I really hate to sound so harsh, but your next diet is likely to fail. If peoples diets succeeded then why would they go on diet after diet? Are all the diets really just crap? Or is it possible that the person on the diet has more influence than we are led to believe? That's a good thing because it means you have all the control to make your next diet a slimming success.



Just a little change in perspective can truly make the difference between success and failure. The necessary shift is in time expectation. In today's world where we stand in front of the microwave and tell it to hurry up, we have been habitually trained to want results yesterday. Unfortunately, that just sets you up for failure with your diet.

Long term dieting success is not about the fad diet. Its about changing your habits and developing a more healthy lifestyle. Yes that means that scary word "change". But when you develop healthy habits, you begin to perform them subconsciously and without thinking. Replacing bad habits with good ones is key.

Were you hoping for something more profound? After all, our society is all about magic diets. Maybe you realize deep down that I am right. If not you are likely to keep searching for a magic pill that solves all your problems. I wish it were like that. Its not. I have tried it both ways and I finally got it right when I realized one thing.

You see when I realized that I didn't get fat in days or weeks, I was able to accurately see a realistic time frame. I allowed myself, as a 5'10" male, to reach 220 lbs. Mmmm, nice and chunky. However, I knew it was time to change when I couldn't make it up a flight of stairs without huffing and puffing. The key to my eventual success was that I realized 45 pounds was not going to disappear in a month or two.

Even if I was super aggressive and lost 10 pounds a month it would take 5 months to get rid of all that weight. You do the math for yourself. There are 3500 calories to a pound of fat. You would need to burn 500 calories a day above your metabolic needs to lose a pound a week. Do the math. It won't happen overnight. Depending on how much weight you have it could take more than a year.

Facing such long times can be very very daunting. If you can get past that and accept it as the worst case, then you can move forward with confidence and ultimate success. Just start small, maybe 1 pound a week, and see how it goes. As you start to have success you will get more motivated. And remember the scale isn't everything. The weight is important, but how your cloths fit and how your feel matter most.

At this point I hope you realize that what diet you choice is far less important than how you approach it. In the end, a diet will get you going in the right direction, but you will keep yourself going in the right direction with realistic expectations, changing your habits, and making healthier and better choices.