The funny thing about weight loss is that we are so unrealistic about the whole thing.  I mean, really! Are our distorted expectations so unbelievable when you consider the way we are inundated by weight loss ads for diets, surgeries, pills, fat blockers, and hundreds of other things professing to help Americans lose weight-with only the tiniest effort needed on our part?   On top of all that good news comes the promise that the weight will come off yesterday. "What are you waiting for?" they badger.  And if you don't buy in (literally) they will be quick  to blame you for missing out.

In fact, it was never really going to happen.  Not the way they say, and certainly not yesterday, today or tomorrow. No magic wand or pill, or surgically implanted device is going to do it; and when it doesn't, they'll be quick to say it's all your fault, you just didn't do "it" right, and maybe you need to sign on again and do it better.  The fad pushers might honestly think they are in the helping business, and granted,  they might have helped a small percentage of their desperate customers, but for the rest of us schleppies who are still waiting for the magic that will make everything okay, I'm sorry to say that the wait is going to be a long one.

Nearly every advertisement I see attempts to convince dispirited, hopeless you that there is a secret way to do this, and that way is known only to them. Admittedly, it is tempting to click and buy some of the inexpensive magic. Even I occasionally wonder if maybe one of the advertised miracle drinks  will work. Maybe you really can go down two pounds by drinking their "potion" and working your way through Grandma's basic Sunday dinner of  lasagna, cheesy garlic bread, sausage and a slice of pie. Ah, but sadly, even they know their magic is bogus. They artfully hide the small print that usually reads something like "Guaranteed to work as long as you eat very small portions of a healthy, low-salt diet that includes fruits and vegetables and plenty of water."  That is actually the funny thing, because if you did only that, you would lose weight! But, hey, haven't I been telling you that for free? Yep, do that, skip the placebo-the magic-and you're on your way.

For some reason, this week my thoughts have really gone to our problem with impetuous behavior.  Why do we insist on believing such nonsense, and why do we think that it is actually possible to lose 10 pounds per week, every week until we reach goal?  And why do we persist in telling ourselves that if we can't get it done that way, then why even bother?  Why do we throw in the towel every time?  Why have you done it every single time you have tried to lose weight?  Think about that.  Every single time! Maybe some times not as quickly as other times, but in the end, isn't that what we keep doing? 

The funny-boo-hoo thing is that what we dream of and hope for, what we have spent thousands of dollars to attain, is right in front of us.  It is as immediate as this very moment.  Once you make your first real commitment to this journey, you can put everything else aside; once you start, really start, you have arrived! Let me say that again...Once you take your first real step on this journey toward weight loss and health, you have arrived at your goal!  The rest is just a matter of time.  Ahh, time... "How much time?" you ask wearily, before even taking the first step. Well, here is the answer:  longer than you want, but less than you expect.  And to be honest, what else are you doing?  I mean, if you are not being consistent and continuously losing your weight, then what are you doing?  Gaining weight? Yo-yoing? Starving? What? What crazy plan seems like such a great idea that you keep doing it? 

Think about the hundreds of times you have started to eat well, felt good about yourself and then hit a bump or pebble in the road and just stopped, only to start down the same path again a few weeks later?  Aren't you tired of it?  And the kicker is, if you hadn't stopped on only one of those occasions, you would be enjoying your goal weight right now!  Listen to me, please. It isn't too late! All that is in the way of you and the healthy body you have dreamt of for years is a shift in the way you think about it. 

This is the way it looks.  You get started my way. You start today, Thursday, or whatever day you happen to read this.  Forget what you ate last night, forget what you had earlier today, or even what you are eating at this very moment.  Now, let's go further.  Let's also forget about what the next week or holiday party, or dinner, or office get-together might look like. You see, if you are still using those things as excuses for choosing to consciously put aside your goals for weight loss and improved health, then know this: you will not make your goal weight, ever. 

 If you still think that someday in the future your time will come, and you don't think right now will work out, then know that your time will never come because right now is when you will have to choose-even if it is a right now that comes a year from this right now.  I know how difficult this is, but I am telling you the truth. Perhaps what has stopped you all along is the fact that you have not recognized this truth.  For those of you who are saying to yourselves, "Yes. She's right," I ask if you are willing to change the way you think about how long it will take and take your first step?  I can guarantee that you will be amazed at how quickly your entire body and mind shift back into the woman or man you always knew you were intended to be.

I wish I could give you what I have already learned.I did it with that exact thought. I realized that if it weren't right now, then it would be not ever.  When I started and got difficult I reminded myself that it would be difficult for just a moment, that I would be hungry for just a day or so or maybe off and on, but I would learn what hunger really meant after awhile: that feeling I used to fear, I now embrace because it means I'm losing weight!  The first time that I hung in there instead of throwing in the towel, the first time I went to a party and didn't succumb, the first time I planned out my day and weekends and holidays were firsts in my knowing that I had arrived. The body just needed to catch up with me. If you truly understand what I have just said, if it has clicked for you, then this moment could be your "Aha" moment.  The rest is just a matter of time, and we all have plenty of that, right? 

Just lose it!

that those new diets that "Burn Stomach Fat!" are completely bogus? If not, then human physiology changed somewhere along the line and I didn't get the memo.  I know my body is working as it always has. It changes every year, and I can't regulate where the weight goes by simply eating certain foods. It would be fun if I could. It would be even more fun if they could tell me what foods burn off arm fat. Yep, that's the one I want!  So the claim is bogus, as are the old wives' tales warning that certain foods add fat to particular areas on the body.  It just doesn't happen like that. The only way you can target an area and lose fat there is by sucking it out directly. Other than liposuction, there is not a single other way to burn off belly fat!  Why are there tons of misleading ads out there? I surely don't know how they can say what they do. I guess they figure that if people are desperate enough, they will pay for a product even when their common sense tells them they are throwing away their money.  

