Fitness and weight loss: the key element for success

Losing weight and getting in shape is a goal that most Americans aspire to but have trouble achieving. More than 90 percent of the adults questioned admit to having followed a diet at some point in their lives. The problem is that it’s a proven fact that diets don’t work and, in fact, people end up gaining more weight than they lost in the first place as a rebound effect.

What about exercise and work? Once again, we know that the biggest profits gym owners make come from memberships. Most people sign up for a workout gym full of enthusiasm only to drop out a couple of months, sometimes weeks later. With these disappointing facts in mind, we might be tempted to give up entirely and say that trying to get fit and lose weight is an impossible task.

However, there are examples of people who managed to lose weight and stay in shape. The one key element that is a constant in the successful weight loss and healthy training of all of these people is that they somehow made the connection and committed to their own success. For all of these people there was a trigger that occurred in their mind frame that created the spark and drive to achieve their goal and more.

For each person the key element that will give the initial push will be different. I had a chance to talk to a nutritionist and she was going on and on about healthy eating and weight loss and in the back of my mind all I could think was, “Yeah, that’s easy for you to say, you’re a skinny person.” As our conversation progressed, she told me that she had been overweight her whole life and she even showed me the photos to prove it. I have to admit that for once in my life I was completely wrong. She told me that what triggered her motivation and her successful weight loss was that she had a colleague who was obese and she lost weight and it triggered in her mind that she could do it too. She inspired and encouraged me to see her weight loss and it re-opened in my mind that losing weight and staying fit is possible.

I was attending a weight loss and fitness conference given by five really handsome muscular men and it struck me that all of these men admitted to having been overweight, undermuscled or out of shape shortly before. They all made the connection. The talk was very inspiring and the fact that it was given by regular people, not weightlifting maniacs who spend countless hours in the gym, made it all the more valuable. One of the speakers even exercises from his house with his wife and uses his stairs as a “stairmaster.” The rock solid abs these guys displayed were very easy on the eyes and very inspiring.

They also shared what their trigger was for motivating themselves to get fit and exercise. I have an “ah hah moment!” when one of them said: “First you have to find out why you want to lose weight and get fit and then the how will come easily.” If you don’t know what makes you want to lose weight and get fit, your drive will tend to fade. That made a lot of sense.

If you’ve been interested in weight loss and fitness training but haven’t achieved your goals, don’t give up. You have to find your inner motivation. A good way to find motivation is sometimes to announce your goal to the whole world and commit to it. Feeling responsible, your pride may be your biggest motivator, as you want the world to see that you are a person who sticks to your words.

You can also find strength by joining an Internet group that is also interested in losing weight and getting in shape. This way, you can share your success stories and get support when things aren’t perfect and continue with your health program.