Weight Loss and Healthy Living

The final key points to success may seem surprising but are based on the author's years of successfully coaching clients to better health.

3. Consistency

For most people, gaining fat did not happen overnight. It was a long a process. They consistently applied an unhealthy lifestyle with perhaps a habit of not exercising, and over time they accumulated enough fat to become concerned about it.

Losing fat is not going to be a fast process. Some of the most common questions on the Internet are, 'What is the fastest way to lose a lot of weight?' and 'What is the easiest, most effective way to burn fat?' The answer to these simple: the fastest way to lose fat is the only way to lose fat. If you are already dropping between 1 - 2 percent of your total body weight each week (for example, if you weigh 100 kilos and are dropping 1 - 2 kilograms per week) you are doing a phenomenal job. You can't make the body lose any faster!

The body can only process so much fat. While there are techniques to drop weight more quickly, the extra weight becomes water weight and muscle tissue rather than quality fat. Unfortunately, extreme techniques to lose weight almost often result in failure. This is because they typically involve a diet that is difficult to stick with or an intensity of exercise that is impossible to sustain. Once the subject loses weight, they go back to their old habits and gain it back again.

The key to successful, permanent fat loss is consistency. You must find a program that you can live with and apply it day in and day out. Don't place a time limit on your success. It is important to take note of your progress and make adjustments where necessary, but don't fall into the 'all-or-nothing' trap of giving up if you don't see results as quickly as you'd like. Plateaus, or periods when you stop dropping pounds, are actually part of the process and perfectly normal. By applying a consistent routine than you can stick with, you'll not only shed the unwanted fat over time, but be able to keep it off once you reach your goals.

4. Flexibility

Too many programs require strict adherence to a set of rules in order to succeed. While sometimes this type of discipline is necessary to make changes to your lifestyle, often you will find there are certain aspects of a program that aren't suited to your schedule.

For example, many weight loss programs ask that you perform cardiovascular exercise in a fasted state first thing in the morning. Some people have no problem doing this. Others find that they are weak or even nauseous when they attempt to workout without eating first. Yet others are required to wake up extremely early for their jobs and can't seem to find time in the morning to train.

Does this mean these people are doomed to failure? No. Part of being flexible is addressing your schedule and your lifestyle. If you don't have time in the morning, do it in the afternoon. If you are weak before you train, have something to eat. Be flexible. If you have more energy, you're going to burn more calories and shed more fat than if you train when you are weak. If you perform the workout at the best time in your schedule, you are more likely to stick with it. Doing the workout consistently should be the first goal, not rearranging your schedule to try to force it during a certain time of the day.

Nutrition is another area to be somewhat flexible. Obviously if you are a vegetarian and a certain program calls for heavy meat consumption, you should seek a different style of nutrition for your program. Allergies, religious beliefs, and personal tastes may also dictate what foods are practical for a program. Instead of relying 100% on a 'system' to lose fat, you should be flexible enough to modify a program so that it fits your own personal preferences. If you aren't sure how to make these changes enlist the aid of a dietician or nutritionist who is trained and qualified to help.

5. Belief

The final and most important key to successful, permanent fat loss is belief.

You must have belief in the program you are following and you must believe in yourself.

Few people who doubt their ability to shed fat and keep it off ever succeed. It requires faith and belief in order to overcome obstacles and stick with the lifestyle changes long enough to see the transformation take place. Without belief, it is too easy to give up or keep trying something else but never really make any progress.

The first and most important belief is in your own ability to create change. If you struggle with this, go online and search for stores of others who have successfully transformed their lifestyle. Seek them out through friends and associates, or through articles and stories. Ultimately the most powerful way is to meet other individuals who have successfully shed fat and kept it off so that you can help solidify your own belief in the possibility.

The second belief is in your choices for training and nutrition. It is difficult to stick with a program that you don't believe in. If you are not comfortable with your current program, you need to either find a new program or take whatever steps are necessary to build on that belief. Ultimately, the program that will produce the most is the one you also believe in the most.

Now you have been given ten keys to permanent fat loss success. The first five are the areas to avoid - the myths that people mistakenly follow and end up stuck in a dead end. The last five are your action items for success. It may have surprised you that the keys are not about certain calories, foods, or training, but mostly about your mindset and how you approach the solution. Your mind is by far your most powerful muscle to flex while tackling the issue of shedding fat. Focus on this and the rest will fall into place!

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