Weight loss: It starts with a decision

There comes a point for everyone who considers themselves to be "overweight" "fat" or "obese" to make a decision to lose weight. So what happens? Well, you:

• Decide to go on a calorie restricted diet of some sort - most of the "diets" you see in the popular press are based on some sort of calorie reduction, it doesn't matter what it's called if you look beyond the hype and the name it's reducing calories - and sometimes beyond what your body can sustain - hence why we yo-yo so much.
• Decide to take up a sport or exercise a bit more - if you want to create an energy deficit that allows you to burn more of the fuel you consume, you are going to need to exercise. But I'm afraid going for a 30 minute stroll 3 times a week isn't really going to do that much. What we see are people who buy a gym membership and think that somehow (maybe through association or osmosis) you are going to lose weight, or they go for a couple of months - fail to get the results they were hoping for and give up.
• You choose to do a combination of the two - this is pretty typical. Unfortunately, restricting your calorie intake without knowing what you are doing can see you crash and burn pretty quickly. I call it running out of steam - if you imagine an old fashioned steam-train. If you fail to keep the furnace burning at the right temperature you are going to stop, and that's what tends to happen to most diet and exercise programs.

And then what happens?

If you are like most people, if you haven't kept up some sort of weight training (resistance training) your muscles will have been used first and foremost to fuel your body's energy requirements - muscle is easier to burn than fat and is always called upon first in times of stress (ie diet)....weight training can help to prevent this from happening....so you re-gain the weight you have lost and then a bit more.

You then get discouraged so you either continue to eat "normally" or you start the whole process again - usually at a much higher weight than you were before.

So how do you break the cycle?

As much as I hate to say this, but you need to make a decision or two:

• Get some help. After years of working predominantly on my own I still only manage to maintain my current weight /size (my diet is calorie neutral) - I do enough exercise to burn off the food I have eaten, I have decided to get some proper help. In this case with a personal training company that also offers nutritional help and advice - Efit121
• Follow through with the plan. As hard as it may be to begin with, you need to follow the plan. As your mind and your body gets used to the changes you can tweak the diet and the exercise program to get better results.
• Make sure you have the support of the people around you. Not just the trainers, but your partner, your kids, your work colleagues and friends. They all need to stand in your corner as you beat the weight problem for the last time.
• Don't go on a diet. Never ever tell yourself you are going on a diet. Let's face it, we all know the word "diet" is synonymous with feeling hungry. Manipulate your nutrition so you can use what you consume to lose fat and weight.
• Move it if you want to lose it
• Tell yourself you can - because you can if you want to. As I said in the beginning weight loss starts with a decision. Are you ready to begin the process yourself?

As I work through the next 97 days of my own 100 day challenge I will keep you informed of the progress, the pitfalls. I will tell you what works and what isn't. I will document my daily struggles and the triumphs and I will put my body on the line so you can see for yourself what is possible.