--Patience During Weight Loss-

These people want to see a loss of five to ten pounds in a week because that's what shows like "The Biggest Loser" would have you believe is healthy and possible in a new weight loss regimen.

Patience During Weight Loss

Either they have been duped by some fad magic diet that promises substantial results fast but doesn't deliver the numbers it purports. Or they have deluded themselves into thinking that that one or two pound loss isn't enough and doesn't mean real progress.

If you really want to change, you'll be patient and deal with the annoying stuff as it comes.

In summary, the best way to deal with the weight not coming off as fast as you want it to is to simply resign yourself to realizing that change doesn't happen overnight and in the case of substantial weight loss it could take a year or more.

This can happen for a number of reasons.

It's also important to remember, as i've outlined before, that you don't have to be perfect in your habits, that can drive even the most strong willed person nuts. Just try your best.

Diets and lifestyle changes can be hard though. Most people, when embarking on a long and life changing journey like this, will give up within the first couple of weeks. Why do they give up and why are the odds stacked against you when you start? Well, there are essentially two reasons which I've deduced, based purely on my own experience.

In addition, you have to be wanting to change for yourself and for your own personal reasons. You have to want to better yourself for yourself, otherwise it will never work.

First, the first few weeks of intense willpower and discipline it takes for new habit formation can simply be too much for someone to sustain. That's why it's important to make these first few weeks as easy and as psychologically pleasant as possible. I've detailed more about willpower and what it takes in the first few weeks of a new diet and exercise regimen in previous articles. The second reason many people don't follow through with their new lifestyle is because they haven't seen any significant changes in their body and/or weight in the first few weeks of their new journey.

What's the best way to deal with this long wait for change though?

In essence, if you've made the decision to change for good, patience, willpower and discipline should be non issues. They should simply be things that have to be dealt with in making a new life for yourself.

Simply said, it takes patience to see those kinds of changes.

That's great! Good for you.

So you've made the decision that you want to change your lifestyle and lose weight.

Real progress in a weight loss program should follow the extremely wise adage that applies for most anything else. Slow and steady wins the race.

Just like willpower and discipline, patience is extremely hard to endure until you're used to it.

I think, it's best to just try to be happy with your progress so far and keep reminding yourself how good it feels to be healthier than you were, even if it's just a little bit healthier.

Patience is one of the hardest things to deal with in a weight loss program, and it's completely understandable that you'd want the weight to come off as soon as possible, but if you have a good habit in place of recording your food and eating well, along with some exercise, you'll hardly think about how long it's taking.

Don't get me wrong, if you're doing things right you should see at least a little bit of a decrease in that number on the scale but for many people that isn't enough so they get discouraged.