It does not matter how well intended you are, you need to make a true commitment and a personal investment to actually do what it takes to steadily lose weight over a long period.
(Second in a Series)
Importances
It is a true statement that we always find time to do the things that are important to us, whether that be listening to music, eating, reading, running, watching television, playing with our kids, or dieting.
On the face of it, how can dieting, which is not doing something (as in not eating) take time? Trust me, it does.
Personal Commitment
And here’s the unavoidable truth: success in any venture—and especially in a long-term plan of substantial weight loss—requires a considerable personal commitment and investment; not only of time, but of money as well.
Change
Some say that insanity can be defined as doing the same thing over and over yet expecting a different result each time. To change conditions, and to start losing—rather than hording—weight, means you have to change something. Not only mental factors such as outlook, intention, and hope—although these are all important, too—but you have to change what you actually do, actions you actually take.
Investment
Looking back at the First Law of Thermodynamics (which we covered in part One of this Series) you know that in order to lose weight you will have to burn more calories than you consume, and that means you need to exercise more, or consume less, or do a mixture of both.
Exercise takes time. You will have to set aside a time for it (and stick to that schedule). Calorie counting takes time (yes, you will have to count them, no way around it). Your old running/walking shoes are either falling apart, or you don’t have a pair; that means buying new ones. Pick up a sweat suit while you’re at it.
And who knows how accurate your scale is anyway. The one you have may be fibbing now and then.
This all adds up to investment.
Importances Revisited
You probably know, intellectually, that obesity is not healthy; and that the heavier you are, the worse your health will suffer. You can see why this is, and theoretically speaking, you completely agree. You’re smart, you can follow the logic here.
Still, there’s a disconnect. For nearly a third of the U.S. population these facts to not really have to do with them. They are not important enough to be of true concern.
Regret
A very rich man, on his deathbed, was asked if he had any regrets. Yes, he did have regrets. And these had nothing to do with wealth, or possessions, or consumption, or some failed corporate takeover bid. They had to do with not spending time with family, with not maintaining friendships, with not helping someone in need. His importances—in stark relief now against life and death—suddenly shifting to what really matters.
Health Matters
Let’s say that again: health matters. Certainly a lot more than fast food and television. And to succeed in losing weight, health has to become important. Not lip-service important, but truly—touching your heart and soul—important. Without that connect the weight-loss journey is well-nigh impossible to undertake.
Investment Revisited
Even if you have to forego other, more immediate pleasures; even if you have to sell your television to pay for your new running shoes; even if you have to go to bed an hour earlier just to fit the exercise in: these are investments in a healthy life, and few, if any, investments could be more important to you, or to the ones who love you.
The multiTRIM Diet
All diet plans—except for the outright fraudulent ones, and be warned: they abound—have as their goal for you to burn more calories than you consume.
Possibly the most sensible plan we have seen in recent years is the multiTRIM diet which supplies all needed nutrients to maintain health and ease hunger in a fifteen calories meal-replacement drink; making the First Law of Thermodynamics work for you.
A multiTRIM Journal
A friend recently set out to shed 143 pounds over 18 months with the help of the multiTRIM diet. This, the blog-record of her journey, can be found here.
Outsmarting Internet Commerce Fraud
The Internet is the largest garage sale ever, and by last count is still growing.The problem with this particular garage sale is that you don’t know the seller (or the buyer). In a world of universal honesty and mutual trust, this would not be a problem, but this is not the world we live in. As a seller—whether you purchase on an online auction, or via an online classified such as Craigslist—your worry is whether the buyer will in fact pay, and that his or her check will not bounce. As a buyer, your worry is whether the seller will indeed send you the item once the payment is received.Weight Loss Basics -- Boredom
It may be true that boredom has tripped up more potentially successful weight loss attempts than much else; at the least it has tripped up enough of them to earn your respect; and when it raises its ugly head you need to deal with it. This is how.Weight Loss Basics -- Long-Term Weight Loss
If you have 26 odd miles to run, common sense decrees that you don’t set out at a flat-out dash. You pace yourself, that’s what marathon runners do; and the pace of a marathon-weight-loss runner is 1-2 pounds a week.For the not so comfortable truth is that long-term, permanent weight loss is difficult to achieve, and that about 95% of repeat dieters fail, regaining lost weight.What about the 5% who succeed?