The First Rule of Successful Weight Loss

I'm going to tell you the most important thing you'll ever hear about successful weight loss. And I guarantee you are not going to like it. I certainly didn't. I sulked for days before I woke up to myself and admitted the truth of this simple rule. I'd actually been told this fact repeatedly during my 10 years of being well overweight but I denied and ignored it.

Thus I suffered needlessly through 10 years of yo yo dieting at my own hands, through my own fault in refusing to believe the simple hard truth for my weight control diet and exercise program.

When I decided to get over myself and recognise the bleedingly obvious reason I was not losing weight, my world changed forever. It was like a fog clearing in my brain. How could I have been so stupid? (Don't answer that).

Sometimes the truth is very unpalatable and that's why so many of us don't face up to it.

Believe me, once you swallow your pride and face up to what I'm about to tell you, you will turn the corner and begin to lose weight and gain fitness almost immediately. It's your choice. But you are going to have to eat humble pie (no whipped cream, no second helping) and admit you have been WRONG.

Why is "I was wrong" so hard for us to admit when it could save us so much anxiety and conflict and depression?

Anyhow, get ready for some hard love.

You may believe that you are doing everything you can think of to eat properly and exercise regularly and yet you are not losing any weight. It could well be possible that despite your valiant attempts, you are even putting weight on.

You know that you are only eating around 1500 calories a day. You eat an excellent balanced diet. You are exercising 5-6 times per week for at least 30-60 minutes per session. You are frustrated, angry and bitter. Am I right so far? Remember I've been there.

Now this is the tough bit, so try to suspend your disbelieve because if you can, you are going to benefit big time.

When you say you are dieting and exercising properly, you are saying what you want to be happening, not what is actually occurring. You are not being truthful to yourself and your body is suffering the consequences.

If you were eating and exercising as I've outlined above, there would be no way you would remain overweight and unfit. You could maybe even compete successfully in a bodybuilding or fitness competition depending on the nature and intensity of your exercise program.

The reason you are not slim and taut and healthy and why you still hate to pass an uncovered mirror is that you are not actually doing what you claim to be.

I told you you wouldn't like it! But if you can cope with being wrong, we can fix it.

It's simple.

Prevent calorie amnesia by writing down everything you eat in your day, every day, starting today. Use a commercially available diet and exercise diary or make up your own in Excel on your computer.

Weigh your portions, read the labels, check your pocket calorie counter and be accurate. Yes it is tedious. Yes it is time consuming. And yes, it is the single best thing you can do for your diet - knowing, not guessing. It is a proven fact that people who accurately measure how much they eat and record the information daily are the most likely to lose weight and keep it off forever. Surely that is incentive enough.

With exercise, the story is the same. You have to actually do the workouts to get the benefits. To prevent exercise amnesia, you need to write down the accurate calories you expend each day as part of your diet and exercise diary record. The other important part of the exercise bit is that you must put some real effort into whatever exercise you do. It is next to useless to toddle along at a snail's pace. Sweat a bit. Get your heart rate up and you will lose weight.

There you have it. The simple truth that we all avoid for as long as we can. But if you are serious about losing fat and gaining fitness, you are going to have to face this fact eventually. The sooner the better.

How about today?

Rosie Peters gives common sense advice, encouragement and tips for weight loss, sensible diet and lifelong fitness. Sometimes it's not what you want to hear, but what you need to know. Visit Rosie at weight-control-diet-advice.com.

Rosie's e-Book Weight Loss is Simple may be just what you're looking for. Check it out and get a free copy of her popular e-Book, Fat No More, while you are there.