Why Diets For Weight Loss Fail

First let’s clarify the terminology. When most people say they want to lose weight, what they actually mean is they want to lose fat. A person’s weight normally doesn’t matter unless they’re competing in a weight class sport such as wrestling. So let’s start with saying it, you want to lose fat. That’s not a bad thing. Saying “I’m fat” or “I want to lose body fat” doesn’t define a person, but it does clearly define where that person is starting from and gives them ownership over their situation. Not fully buying in to what you want to accomplish is one of the main reasons people fail at anything. Set a goal, in fact set two. Set an “end goal” and then set a short term goal. For example, I want to lose 20 pounds of fat within 10 weeks can be a long term goal, this leads to an easy short term goal of 2 pounds per week, which is actually challenging, but quite achievable.

Now that your goal is set, the next reason that diets fail is because as a society failing at dieting has become acceptable. Think of all the people who make that New Year’s resolution to lose weight. After a couple of weeks of mediocre effort towards their goal most people give up. Unfortunately, they don’t feel bad about it and no one else does either because honestly, people almost expect it. If you’re serious enough about wanting to be successful that you’ve hired me or someone else to help you, let the people in your life know. It doesn’t matter how many times you’ve failed in the past, ask them to support your success and hold you accountable if you stumble. You’ll find that with other people in your corner everything is much easier. When I dieted for my first bodybuilding competition I told everyone I knew, not because I was boastful, but because I knew that if I told everyone I was going to do it, my pride wouldn’t allow me to back out and I sure wasn’t going to get on stage out of shape. Maybe you aren’t dieting for a competition, but you can still use the same kind of mental tactic to avoid failure. Have a reward in place for when you reach your goal, go on a vacation where you’re going to show off your hard work on your physique, plan a photo shoot (Kelsey Anne Photography did an awesome shoot for me last fall), show up at that class reunion and blow everyone’s minds! Figure out whatever is motivating to you and go for it!