is just how close they came to actually achieving their weight loss goals.

     Weight loss is not linear. It does not occur in a strait line. If you're making small changes to develop new healthy habits, your weight might not change for weeks. You can't use weight as your
only measure of success. If you're successfully changing your habits, you
are making progress. The scale might not reflect that progress - yet,
but it will in time. You just have to be patient.

     Remember that fitness is a lifestyle. There is no end date. There is no
rush. You can change your life, but you have to stop thinking about
weight loss as a day to day event. Weight loss is a side effect of
healthy living, not a cause of it.

     Too many times I get questions from frustrated individuals about how
for the last month they've been eating healthy and exercising nearly
every day, and they've only lost 2 pounds. I'm so happy for these
people, yet they don't see the progress they've made. Start looking at
how far you've come instead of how far you have to go.

     When people tell me their frustrations, I think - wow, this person
changed their lifestyle. They got rid of processed foods and got active.
They've more than likely lowered their cholesterol levels, lowered their
blood pressure, improved their Vo2 max, improved their endurance,
improved their strength, and have improved 100 other measures of
health and fitness. What a success!

     But they see things differently. They beat themselves up because
they've done all that hard work and have only lost 2 of the 50+ pounds
they have to lose. They extrapolate those numbers into the future, and
they just don't see how they can continue at their current pace for the
next 2 years. They get discouraged, and end up quitting and resorting
to their old habits.

     Oh if they only knew how close they were! Stick with it. The weight will
come off when it's ready to, and not a moment sooner. It's easy to
think of weight loss as a mathematical formula, where it's all about
calories, but it's really not. There are too many variables that come into
play.

     There is only one truth, and it's if you stick to healthy eating and
exercise, and never give up, your body will return the favor in kind. It
no longer will have a need for stored body fat. Your body will become
its function. You become what you eat and do. You become the new
lifestyle you've created.


                            Weight loss happens the moment you don't give up.