So let me break it down for you. Remember when you were thinner, or younger, or whatever that time was before you first experienced excess weight?  Do you remember where you first noticed it?  For me it was my arms, face, legs and buttocks.  After the initial weight gain it was hard to know exactly where the additional pounds went. As you work your way up on the scale, the fat tends to spread out everywhere.  So, when you are coming back down the scale, the pounds are going to come off the same way they came on, and the first place you gained will be the last place you lose.  How it all occurs is the result of genetics, your body's makeup.  You cannot choose a specific place to lose it because it just doesn't work that way.

Here is another thing that I hear from time to time: "Turn your fat to muscle in these 3 fun and easy steps!" Well, once again, this is impossible-unless they are selling some kind of magic bean. If anything that sounds this ridiculous actually works, then it's magic, folks, and you can sign me up!  Unfortunately, it is impossible to turn fat to muscle. Fat is fat, and you must burn it off if you want to lose it.   Similarly, muscle is muscle. Muscles become firm and larger if nourished with good proteins and worked by proper exercise.  So, for the person wanting to change her body into a lean, mean, grooving machine, there is only one way to get there. That's right Lucy... we lose it Berta's way: high fiber, low (good) fat foods, moderate eating and consistency. 

Now then, what about that six pack?  I know plenty of people who lose by going the bodybuilding route. They do hundreds of sit-ups and push-ups only to become disappointed when there is no evidence of the six-pack.  After all those sit-ups, they feel justified in thinking they should have abs of steel.

Well, they're correct; they should see improvement, and they would if it weren't for that fat layer on top of the six-pack...and the triceps and the quads and the glutes!  But, there it is!  If that's the type of exercise you're into, then great.  Just don't become disappointed when it takes a little bit longer to see the desired results.  If your body fat still needs to come down, you need to do something to burn it off.  You can do this more quickly by combining good food choices with a cardio workout plan.  Just don't think that doing a few hundred sit-ups will transform your stomach fat to muscle. I wish it would, but it won't. 

Another fairy tale you have heard is that what people like to call "cellulite" can be eradicated with very expensive creams.  Cellulite is a made up of water and fat; if you want to get it to smooth out a little bit, eliminate the water retention and watch it smooth out nicely.  That's what body builders do before a competition: they lose the water. Male and female competitors with hard bodies all have to get rid of some water retention before they can strut their stuff.

One more thing that needs addressing is the "muscle weighs more than fat" issue. Muscle does, in fact, weigh more than fat. However, when someone starts to work out and her weight goes up a little bit, she will often rationalize the weight gain by throwing me the  "muscle weighs more than fat" line.  I am, at times, a bit lost for words when this explanation is offered so knowingly. Firming your muscles might cause a weight difference of a few ounces, or so, but if you  work out so seriously that you gain muscle weight, chances are good that you are not reading this e-zine!

The truth, for the rest of us, is that we are not working out so strenuously that muscle weight is registering on the scale.  In fact-sorry to burst another bubble-if your weight goes up shortly after you start an exercise regimen, in all likelihood it's because you are eating more after your stint at the gym. The fact of the matter is  (generally speaking, that is) that the majority of people who come to see me or who read my e-zine have a problem moderating their food intake. When we begin to exercise, we burn off calories. That is great, but then we start getting to the point where we are about to lose a bit of weight, our bodies respond by making us hungrier and sometimes thirstier.

Why? Because your body is programmed to maintain the status quo. It doesn't think it's too big; it is protecting itself from the famine that could befall it at any moment.  So, the gym tends to put many of us in double-dutch! Not only do we have a problem regulating our intake, but after the gym, we do not have a problem telling ourselves that the intensity of our workout gives us license to eat a bit more. While the latter would be true if you were focused on maintaining your weight, but if it is weight loss you're after, you still have to follow the weight loss rules. Click on How You Should Feel for an audio refresher.

To sum it up, if you have just started to work out and your weight is up, you are either retaining water or you have started to eat more because the workout is causing hunger as your body tries not to give up its stored fat. A slippery slope this is!  I realize this information about working out might sound a bit discouraging, but if you stick to your guns, working out can make you lose weight even faster; it just might create a challenge you did not anticipate. Check out Shake your Bootyfor a few fun tips on exercise that you might really enjoy.

I know that all this news about miracle diets and exercising might sound a bit disappointing, but in reality, I take comfort in the fact that at the end of the day the world is still as I thought it was.  Magic pills won't keep you from eating; magical food combinations won't eliminate the belly fat; and magic cream won't erase unsightly fat deposits. Magic simply doesn't exist.  Again, I wish it weren't so. If it were, I would be the first one on line, and I would provide you with the link to sign up; alas, it is just not like that.  I know you want to get to your goal yesterday, and nothing is fast enough, but how much did you weigh last week?  How about the week before? And the week before that?  Generally speaking, probably about the same as now.  But...if you were consistent with your eating, and you followed some simple rules, you could lose 1 to 4 pounds per week. Three weeks from now, you could weigh 3-12 pounds less.  That is not a magic pill, or lotion, or gimmick; that's just a fact Jack!  Click here to Get Started Losing it Today!

Just Lose It Baby!

    Bon Appétit!