What Is Stopping You From Losing Weight?
You Say You Want To Lose Weight, But You Can’t. Can’t or Won’t?
Nov 9, 2009
You’ve tried diet after diet, but nothing ever works. Sometimes you manage to follow the diet plan for a few weeks and sometimes only a few days before you are back to your old habits. What is stopping you from losing weight?
If you don’t have a medical condition, the only thing stopping you from losing weight is you. How is that possible, you wonder, when you spend hours researching new diet and weight loss techniques and even more time planning and preparing for your next diet? Often times when people say they can’t lose weight, what they really mean is that they don’t follow their diet plan when faced with the inevitable temptations and challenges of the weight loss journey.
I Cannot Lose Weight
The phrase “cannot” means that you lack the necessary power, authority or means; you are incapable and/or lacking the mental or physical capability to lose weight.
Is that really true? Are you incapable of losing weight? Unless you have a diagnosed medical condition, you probably are physically capable of losing weight. It’s just a numbers game – if your calories in are less than your calories out, you will lose weight. How you accomplish that goal is up to you. The possibilities are endless. You just have to find something that works for you.
Again, is it really true that you can’t lose weight? Probably not. The real question is do you really want to lose weight?
I Will Not Lose Weight
The term “will” means to decide or choose, to decree, dictate or order. The phrase “will not” simply means the opposite. It means that you decide or choose not to do something.
If you talk about losing weight, read about losing weight and think about losing weight but never actually lose weight, it may be that somewhere in the process you chose not to lose weight. But how do you choose not to lose weight at the same time you choose to start a new diet or exercise routine? This conflict arises out of the hidden fine print of your subconscious decision making. When you decide to lose weight, you come up with a plan to accomplish your goal. You may decide on a formal weight loss program, decide to cut your portion sizes in half or just start walking for 30 minutes a day. These are the easy decisions. They require only that you set a goal, come up with a plan to accomplish that goal and decide to stick to that plan until your goal is accomplished.
What so many people overlook is the fine print in these contracts they make with themselves. Your fine print might say that you will follow the diet only until you go out to lunch with your coworkers at which point you get a free diet pass. Your fine print might also say that you will walk for 30 minutes three times a week unless you have a bad day at work, at which point you can skip the walk. What does your fine print say?
When you decide to lose weight, do you also decide that you will not let the temptations and challenges that face you every day derail your weight loss efforts? If not, you are making a subconscious choice not to lose weight. Think about it this way – if you decide to lose weight and you know that in order to lose weight you have to follow your diet plan and you then decide not to follow the diet plan, you make a choice not to lose weight. Just thinking that you want to lose weight will not get the job done. Each time you are faced with temptation or you feel your will weaken, ask yourself this question – do I choose to lose weight or do I choose to stay the way I am now? Choose wisely and take responsibility for those choices.
I Do Not Want to Lose Weight
Perhaps subconsciously you already decided that you do not want to lose weight. As horrible as it might feel to think or say out loud that you do not want to lose weight, there is nothing wrong with that. Of course, if you have a medical condition that requires that you lose weight, you might not have a choice. For everyone else, losing weight is a choice. Is it a choice that you have to make not just once, but over and over again every day and often times several times throughout the day.
Losing weight is a long and arduous process. It is not easy. If you do not want to lose weight with all your heart and soul for no reason other than because you want it more than anything else, then the process will be even more difficult and likely unsuccessful. If you do not want to lose weight more than you want anything else, then those other things that you want more will continue to derail your weight loss efforts. It is your choice to make. Be honest with yourself. Don’t sugar coat the situation by saying that you can't lose weight. Such thinking will only trap you in a cycle of yo-yo dieting and will negatively affect your confidence and self-image. The truth is that you can lose weight if you follow your plan. The question is whether you want to follow that plan even when faced with temptation.
If you don’t want to lose weight, decide to accept yourself in your current shape and condition. Decide that this is who you are and what you look like and that is fine. If you make an effort to take care of yourself, hold your head up and smile, it doesn’t matter what size and shape you are, you will feel good about yourself. If you’ve struggled with your weight for a long time, this acceptance might be a huge relief. Once you learn to accept and appreciate your body for what it is, it will be your ally in helping you be the best you possible.
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