Are You On Track For Losing Weight?

     We are bombarded almost every day with messages like "Lose 10 pounds in 10 days" or take this pill or do this diet to lose weight fast, easy, quickly and have the fat melt away in a flash. But do you believe that it is this easy?

We must believe it is this easy as we fall for these false promises to the tune of $30 billion dollars a year in the US alone spending this vast amount of money on weight loss products and services. And yet the obesity epidemic is surging forward with more than two thirds of us now overweight. So, clearly these gimmicks are not working.

There are a number of factors that contribute to weight gain that you probably already know about such as eating the wrong foods and not doing enough proper exercise. But it is not just about finding time to exercise or choosing the salad over the burger. It is really about genuine commitment to make healthy decisions most days regardless of what is happening in your life or how busy you are.

If you are not ready to make some changes, losing weight will be long, difficult journey. Below are 3 things you will need to look at in order to get yourself on a healthy track.

1. Your Attitude - If you are only on a short term health kick to lose weight or fit into your skinny jeans it will be hard to lose weight permanently. Why? Because, if you don't see results quickly enough it is likely you will give up. Losing some weight is a great goal, but unless you have something else to motivate you, what is going to keep you motivated if the scale doesn't budge?

It takes time to lose weight - so you need other reasons to be healthy. What about simply having more energy, dealing with health problems or wanting to live longer to be around for your kids? Those are some pretty good reasons don't you think?

2. Your Workouts - You need to be doing the right exercise program if you wish to have an easier time losing this weight. The idea is to increase the speed of your metabolism (your body's engine) so you can burn more calories both when you are exercising and when you are sitting on the couch watching television.

This program should be made up mostly of strength training exercises that will tone your muscles which are what drives your metabolism. Anything less will not give you the results you want. Low intensity activity (like walking) is great if you wish to be active in your leisure time but do not replace a proper exercise program with it.

3. Your Eating - Changing the way you eat is another thing you are going to have to do for long-lasting weight loss. You need to be willing to replace unhealthy foods with healthier choices. This might mean
?Eating small meals every 2-3 hours
?Eating 5-7 small meals each day
?Making sure you have around 20 grams of protein at each of these meals
?Spending more time preparing meals and taking them with you wherever you go
?Ditching the processed stuff and replacing it with quality natural whole foods
?Making sure you eat enough calories to be able to put some 'effort' into your exercise program so it will make a difference to your body.

Losing weight is a journey made up of hundreds of small steps, not a big 'all or nothing' blitz every so often then going straight back to old bad habits when the novelty wears off.
Every quality meal and every workout is a step closer to your goal.

This journey is not about perfection, sometimes there will be obstacles, road blocks and sometimes even complete stops. Simply pat yourself on the back, pick up the pieces and get going again. Soon the 'good bits' outweigh the 'not so good' bits and you will slowly but surely and the best part permanently be the proud owner of a body you are happy to live in.

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