How To Keep the Weight Off Forever

If you can find the answer to this one question, then you will have the key to unlock your own weight loss transformation and keep the pounds off forever:Weigh in

WHY do you want to lose weight?

Anyone can lose weight if they eat right and exercise.  But the difference between someone who keeps losing and gaining the same 20 pounds versus the person who has maintained weight loss for over two years lies in the answer to the above question.

How Strong is Your Reason?

What seems like a mild nudge to me may feel like a fire under your ass to you.  For example, when my doctor told me I was borderline obese I was in denial.  Was I chubby?  Sure.  But borderline obese?  Don’t get me wrong, I knew I was overweight but compared to people on The Biggest Loser I seemed pretty “normal” heavy.  So the doctor’s assessment stung my pride but didn’t get me in the gym.

My brother, on the other hand, was told he had diabetes and high blood pressure and the doctor was amazed he wasn’t dead.  Within a year my brother dropped 90 pounds because he saw his doctor’s assessment as a life-or-death situation.

My brother after losing 90 lbs.
My brother after losing 90 lbs.

As I mentioned in my book and on American Grit, when my husband told me he would always love me but ‘just wasn’t attracted to me right now,’ I saw the death of my marriage flash before me.  I saw him divorcing me for a younger woman and me having to go back to work but not getting a good job because none of my office clothes fit me anymore.  I had to lose weight to both repair my marriage and keep my family together, or to be able to support my kids as a single working mom, requiring me to fit into my office clothes again.  Thus, no matter what the scenario, failure was not an option.

Training for my first bikini competition
Training for my first bikini competition

I’ve worked with enough clients to see that the ones who are only sort of motivated (for a wedding a month away or who think that they “should” lose weight to please someone else) will lose 7-15 pounds and then quit, but the ones who are driven by very high stakes (“I have to get off the medication!  It’s killing me!” or “I’m so sick of weighing over 200 pounds!  I’m disgusted with myself!”) are the people who lose the most weight the fastest and tend to keep it off.

When a person mildly wants to lose weight, she will take “just a bite” of her friend’s dessert at a restaurant, will cancel training sessions when it’s too cold, or hot, or raining, or a Tuesday, and will struggle through the motions until she quits.

When a person has a reason to lose weight that is stronger than any mild discomfort she may face, nothing, I mean nothing will stand in that chick’s way.  Not being tired.  Not going to a birthday party.  Not an injury.  She will do whatever it takes to meet her goal.healthy-meal

To guarantee your own success, you need to figure out what that fire is for you.  Grab a notebook and a pen (or a computer if you prefer typing) and really ask yourself why you want to lose weight.  The first answer you write may be generic, like “to have more energy.”  Keep asking yourself why.  Why do you want more energy?  Is it because you feel like you’re turning into your own mother who never did anything with you?  Is it because you see your thinner friend doing more exciting things than you?  If you had more energy then what fantastic things would you be doing in your life that you’re not doing now?  Keep digging, keep asking why.  Really feel into this exercise until you find your reason, your fire that keeps you going even when the going gets tough.

You have to find your reason.

If you are serious about losing weight and need help reaching your goals, send me an email at sheslosingit.net@gmail.com or sign up for my online training program S.L.I. Method.  It includes a meal plan, exercise plans, a fitness video library and lots of motivational and instructional videos and help from me.

Be healthy!

Lisa 🙂

Lisa Traugott is a Mom’s Choice Award winning writer, fitness blogger, wife and mom of two….and Original Cast Member of AMERICAN GRIT, starring John Cena, Thursdays at 9 PM EST/8 PM CST on FOX!!!

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ShesLosingIt.com (c) 2012-2016 Lisa Traugott. All rights reserved. No portion of this blog, including any text, photographs, video, and artwork, may be reproduced or copied without written permission.

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