Now Discover the Elusive “Weight Loss Success Factor”

This is Part 2 in the series of Diets Don’t Work……Discover the Reality about Weight Loss.

If you haven’t read Part 1 yet then may I suggest you have a look at it before getting into the solution I offer below…..it has all the weight loss motivation you will ever need and will fill in the gaps and get you primed for what’s ahead.

No one has ever said that successful weight loss is easy to achieve. I fully understand we all have different issues and that is why I have spent endless hours researching ideas to come up with a solution that can be successfully used by anyone and give you the grounding to start a new chapter in your life.

So I think we need to get away from the idea that the entire process of dieting and exercising seems so impossible that every time you think about it you give up before you even start.

I firmly believe the root cause of the problem associated with losing weight comes down to just one word……OBLIGATION.

Let me explain……..

It’s the obligation to yourself to do something about your health, well-being and longevity.

The obligation to your family (and everyone else for that matter) to set a good example of how a fit and healthy human being should live……there’s a little community project for you to think about.

So to help you increase your motivation to change your lifestyle and add to your longevity and to reset your belief system, here are three helpful techniques to get you over the hump of losing weight forever.

1. In Anthony Robbins’ book “The Ultimate Success Formula” he had a four step process that goes like this: Define what you want + take action to get what you want + analyze the results of the action + adjust the action as necessary.

One of my favourite Tony Robbins quotes is this one: “If you do what you’ve always done, you’ll get what you’ve always gotten.”

Think about that for a moment. What is the one thing you could change today that has consistently been your downfall in all your other attempts at dieting?

2. In Napoleon Hill’s evergreen best seller “Think and Grow Rich” (which everyone should read btw) his success formula is: Know what you want + know what you will give in return for what you want + know when you want it by + create a plan to get it and put the plan into action + write it all out (how, when, where, why, what) + repeat written goal to yourself and visualize its attainment.

“What you think, so you will become.” – Napoleon Hill

3. W. Clement Stone wrote “The Success System that Never Fails” and came up with a success formula which is virtually fail proof: Inspiration to Action (knowledge successfully applied) + Know-how (experience learned by trying again and again) + Activity Knowledge, (i.e. learning from your successes and failures and implementing your new found knowledge).

What Stone is saying is that “Success can be reduced to a formula. And failure can be reduced to a formula”. Make sure you apply the first one and avoid the other.

“Be careful the environment you choose for it will shape you; be careful the friends you choose for you will become like them.” W. Clement Stone.

And in the same vein Jim Rohn said, “You are the average of the five people you spend the most time with. So choose carefully.”

All three of these successful gurus pretty well espouse the same formula although I find number 2, Napoleon Hill, tends to work best for me; here’s my precis:

1. Know what you want

2. Figure how you’re going to get it (the plan of attack)

3. Implement the plan (take massive action)

4. Make adjustments along the way, as needed, until you achieve the desired result.

When you think about it, it’s pretty basic stuff. And yet, so many people have so much trouble with it.

Before I move on there’s one thing I don’t want people confusing (that’s if they aren’t confused already)……it’s the difference between information and knowledge.

Information is everywhere, just look at Google and the proliferation of health and fitness magazines. You can’t read yourself to a thinner waist……..so it’s important to take a reality check and understand that information only becomes knowledge once you use it.

Have a good think about that one and you will quickly understand where I am coming from.

So back to the root of the whole problem…..OBLIGATION…..or lack of.

Consider the familiar pattern of yo-yo dieting. You may have even experienced it yourself.

Because people don’t continue to do what is needed to be done over the long term to lose weight and get fit and by not taking the ongoing and essential action required, they simply cave in and give up…..it all gets too hard.

WHY?

Here are two reasons I have observed over the years:

1. People tend to be in their own little comfort zone. It’s always easier to go back to doing the same old thing because it’s familiar and it’s comfortable.

We all know that when you continue to do what you have always done you will continue to get the same results. You can’t do the same old thing over and over again and expect a different outcome. Einstein told us that many years ago and nothing has changed.

2. People are NOT OBLIGATED to their cause. They don’t own the change they want to see in themselves……..not yet, anyway. The only reason for taking action is their own internal reason. People are not obligated or responsible to anyone else and this is the main root cause of the problem.

The reality is you have to refocus; you don’t WANT to get a life threatening lifestyle disease……..so, you NEED to lose weight.

Try thinking about it like this.

Why do you get up each morning, jump in the car/train/bus and go to a job you hate?

Many people would say it’s because you need money to pay the bills and put tucker on the table. But this is only partially correct.

Putting food on the table is a given…..but there are alternatives. For example, you could grow your own or barter your skills for food.

But no.

The real reason people keep going to a job each day that they don’t like is because…..

Most People Are Obligated To Go Work!

Like it or not, these people have made a commitment to their employer.

Here’s 3 Good Reasons Why…..

1. Because most responsible people are committed to paying their mortgage or rent each and every month. If you don’t, you will end up living under a bridge. Not a good place to be.

2. Because you need money to pay your electricity bill each quarter…..who wants to live in the dark?

3. Because you religiously pay your Telstra (phone, internet) bill each month. Who can go without Facebook, Instagram or Snapchat for more than 24 hours? I know plenty who can’t.

Do you see where I am going with this?

Being obligated to something important, like having a roof over your head or losing 45 kilos (100 pounds), FORCES you out of your comfort zone and will CAUSE you to take massive action……like turning up to work each day as well as monitoring your diet and going to the gym (or at least doing some form of regular exercise).

The trouble is, when it is just you and not the bank, your mobile phone provider or your massive belly…..you are not obligated to do anything.

So why do we let ourselves down when our biggest fear is letting other people down?

