As we enter another year, many of us always seem to set that one goal ahead of us - losing weight. I know I've set this goal for myself many times, only to see it fall the minute I'm faced with serious temptation.
Why is weight loss so difficult? There are many reasons, but a common theme among them that I've noticed is that it requires a lifestyle change. Do you really want to change your life, or do you want an instant fix? As much as we tell ourselves we're willing to work for it, when times get tough it's easy to go back to our old ways. If you buckle down to work out and eat right for a few weeks but haven't determined to make that a part of your life, you can quickly fall back into your old habits. It's uncomfortable to change. On the other hand, food can be comfort for many of us. That's why we might load up on pizza and ice cream when we're having a bad day. We might have so many happy emotions associated with food, like that time our mom took us out for ice cream after we got an A on our paper in grade school. As our world gets more stressful, our subconscious desire to relive these happy days through junk food may increase.
Many weight loss programs fail because they require such a drastic change in our lifestyle so quickly. These types of programs cause us to eventually hate them no matter how enthusiastic we felt about them at first. I find myself thinking, "you really expect me to go from being overweight and having bad eating habits to eating fruits and vegetables, cutting out junk food, and working out every day? If I had the self discipline to do that I wouldn't need your program, I'd already be in good shape."
Food is a joy, and eating can be a social occasion. I don't want to lose that, and I doubt if you do either. I never want eating to be a function that I do only to stay alive. That said, when many of us splurge and eat badly, it's less about the joy of eating and more about the addiction of junk food. Are you really enjoying eating that pint of ice cream while you watch TV, or do you feel guilty later? Do you enjoy not being able to do much physical activity because your weight and health make it nearly impossible?
Change is difficult. I've read that for change to happen, the pain of staying the same has to be very uncomfortable for us, so uncomfortable that we see change as our only relief from that pain.
So first we must be ready to accept a change, to really embrace it and make it part of our lives. Next, we must find a solution that works for us, a solution less drastic so we don't reject it and end up hating it soon after we start. We must decide that the pain of staying the same is greater than the pain of changing our lifestyle.
I wish you the best as each of us continually work on improving our lives, including losing weight and getting healthier.
As someone who has struggled with weight loss much of my adult life, when I find something that works I want to share it with others. Since it has to be a lifestyle change, it has to be something that I can stick with. Read about my journey as I undertake it at http://weight-loss-tools.blogspot.com/
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