Mental roadblocks to easy weight loss programs

While the term easy weight loss programs may imply a struggle-free journey to your ideal weight, we can’t promise that obstacles will be totally non-existent. While creating new habits and starting an exercise program will get you off to a great start, there are many other elements that play a factor in weight loss. The best thing to do is to understand the challenges that may stand in your way and have a strategy for dealing with them.

Accept imperfection. It’s important to understand that everybody encounters obstacles along the path to a new, healthier lifestyle. Even when you’re working with the best doctors at the best weight loss clinics, you still may get off track from time to time. The most important thing is to not expect perfection or beat yourself up when you have a setback. Expecting perfection only sets you up for failure. It’s essential to remember that no one is perfect!

Punishing yourself or feeling shame. Know that there will be ups and downs with any of the easy weight loss programs available to you. If you do experience a setback in the form of a cheat day or a weight gain, don’t stop logging your meals in your food diary out of shame or disappointment. Simply get back on the track the next day and take a look back through the days that you did eat healthy—and keep logging away. Whatever you do, don’t punish yourself—simply learn a lesson from the experience.

Setting unrealistic deadlines
Many people have succumbed to the idea of losing weight by an unrealistic deadline, due to an upcoming special event such as a vacation, wedding, party or class reunion. Sometimes people will take extreme measures, like taking too many medical diet pills or overloading themselves on weight loss products to nearly starve themselves to fit into an unrealistic outfit. Stay away from this mistake at all costs. While the temptation to hit a certain deadline can be strong, it’s a behavior that will once again set you up for failure. Excessive overeating only leads to bingeing, and ultimately, weight gain.

Worst of all, not meeting your deadline could make you lose motivation overall and prompt you to give up on weight loss programs altogether. You have to set realistic goals and be patient with your body. To experience long term results, you have to take time to change the habits that led you to become overweight in the first place. Establishing healthy eating habits and incorporating a regular workout program requires commitment and time, but the results will be extremely worth it. When you visit one of our weight loss clinics, our physician will help you learn what goals are safe and realistic for you as an individual.

Avoid temptation. Many people start weight loss programs by promising to never eat certain foods again—their favorite ones no less! Making that kind of decision and expecting yourself to live by it is just a recipe for disaster. When temptation wins, which it will, you’ll find yourself on the brink of shame and disappointment again, and those feelings lead to the loss of motivation to stay on track. Deprivation never works!

Instead, find ways to fit in your favorite foods in a moderate way or as the occasional treat. Some people lean on medical diet pills to try to avoid those tempting foods, but it’s best to find a way to eat them in small portions, only once in a while, and in a balanced way that fits in with your meal plan.