No More Diets

How do you Lose 10 kg (22lbs) in a Month?

I wish I was able to wave my magic wand and give you a plan which would do just that. I tell you, I’d be a millionaire if I could.

But you really can’t lose weight that fast without doing a “Biggest Loser”and dedicating your whole life to losing weight. And my take on that is that there’s no point in even trying because:-

a) you’ll ruin your skin losing weight so fast
b) you’re not learning how to change your lifestyle so you’ll put it right back on again
c) you may be permanently damaging your metabolism so that you put weight back on faster than ever
d) you’ll probably fail anyway unless you have a huge amount of motivation - like a camera stuck in your face the whole time.

Best way to lose weight is sensibly, I’m afraid - a little amount each week while permanently changing your eating habits so that you lose weight AND keep it off.

I’ve already lost 52 pounds, but I’m having trouble with the rest. I would be grateful for any tips and especially motivation. I sometimes think about giving up and just settling with my current weight as it is still better than before. I seem to have lost my motivation and I need a good kick in the pants, so to speak.

Far from needing a good kick in the pants I have to tell you that you are very special. Do you know how hard it is for most people to succeed at losing 52 pounds? Please see this huge achievement for what it is and reward yourself for how much you have done so far (just don’t choose a food reward!)

However I have to warn you that the most dangerous time is now, when you have come so far and still have a way to go. This where it’s easy to slide back into old habits and put the weight right back on again. How heartbreaking is that?

If you are finding it hard to keep on losing it may be that you are just bored with your food and bored with your exercise routines.

It is probably not you who needs to change but them! Remember that food quantities need to be readjusted as you lose weight especially if you have lost a lot - it takes a lot of calories just to keep 52lbs alive and ticking over.

Rather than adjusting portions downwards again and feeling hungrier take the opportunity to hunt out some new recipes that will excite your taste buds as well as kick start your weight loss again. And try some new activities too so that you are not bored with the same old routines.

This is the time to inject some new life into your efforts so that you enjoy the process as well as the sense of achievement.

Can I Lose Weight Permanently?

Losing weight permanently is one of the hardest things - that’s because it’s easier to lose weight than it is to keep it off.

Now if you’ve ever struggled to lose weight you might think that strange - and that once you lose weight your problems will be over but over 95 people out of 100 who diet and reach their target weight gain all the weight back quite quickly (and usually end up heavier than ever).

The thing is it’s one thing to make an effort to meet a specific weight loss goal - you can see an end to your “suffering” and you have a great slim body to look forward to. But once you achieve that there’s seems to be no need to stick to your diet - and so you go back to eating just like you were before - the very eating habits that got you overweight in the first place.

So the answer to losing weight permanently is to change your eating habits (and to a lesser extent your activity habits) permanently.

Does it mean you have to be on a diet for the rest of your life?

No - in fact I would suggest giving the whole diet idea a miss even while you are losing weight.

Just examine your habits and decide which of them are contributing to your weight problems and then change these gradually one by one. Every habit you change is another step towards enjoying great health and a slim body permanently. The aim is to never have to think about dieting again because you are simply living your life just like the slim people you see around you everywhere.

There is nothing special about them - they just have different habits from you. That’s all.