The Best Kept Secret of Weight Loss

Want to know a secret?  Who doesn't?  This may, in fact, be the best kept secret of all in terms of weight loss and getting fit.  It's a big one.  Here goes.

Losing weight really isn't that hard, but it's not that easy, either.

Confused?  Don't be.  Allow me to explain, one part of the oxymoron at a time.

"Losing weight really isn't that hard"

Anyone who has ever tried losing weight is calling shenanigans on me right now.  But hold off judgement for a minute, please.  At its core, losing weight is a simple formula.  Calories burned off must be greater than calories taken in.  When this happens, viola, weight loss occurs.  But how do you get the equation in your favor?  The biggest thing you have working for you is your basal metabolic rate (BMR, calculate yours here), which is the number of calories your body burns doing all of the everyday tasks (breathing, heart beating, digesting food, etc) that you need to survive.  The rest of your equation is made up of the calories you consume and the calories you burn exercising.  Your BMR is pretty much set, and any changes are gradual and occur over time.  But your calorie consumption and calorie burn can be adjusted rather easily.  Eat healthier.  Choose a salad instead of french fries.  Drink less pop and more water.  Exercise.  Park at the end of the parking lot and walk instead of circling the lot looking for the closest spot.  Take the stairs.  There are literally 100's, if not 1000's, of unique and simple ways that you can help alter the weight loss equation into your favor.  The more you turn the equation in your favor, the faster the weight comes off.

See what I mean, losing weight really isn't that hard.

But wait, there's more.  "It's not that easy, either"

Now for the part where I go ahead and contradict myself.  If you've ever had the pleasure of watching any fitness equipment infomercial (shake weight, anyone?) or new fancy diet infomercial, the manufacturers would have you believe that all you need to do is make 3 easy payments and the excess weight will just disappear.  Hopefully you realize that isn't really true.  Remember your parents always telling you as a child that if something sounds too good to be true, it probably is?  Well, they were right again.  Any product making an outrageous claim about how much weight you will lose in almost no time at all, with almost no effort at all, is not worth your time or your dollars.  Those ads almost always have fine print, and in that fine print you learn that the results they are advertising are not typical.  Or the people claiming to lose the weight are really paid actors.  Or the before and after pictures aren't even the same person!  Or, or, or.  If it sounds too good to be true, listen to your gut and forget about it.

Boy, maybe losing weight isn't that easy after all.

Maybe we need to alter the best kept secret of weight loss.  Try this on for size:

"Losing weight really isn't as hard as you might think it is, but it's not as easy as some would like you to believe, either."

If you want to lose weight, you have to make a commitment to yourself to do it.  At the end of the day, that's the most important factor.  Hold yourself accountable.  If you struggle with that, enlist the help of someone else.  Maybe your spouse, or a friend.  Maybe hire a personal trainer to help with the process.  There is help available to those that need/want it, but the decision has to be yours.

If YOU are determined to do something about your weight, doing so becomes a whole lot easier than you ever thought it could be.  There's no better time to start than now.