The answer lies somewhere in the following; seeing as you really can’t be obligated to yourself, it means you have to feel obligated to someone or something outside of yourself.

Let me give you an example. If you go back thirty or forty years around 75% of people smoked. These days only about 15% of people smoke, and why they do I don’t know?

Maybe they followed the example that was set at home……that’s where we learn a lot of our habits (good and bad – my parenting lesson for today is now done).

Back then, I smoked as did virtually all of my mates…..now none of us smoke.

Why?

We came to understand the harm it was doing to our bodies and we were at that stage of life where we were getting married and having kids. For me I did not want my kids to smoke so I thought it was my role to lead by example so I quit. It took a few goes but I got there…….just like losing weight.

In other words I had an external OBLIGATION to quit and it worked.

Just like dieting to lose weight, it may not work for you the first time but if you can find a motivation strong enough and close to your heart, like your kids, then you will find a way.

If you think about it in the right context, it is all part of being a responsible parent.

We all want to be there for our kids and enjoy their milestones in life…..like when they reach twenty-one, when they get married and for when they give us the greatest gift of all…….grand-kids.

But if you are 45 kilos overweight like Peter Fitzsimons was, then the chances of you getting to take your grandkids surfing (like I do) are getting less and less each day.

Let’s face it, you can start a new exercise and eating program at any time under your own steam, and keep it going for a certain amount of time, but for some reason it gets to a certain point and you slip into cruise control mode.

You start coasting − you have entered a new comfort zone. And we all know that it’s a one-way street from there – downhill.

But the funny thing is, you wouldn’t take the first step towards your new goal of getting fit and losing weight if you didn’t believe you could achieve it − regardless of how much doubt you have and regardless of what the ‘gurus’ tell you about how to fire your belief system so that it really happens for you.

That’s why I believe having an OBLIGATION to something or someone is a far more powerful driving force than self-belief!

Pin this one up on your fridge in big letters: The POWER of OBLIGATION will force ME to take MASSIVE ACTION until MY goal of losing x kilos is achieved! (or whatever your goal may be – it might be getting rid of your toxic boss and finding that dream job you hanker after).

Idea: Make a Fridge Magnet: I am OBLIGATED to lose x kilos/lbs. (You insert the x factor)

So how are you going to make this new-found power of obligation work for you? Please let me know what you come up with…..I love success stories.

I feel your goal first and foremost should be for longevity and quality of life, especially in your retirement years.

Good health is your greatest asset.

We all need to be doing this; quality food and strength training for the rest of our lives, and that mainly boils down to preventing serious injury and burnout.

So that’s what you need to think about and understand.

My secret is finally coming out: the Anti-Aging Lifestyle…..and how Active Ageing is the answer to your long term health. My belief is that it’s not enough just to live longer. The goal is to approach old age living a full and active life and not end up residing in a long-term care facility with little quality of life.

And while we are talking about Active Ageing, Researchers from Penn State College of Medicine, Penn State Health Milton S. Hershey Medical Centre and Columbia University tracked the activity of more than 30,000 over-65s from 1997 through till death, and found that while all physical activity positively impacted longevity, strength training had the greatest effect.

This means they practiced Active Ageing which I now believe is the best answer to Anti-Aging. There is more than enough research out there now to tell us that one of the strongest predictors of longevity is fitness.

Have I convinced you yet that it’s time for a change?

I hope so because, “Many people I know treat their bodies as if they were rented from Hertz……something they are using to get around in but nothing they genuinely care about understanding.” – Chungliang Al Huang.

And that’s something I would love to help change.

As Frank A. Clark said, “We’ve put more effort into helping folks reach old age than into helping them enjoy it.”

Unfortunately this is so true. When we are young we are bullet proof and don’t think about what our quality of life will be in our retirement years.

The only way you are going to enjoy your retirement to the max is if you actively participate, or are participating, in some form of regular Active Ageing program right at this moment, regardless of age. At three score and ten myself I can guarantee you this is so true.

It’s not enough to just live a few years longer. Your goal should be to approach your 90’s living a full and active life free of debilitating lifestyle diseases and not residing in a long-term care facility with precious little quality of life.

So, what are you waiting for? Don’t leave it until it’s too late.

Now ask yourself, “Do I want a simple and easy approach to guaranteed weight loss and better health?”

The answer in a nut shell is, weight loss simply means eating less (especially sugar and processed foods) and adding in some regular exercise.

Try looking at it like this……….”refuse it, and then you don’t have to lose it”. It really works.

Another thing I have noticed is that most people tend eat food just for the taste it offers, not the nutritional value. Something well worth thinking about. Consistently making a few small changes here and there in your food choices will leave you amazed at the results over the longer term.

Successful weight loss can be a challenge, so……………….

………are you up for it? Your determination to succeed combined with the Success Formula I have laid out for you leaves you with absolutely no reason not to transform your body into the one you have always wanted.

The reason I have written this alternative plan of attack for you is this…..“Not only don’t diets work, they’re actually designed to fail. It’s not you or your lack of willpower that’s the problem. It’s that diets by their very nature simply don’t work.” – Bob Schwartz

My challenge to you is……..“When you can’t control what’s happening, challenge yourself to control the way you respond to what’s happening. That’s where your power is.”

Best wishes with your journey and please let me and all my readers know some of your inspirational weight loss stories of how you go and what did and didn’t work for you. It’s how we can all help each other to a better life.

Cheers – John – your Active Ageing Coach and Mentor.

P.S. Help a friend – like and share. Thanks.

P.P.S. Just before I go, here is another article I think you will also find very helpful……..it is all about why you’ll never lose weight without self-discipline. It has lots more good weight loss ideas, a link to an excellent downloadable guide on transforming your habits and more links to things like 5 simple diet changes that will make you lose weight.