Are You Ready To Start?

This is an excerpt of my Free Weight Loss Plan, the Don’t Go Broke Weight Loss Plan.

Do you believe you are ready to start losing weight? I know you are thinking: “Of course I am ready.  Why do you think I am reading your blog?”  While I appreciate you reading, doing that does not prove you are ready to lose weight.

People often do much reading and throw large sums of money at weight loss.  They buy expensive foods and exercise equipment, join fancy gyms and buy all the newest books.  They assume that the money spent will keep them motivated.  WRONG!!!

I Was Not Ready

While I was in college and medical school, I spent a large percentage of the little money I had on weight loss.  I bought healthy smoothies, shakes, protein bars, supplements, fat burners, books and other crap I did not use.  I even bought organic foods.  I did not have to buy expensive exercise equipment because my school had a great gym…which I never used.  During that eight year period, I gained over 80 pounds.  Why?  I was not ready to lose weight.

You Ready?

You want to start a weight loss program that will change your life, but it will not help you if you are not ready.  Ask yourself these questions:

1.  Are you ready to work hard at changing your thinking?

• Albert Einstein said “Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.”  Your current thinking has not helped you lose weight, so you must be willing to change in order to succeed.

2.  Are you ready to stop your bad habits?

• To lose weight you are going to have to unlearn your bad habits and replace them with productive habits.  All behaviors can be learned or unlearned.

3.  Are you ready for a long but rewarding journey?

• Weight loss is a long journey that continues even after you achieve your goal.  There are no quick fixes.

4.  Are you ready to change your lifestyle permanently?

• Temporary lifestyle changes create temporary weight loss.  Permanent lifestyle changes create permanent weight loss.

5.  Are you ready to pick yourself up after you stumble?

• You will stumble.  You are human.  Occasionally, you will have lapses.  Expect them and get pass them.

6.  Are you ready to give up perfection?

• Success is the result of persistence and perseverance, not perfection.

7.  Are you ready to stop blaming others, your situation and yourself?

• You could spend the rest of your life blaming everyone and everything for you being overweight, but your time would be better spent trying to create and execute weight loss strategies.

8.  Are you ready to take control of your life?

• Until you accept full control of you and your life, you will never achieve your goals.  Not many people stumble upon success.

9.  Are you ready to stop making excuses?

• The road to failure is paved with great excuses.

10.  Have you addressed all the distractions in your life that could impede your progress?

• It is hard to make lifestyle changes when you have large distractions in your life.  If you are going through a messy custody battle, wait until it’s over to change your diet.  If you are moving to Japan next week, wait until after you are settled to start exercising.

11.  Do you believe that the rewards that come from weight loss outweigh the time and energy you will have to invest?

• In order to maintain lifelong lifestyle changes, you have to believe that the rewards that accompany weight loss are worth the effort.

12.  Do you believe you can and will lose weight?

• In order to lose weight, you must believe that you can lose weight.

If the answer to all of those questions is yes, then keep reading my posts.

Photo by pdbreen

Related posts:

1. You Are Positively In Control
2. Inexpensive Weight Loss
3. Weight Loss Starts With Behavior Change
4. Small Changes and Long-Term Thinking
5. Beware of Weight Loss Scams
6. Slow Weight Loss

Tagged as: Don't Go Broke Diet, Don't Go Broke Weight Loss Plan