I ask this question a lot with my clients, it seems such an obvious question and therefore they are likely to have a really good answer but I usually get replies like 'I don't know really' or 'because I should' or 'my doctor has been moaning at me' or 'I hate the way I look' or 'my clothes don't fit' etc etc.
The usual response is either to do with getting away from something i.e. I don't want to die, or they have no really good reason at all apart from the media keeps bombarding us telling us we should trim and slim down.
The problem is with either of these motivations once you get to goal weight then what is going to keep you there? Sure you do really well, you lose weight and you get to your goal, you look amazing ! everyone is saying how well you have and you start to believe your own hype !
You have done well ! You have changed your life, your slim and everyone is talking about how well you have done...and then what?
Eventually they stop talking about you and normal life is resumed, you get asked out for dinner, or you are bored on the sofa and get the nibbles, you pop into a coffee shop and want to try the caramel slices they have, you see cheap cakes in Tesco on reduced and then suddenly the pounds start to return and why wouldn't they? The original person is still in you ! The person who can eat too many calories for your body is there, sure they hid for a while due to willpower but normal service is now resumed and the weight is coming back.
Rarely when I work with people do they plan to be slim forever, they plan to lose weight for sure ! They can tell me what diet, what exercise plan, what they are going to cut out of their diet, how much water they are going to drink, how they are going to walk every morning and do toning and Zumba classes. But all of that is short term thrills to trim a few pounds off.
It isn't the answer to staying slim and never having to bother about dieting again, now sure you can keep bailing the water out of the boat by dieting for the rest of your life and you may stay afloat but I preferred to just fill the hole in the boat and then stop bailing !
Now if you are thinking what is the answer then firstly can you answer this question with a positive answer
What is the benefit of being slim long term to you ?
