Weight loss tips: how to avoid ditching a diet

Maintaining the motivation to move more and consume less crap may seem like a sensible solution to sustaining a slender silhouette, but the reality of this simple saying often resembles a discouraged dieter who is destined to ditch their 'diet' before dropping a dress size.

Before you become another 'average adult' who gives up on their weight loss goals after 19 days - the time that it takes a person to ditch a new diet - read and remember these realistic tips...

1. Challenge creates change.
Stepping outside of your comfort zone may seem scary, but pushing beyond your boundaries will challenge you to the point of physical and psychological change - embrace it.

2. Obstacles will overwhelm you.
Whether it's worrying about your 'wobbly bits' when you workout, struggling to sustain the stamina to smash a tough training session or battling to banish the binges that leave you beaten, obstacles may overwhelm you, but they will only overpower you if you fail to believe in your capacity for change.

3. Temptation will dent your discipline.
Although there will be times when the temptation to turn to tasty treats takes over, a moment of weakness does not resemble a reason to give up on your goals. One 'bad' day won't damage your diet, but one 'bad' day repeated on a regular basis will - remember that.

4. Slip ups will set you back.
If your strict schedule has left you failing to sustain sensible food swaps and/or forced you to skip a training session (or ten!), learn your lesson, reevaluate your routine and tweak your weight loss plan to suit your time, and the triggers that tempt you into hindering your healthier habits - weight loss should resemble realistic lifestyle changes that compliment your capabilities, not a ridiculous routine that fuels future failure.

5. Exercise isn't easy.
Whether it's sweating it out on a stationary bike or tackling the tame terrain of the treadmill, your weekly workouts will leave you looking (and feeling!) like a sweaty, oxygen starved mess - accept it, adapt to the 'awkward' situations and see every sweaty struggle as one step closer to the strength and stamina that you strive for.

6. It takes time.
Although your desperation to drop a dress size may fuel your frustration when you fail to see rapid results, don't expect to effectively eliminate excess weight in a matter of weeks - it's impossible to oust an accumulation of additional weight over night when you've spent years over consuming the calories that have contributed to your wider waistline.

Summary: before you beat yourself up for your 'failure' to fight the flab, take a moment to relax and remember that no matter how hard you have worked to maintain your healthier habits, life will always get in the way of weight loss. Although mistakes may make you more inclined to give up on your goals, every 'slip up' is not only a lesson learned, but another opportunity to design a 'diet' that works for you, and your weight loss weaknesses - use it as a weapon against your wider waistline. 


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