It's The Key To Success
The "Why do you want to be slim?" question is one of those questions where, as a counsellor, the answer will tell you an amazing amount about someone. Just the next ten seconds of their answer will give away whether or not it is a well formed goal, or whether or not it is likely to fail.
I will always remember asking a question to someone at work a couple of years ago who was moaning his career was going nowhere, which was "What do you want to do with your life?" He replied that he had no idea. He sat there for about thirty seconds and just kept saying he had no idea. He actually went off to think about it.
Therefore, I ask you again,
Why Do You Want To Be Slim?
What is your first instinct, is it because you think you should? Because others have been pressuring you to? Because your doctor said so? Because you are getting married? Because you have a holiday? Because you think it will make you happy? Because you don't want to be the big parent in the playground anymore? Because you saw a holiday photo and was horrified? Because you don't want to be the biggest of your friends ?
etc etc
Whatever your answer is, that is absolutely fine! If it works for you, then fantastic. If you actually can't think of an answer, my advice is to go away and really think it through. You must have a really good reason to do something, otherwise you are unlikely to do it.
The reason I asked is that if, for example, you said "I want to be slim for my holiday in March", then you go and reduce your weight and achieve that. The day you get back, if you were asked the question again, your reason has just disappeared. This is a large part of why so many people put weight back on after things like weddings or holidays. The original reason for reducing their weight was a good short term goal but gave no reason for long term maintenance.
I was talking to someone who had maintained her weight for about a year longer than I have. I asked her the same question to see her response, "Why did you want to be slim?" and she replied "Because that's who I am". That was exactly my answer! I didn't want to be slim for an event. I wanted to be slim because that is who I am. I am just me now. I am not "keeping the weight off", or jumping on and off diets. If you can really create a great answer, buy into that answer, and truly believe it, then the results will be totally different.
