As with any plan there are always rules. Weight loss is no different; after all it is a battle, a battle of mind over body and every battle has rules. Below is what I consider to be the golden rules of weight loss.

These are, in order,

• You are responsible for yourself and actions

• There are downsides as well as ups, take the rough with the smooth

• Pick the weight loss routine suitable for you

• Take the routine seriously

• And follow through to the end

You are responsible for yourself and actions

Remember, a diet is a selfish action; it is for one person and one person only. A diet should be undertaken for your own needs and desires, not others, for this reason alone it is your very person that is responsible for its success or failure. Pressure is applied more often than not by others and surroundings, but you will have to be strong.

There will be up’s and down’s

So, going with the theory that most people will take some time to realize the truth of the magic rules, the first thing that you need to do then to begin your weight loss regime, is to realize that it is not going to be an easy road to walk or run down.

There will be many tempting goodies like: cream cakes, full fat coffees, cream cheese bagels, the ever popular Burger chains and so on and so forth, littering your path. It is up to you to resist and not give in to these temptations.

I kid you not! It will not be easy so I will not even pretend that we can pass these by without being tempted one or two times and indeed giving into temptation. That would be delusion on a grand scale, and since we are for the moment at least, all about self-honesty, let’s acknowledge the fact that we will fall off the wagon, most do.

But as I said earlier, what matters is not that you fell off the wagon in the first place, but what you do with yourself afterwards. Get up, dust off those cookie crumbs and get right back on the weight loss wagon. You can do it.

And this is really what you need to realize so early on, the fact that you will fall off the weight loss wagon, and the fact that your road will be literally paved with tempting morsel after tempting morsel.

Once you can realize and acknowledge this fact for yourself, you will find that you are better armed to deal with these.

You will also find that being prepared for these little wayside problems, makes it easier for you to tackle them head on, and in many cases, makes it easier for you to turn a blind eye to temptation (most of the time).

Pick a Weight loss Routine Best For You

You have decided that you want to lose weight and you are going about trying to find a way to make this a reality.

Now you need to take a few minutes away from your busy schedule to deicide exactly what measures you can implement in your lifestyle to make it easier for you to lose weight, and also decide how much time you are willing to devote to doing this.

This might be more difficult for you than you think, but the thing is for it not to become daunting at this first hurdle.

If you have only a very minimal time frame on your hands to devote to your goal of losing weight, there is no need to despair.

Since you have already begun the crucial process, you only need to follow through with it and implement a plan that will enable you to do so despite your busy schedule.

Take things one at a time and don’t try to do everything at once. With a limited amount of time on your hands first concentrate on one aspect of your weight loss plan.

If you want to implement an exercise regime, then do so. Leave the diet plans for a later date when you are better able to deal with it, or when your exercise routine has become a set part of your life.

This way, you will be able to gradually incorporate your entire weight loss plan into your life, without having to leave anything out, or without having to feel beleaguered.

The key factor when going through with this golden rule is that you need to find the right balance of diet and/ or exercise for you, the one plan that will fit seamlessly into your lifestyle habits without taking you too out of your way.

Take the Routine Seriously

If you went through the earlier golden rule, you know that in choosing the best weight loss plan for you, you need to choose one that fits into your lifestyle.

The reason you are doing this, is to make this particular golden rule – the one about following through on your weight loss plan – a reality instead of a wish.

Many people, myself included, find it easiest to start something; it is the follow through that we find difficult, and because of this, we find it easy to let go of our ideas and plans when the going gets tough.

By choosing a weight loss plan that fits naturally into your lifestyle to begin with, you are making it that much easier for you to stay the course and to follow through on your weight loss plans.

If you look at it reasonably you will see that what I am saying makes sense. Think about it. If you have great ideas on how to lose weight and put them into action, you can be assured that for the first few days and weeks at least that you will go through with them.

But what happens when you have to break through your routine to attend to something else? Since life can never be planned out down to a T, you can be assured of getting these interruptions, and frequently, if you lead a busy life.

Well, to begin with, you would try and keep as close to your plans as possible, but there may be one or two days when you need to abandon them altogether to accommodate outside influences.

When this happens, which weight loss plan do you think you are most likely to follow through on, once you get back to your normal routine?

The one which is great, but which takes you out of your normal routine and which requires you to push and prod yourself to get back into it?

Or the one which is maybe not as great as your original grand plan, but which runs more or less parallel to your normal routine, and which you can fall into more easily because it doesn’t require you to go out of your way?

I know which one I would chose, but this is because I know myself. I know that if I had to go out of my way over and over again, if I had to push and prod myself to get into my weight loss routine every time life threw a curveball at me that I would not follow through with it.

In fact, my life to date is littered with many of these grand weight loss plans and schemes, and for myself at least, I can attest that none of these worked the wonders that they should have. The plans were sound; it was the execution of them that left a lot to be desired!

It took a little bit more of down-to-earth thinking, and my realization of the golden rules for me to lose weight successfully and keep it off.

What you need to take away from this section, is the knowledge that sometimes life will throw a spanner in the works. You will find your weight loss plans going for a six, but that doesn’t mean that you should quit.

Whether you have a “great” weight loss plan, or whether you have a not-so-great weight loss plan in the works, you need to follow through on your original plans and ideas and not give up.

It is at this point in your weight loss plans that it’s going to be all too easy to give up and go back to your old ways. Don’t.

If you think you might have trouble on the follow through, be prepared for this eventuality and plan for it accordingly.

And follow it through the end

The thing that will help you to lose weight, and will also help you to keep the weight off, is if you follow the plan through to the very end with your decision to lose weight.

In other words if you have set yourself a target weight, then stick to it. Follow through to the end, and don’t give up.

If you have been reading through the earlier sections, or if you have gone down this route before, then you know how much easier it is to start yourself on a weight loss regime than it is to continue on with it.

And you will also probably know how much easier it is to follow through on such a course if you give yourself a little nudge, than it is to see it through to completion.

Many of us, even if we do manage to successfully drag ourselves through our weight loss routine day after day, will find that it is harder to stay on track as time goes by and your goal comes ever closer.

In my case most of the time, even when I followed through to nearly the end, I found myself losing the will to continue.

This was mainly due to the fact that I was not as committed in the beginning as I could have been which in turn meant that I was only staying the course because I was forcing myself to do so, and not because I really wanted to.

And this meant that when the going got tough, I got going – in the opposite direction most times!

Since it was difficult enough to stay the course when things were happening normally in my life, it was near on impossible to stay the course when things went even slightly out of sync.

The end result? I would always, always find some way, some little loophole to exploit which would necessitate my going off my weight loss regime.

So to see you through to your weight loss target, you need to follow through, and make a conscious decision that you will see it through to the end. But you also need to have that commitment to yourself and to your goal that you will see it through to the end.

And really, it is only when you want to do this, when you have the commitment to stick with it come hell or high water, that you will find that you not only lose the weight, but you find that you also keep it off.

By: Sarah BB

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