Get ready to think.  A lot.  By the end, you’ll understand the reason why.

In the 14 years that I have been a fitness professional and helped people lose weight, a lot has changed.  The methods used today to help people drop bodyfat are based on a lot more knowledge, research, and real-world experience.  In fact, dropping body fat really has never been easier.

Immeasurably better exercise programming, strong awareness of the need for recovery, greatly improved nutrition research:  it all adds up to a system that helps people lose weight faster than ever.

So, if that’s the case:  why are so many people failing when they try and lose weight?

The brutally honest answer is a lack of consistency.  Because think about it:  consistently following a system that has been proven over and over again to cause weight loss… is GOING to cause weight loss!

So, next question:  if consistency is the issue, why aren’t people consistent?

Admittedly, it takes work to lose weight.  You’ll need to work hard.  You’ll need to choose quality food.  You’ll need to rest properly.  You’ll even be a little hungry, sometimes, no matter what the latest diet book or guru says.

But…(the next logical question):  why is it that some people can maintain consistency and successfully lose weight, while others seem unable to do so?

For nearly everyone, the answer is… motivation.  95 times out of 100, it will be the people with an EXCEPTIONALLY strong “reason why” who successfully drop inches and get into new and improved clothing sizes.

Knowing this, it’s time to look inside:  what is YOUR motivation for fitness, losing weight, being healthy, and improving your body?

Is it, in general, to “look better”?  I can assure you that this shallow reason has resulted in failure for nearly everyone we’ve trained.  In fact, I don’t train anyone anymore who can only answer their “reason why” with, “I want to look better.”

Looking better simply is not a strong enough reason why you should lose weight.  Period.  Go back to the drawing board, or more precisely, into the deep recesses of your mind, and find a better reason.

Is your reason why so that you can have a better quality of life, in terms of your day-to-day activities?  Experience shows that not even the “better quality of life” answer will create consistent action.  

For some, it takes the deep emotional pain of hearing their children say “I want to be really big like mommy” or “I wish my daddy would play with me like your daddy does” before they truly realize what has happened to their body.  The reality is that it’s not until people are able to provide a very specific reason for improving their quality of life that consistency begins to shine through.

And where consistency shines through, results follow.  

But we’re still not done.  Because, unfortunately, time and time again, it is a medical scare or injury that leads to the most successful weight loss efforts.  However, by then, for many people, it is literally too late.  As hard as this is to hear, by this time, it may be over.  

Unfortunately, a fatal heart attack or stroke does not allow someone the opportunity to change their habits, does it?

So, truly, the answer to weight loss is this:  using a STRONG, life-changing, compelling “reason why” as your motivator, consistently take action and apply the proven principles of dropping body fat.

It’s simple, really.  Find the most emotional, most life-changing, most rewarding or most painful reason to change your body.  Either way, when you truly FEEL those emotions, you should either want to jump up and down and tell everyone (reward-based motivation), or you should be shedding tears (pain-based motivation).  

Do you truly want consistency?  Find reasons on BOTH ends of the spectrum!  If you can achieve that, your likelihood of success increases beyond measure.

Spend time thinking about this.  Write down your answers for your “reason why”.  Pray and ask God to reveal some of your deepest emotions, both positive and negative.  Later this week and in the coming months ahead, we’ll start looking at some Biblical reasons for being healthy that I believe are going to forever change your life.

Stay tuned, find your reason why, and God bless y0u richly,

Jeremy Nelms

P.S.  If you feel comfortable, share some of your reasons why in the comments below!

Related posts:

1. Health, Fitness, and Reward in Heaven