Weight Loss Is A Total Lifestyle Change

It's a serious commitment to faithfully keep and real hard work (pretty much like what marriage is)! In this case, it's a relationship with your body you have to maintain and keep healthy.

When I decided to lose weight, I thought it was going to be as simple as popping a pill or not eating something.

No. It wasn't.

Sure you could just drink something, go to a clinic or starve yourself to emaciation, but then you go back to uncontrollable eating, unhealthy choices and bad habits, the pounds would just pile on faster and be harder to lose.

The key here is your motivation to lose weight. Unless your reasons for a change are deeply rooted, sustaining anything would be very hard. WHY do you want to lose weight? Do you want to look hot? Do you want to fit into a bikini? Do you want to be a model? Do you want to live longer? Do you want to feel better? Do you want to feel in control of yourself? Do you want to be more confident?

Whatever your compelling reasons may be, just be sure that you are safe and you don't compromise your health.

Apart from preparing myself mentally, I also had to prepare my body to lose the extra pounds. I also had to adjust my entire schedule, my grocery list, my budget and consider how these changes would be affecting my lifestyle and of those around me.

I know it sounds like I'm making it more complicated than it really is, but I just want to emphasize how much going healthy (with a side serving of losing weight) is a LIFE CHANGING EXPERIENCE and how it was very positive for me.

• CHANGE THE WAY YOU THINK. It's true when they say that the change starts within. I originally thought I could never go through with this and that I was doomed to drown in cholesterol. I was also afraid that if things didn't work out, I'd feel like a failure. I had to face the fact that I was justifying being too scared and lazy to start anything. Yup! It was hard at first, but the more I believed that it was possible, the better I felt to actually decide to do something and follow it up with action. It didn't take overnight, actually. It was a couple of weeks before I was confident enough to declare that I was going to make a change in my life.

• COMMIT. To yourself. Not to anyone else. You owe it to yourself to be the best you can be. Or if you're like me, look to your children. I could do it for myself anytime, but for my kids? I have to do this NOW. Their childhood is fleeting enough and my sense of urgency comes from this. I want to be healthy and strong enough to be able to enjoy their childhood with them. I don't want them to remember me as the perpetually tired and cranky old lady who happened to be their mother.

• PLAN. Be strict with yourself and draw up a list of your goals, your timeline and how you plan to achieve them. Be as detailed as you want to be, as long as it helps you and doesn't detract from what you want to achieve.

• FOLLOW THROUGH. Go on steadily with your plans. Know that there's no turning back when you've said good-bye to your old self. You own your life now and nothing can stop you. When there are bad days (and there will be), just whip out that list and remind yourself why you're on this journey.

Be patient and realistic. You know you've piled on the pounds for years so be kind to yourself and know that it's not going to show for a few weeks or months yet. However, the change starts INSIDE where you don't see it yet and that's the MOST important thing.

Having people around you who are supportive really helps a lot. If you're surrounded by negativity, find a support group who will be cheering you on this path. Or if you've a strong will, use that negative feedback to fuel your own determination. You''ll be having the last laugh and the living luscious proof of your life change staring them in the face when all is said and done. :)