Want To Lose Weight? Heres Some Tough Love To Get You Started

I hear from many women who tell me how hard it is for them to lose weight. Some lose weight only to gain it back, while others are stuck at a weight they don't want to be.

Weight loss is a battle for many, but with a little bit of tough love, more women could win the battle. With the holidays around the corner, give yourself the lasting gift of weight loss and good health with these tips!

1. Stop dabbling, researching and reading about weight loss. Take action.

Okay, here's your tough love: If you find that you're spending more time reading about or researching how to lose weight without taking action, decide now it's time to stop procrastinating and start making real progress. You know that weight loss happens when you combine healthy eating with regular exercise, period. Are you doing these two things or only talking about doing them?

As Napoleon Hill once said, "Action is the real measure of intelligence," so get going! Decide, don't dabble. Once you get clear and make the mental commitment to eat healthy and devote time in your day to exercise, that's when results happen and you realize you are in the control seat.

2. Leave behind the DIET and instead switch the letters in that word to EDIT what you eat.

You could lose time and effort (and money!) getting involved with all sorts of fad diets and gimmicks. Permanent weight loss happens when you make lifestyle changes.

Choose more fruits, veggies and lean proteins and skip the processed foods. Decide you aren't going to go ON a diet, you are going to LIVE a healthy lifestyle. One great way to leave the diet mentality behind easily is to try to make the majority of your choices in a day healthy. Aim for 80% smart, healthy choices.

3. Muscle up.

If you want your body to work more efficiently, you want your body to burn calories at the highest possible rate even when you're NOT exercising. You want to burn calories when you're sitting at your desk, relaxing at home, or even sleeping. It's called your resting metabolic rate (RMR), and you can increase it.

One of the surest ways is by building more muscle mass through strength training. Muscle can burn three to five times more calories than fat does at a resting heart rate. So the more muscle you have, the more calories you'll burn—even when you're staying perfectly still. And you don't need to invest much time. Working with weights for as little as 20 minutes two to three days a week can be enough to crank up your resting metabolic rate over time.

4. Surprise yourself by mixing up your workouts.

In order to maximize your results, try changing up your normal workout in duration, intensity, or in workout type. If you normally walk, try jogging. Go rollerblading with a friend. Take a Pilates class or try a new fitness DVD. Try something new to you like Zumba class or spinning. Surprising your body often leads to results and can break through a plateau.

5. Know that work, works.

Yes, weight loss isn't Easy Street, but consistent healthy behavior leads to slow, permanent weight loss. Tell yourself that it took a little bit of time to gain the weight and it will take a little bit of time to lose the weight. You can't expect an overnight transformation. Wanting immediate results in the mirror and on the scale will only frustrate you, so breathe and only think about the next two pound weight loss at a time. When you break your bigger goal down into mini goals, you can have small wins along the way to keep you motivated and encouraged.

Losing weight permanently is possible. It begins with a mental switch of telling yourself you know what to do and then doing it—regularly! What gift could be better than the gift of your own health?

P.S. It comes with bonus gifts too: increased confidence, energy, and happiness! ENJOY!

Photo Credit: Shutterstock.com

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