When it comes to weight loss and fitness one of the biggest hurdles, based on my experience in interacting with people over the years, is mission.

People tend to have non-specific goals. The one I hear most is “I want to lose weight.” That is so non specific. Fitness tends to be one of those things in which people create non-specific goals. Never specifically having in mind a focused goal. It is usually a very vague end point. There is a saying, “fail to plan, plan to fail.” So the first thing I tell people is to make a plan.

Without a plan, what usually happens is, a person will do a little bit of this or do a little bit of that but never really commit to anything. Most of the time, this leads to discouragement and frustration because they see little or no success in anything. Because they never commit to anything, they never have (make) time to improve and lose motivation which often leads to them quitting.

So instead of getting caught up in this vicious cycle, find a plan and commit to doing it for a minimum of six weeks. Six weeks is a good time-frame to see if the plan you committed to is going to work. If in six weeks no results can be felt or seen then it might be a good idea to think about changing to a different plan. If the plan is changed, commit to it and see if it works.

We live in a society where everyone wants instant gratification but in many circumstances that is not possible and also not healthy. Take dieting for instance. Someone could starve themselves and maybe lose a significant amount of weight in a short period of time, even with little to no exercise but it will result in not only fat loss but also muscle loss. It will also result in nutritional deficiencies, causing the person feel unwell and will result in other health conditions or medical issues. Plus, after the weight is lost what often happens is the person ends of gaining all of the weight back because the diet was not sustainable over their lifetime.

On the other hand, someone who safely diets, utilizing an appropriate caloric deficiency that is safe and is not extreme, along with exercise will see results and they will be much more efficient at losing fat while reducing muscle loss to a minimum. Plus over their lifetime a diet like this can be sustainable and they are less likely to gain all of the weight back.

Finally and most importantly, diet and fitness is not a temporary plan. For it to be successful, this must become a lifestyle change. It has to be more than a temporary goal. The mindset has to change; a person has to begin to see it as a way to live. This will not only help someone see great results but it will also help them maintain their results. So make a plan. Commit to the plan. Stick to heathy and safe dieting, and don’t go to extremes. Lastly, I say again, this has to be a lifestyle change not a short term solution.

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