Most people who struggle to lose weight fall into two categories. The first is those who don't lose any weight at all. This is because they are using a method that is completely useless - a fad diet, ineffective exercise gadgets, or scams like "miracle" supplements, herbs, foods or drugs that supposedly just melt the fat away. These people have unfortunately been conned by someone who is just after their money and they never really had a chance of losing weight.
The second group is those who do the right thing by changing their lifestyles. They lose some weight - perhaps all the weight they wanted to lose -- but regain some or all of it later. Quite often they regain more than they lost!
The Real Reason You Can't Keep the Weight Off
The problem in this case is that the weight loss method works but it is not suitable as a permanent lifestyle change. Bad habits creep back in, the diet gets worse and less exercise is done, and eventually the previous fattening lifestyle returns. Maybe this has happened to you. I know it happened to me many times. It's a pattern I followed for five years until I finally worked out what I was doing wrong.
I eventually lost over 70lb and have kept it off for almost 7 years. However before that I lost weight and regained it many times. You see, although I was improving my diet and being more active my new lifestyle wasn't meeting certain standards. I wasn't following the three most important principles of permanent weight control -- the 3 Es.
Unless your weight loss plan meets the standards of the 3 Es you won't keep the weight off in the long term. Instead of naturally and effortlessly following a new lifestyle you will be forcing yourself to follow a weight loss plan that you really don't like. You will be using willpower, discipline and motivation to comply, all of which run out over time. When they do you will realize how much you dislike your new diet and exercise plan. You will just give up and regain any weight you had lost.
The 3 Most Important Principles for Losing Weight and Keeping it Off Forever
All of this can be avoided and you can achieve lasting weight loss if you follow the 3 Es. But what are the 3 Es? These standards for weight loss are Easy, Effective and Enjoyable. Your lifestyle changes must meet these standards or you won't be able to keep the weight off for good.
No matter how perfect your weight loss plan or much weight you lose you won't succeed permanently if your plan is a burden on your life. If it is based on denial, makes you eat foods you hate and bans those you love, takes away food altogether and forces you onto meal replacement products, involves strenuous exercise that you don't like, or has countless other problems you won't make a lifelong change.
On the other hand, if your new lifestyle is Easy, Effective and Enjoyable you will enjoy lasting results. You will want to stick to the plan and it will become a natural part of your life. So your lifestyle must be Easy, Effective and Enjoyable, but what does that really mean?
The 3 Es Explained
Easy means that your lifestyle changes must be practical and convenient. If it is difficult or time-consuming to follow a weight loss plan you will eventually stop following it. No matter how important weight loss is, things like family, friends, work, and recreational activities are important too. So are personal preferences relating to the practical side of weight loss like the amount of cooking to be done, the number of meals you eat, and so on.
If your weight loss plan interferes with the rest of your life and doesn't match your preferences it is a recipe for disaster. You will stick to it while your motivation is high but in the long run it will become a burden and you will stop following it. So it must be practical enough to fit in with the rest of your life.
Effective means that the plan works. This seems obvious, but there is a difference between being effective in theory and in reality. Many plans are effective in theory and they will work for you if you follow them for the long term. And you will only follow something long term if it is effective at treating the root cause of your weight gain.
Weight gain is not a problem, it is the result which has a specific cause. In most cases that cause is an unhealthy lifestyle. So to be Effective your plan must treat that cause directly. For example, if you overeat because you don't know what a healthy diet should be you will lose weight if the plan teaches you how to eat healthily. But if you are an emotional overeater the plan won't be effective because it doesn't directly deal with the emotions.
Finally, Enjoyable means exactly what you think it means - you must like your new lifestyle. If you don't like it you won't be able to follow it for the long term. So you have to find a way of eating foods you like, avoiding those you dislike, doing the type and amount of physical activity that suits you and so on. In short, Enjoyable relates to your personal preferences about a wide range of lifestyle components.
So there you have it, the three most important principles for permanent weight loss. Losing weight is not about forcing yourself to follow a supposedly perfect one-size-fits-all plan. The best plan is not the one that makes you lose weight the fastest. Weight loss is about making lifestyle improvements based on your unique starting point and the best plan is the one that is Easy, Effective and Enjoyable so you can keep the weight off forever.
The second group is those who do the right thing by changing their lifestyles. They lose some weight - perhaps all the weight they wanted to lose -- but regain some or all of it later. Quite often they regain more than they lost!
The Real Reason You Can't Keep the Weight Off
The problem in this case is that the weight loss method works but it is not suitable as a permanent lifestyle change. Bad habits creep back in, the diet gets worse and less exercise is done, and eventually the previous fattening lifestyle returns. Maybe this has happened to you. I know it happened to me many times. It's a pattern I followed for five years until I finally worked out what I was doing wrong.
I eventually lost over 70lb and have kept it off for almost 7 years. However before that I lost weight and regained it many times. You see, although I was improving my diet and being more active my new lifestyle wasn't meeting certain standards. I wasn't following the three most important principles of permanent weight control -- the 3 Es.
Unless your weight loss plan meets the standards of the 3 Es you won't keep the weight off in the long term. Instead of naturally and effortlessly following a new lifestyle you will be forcing yourself to follow a weight loss plan that you really don't like. You will be using willpower, discipline and motivation to comply, all of which run out over time. When they do you will realize how much you dislike your new diet and exercise plan. You will just give up and regain any weight you had lost.
The 3 Most Important Principles for Losing Weight and Keeping it Off Forever
All of this can be avoided and you can achieve lasting weight loss if you follow the 3 Es. But what are the 3 Es? These standards for weight loss are Easy, Effective and Enjoyable. Your lifestyle changes must meet these standards or you won't be able to keep the weight off for good.
No matter how perfect your weight loss plan or much weight you lose you won't succeed permanently if your plan is a burden on your life. If it is based on denial, makes you eat foods you hate and bans those you love, takes away food altogether and forces you onto meal replacement products, involves strenuous exercise that you don't like, or has countless other problems you won't make a lifelong change.
On the other hand, if your new lifestyle is Easy, Effective and Enjoyable you will enjoy lasting results. You will want to stick to the plan and it will become a natural part of your life. So your lifestyle must be Easy, Effective and Enjoyable, but what does that really mean?
The 3 Es Explained
Easy means that your lifestyle changes must be practical and convenient. If it is difficult or time-consuming to follow a weight loss plan you will eventually stop following it. No matter how important weight loss is, things like family, friends, work, and recreational activities are important too. So are personal preferences relating to the practical side of weight loss like the amount of cooking to be done, the number of meals you eat, and so on.
If your weight loss plan interferes with the rest of your life and doesn't match your preferences it is a recipe for disaster. You will stick to it while your motivation is high but in the long run it will become a burden and you will stop following it. So it must be practical enough to fit in with the rest of your life.
Effective means that the plan works. This seems obvious, but there is a difference between being effective in theory and in reality. Many plans are effective in theory and they will work for you if you follow them for the long term. And you will only follow something long term if it is effective at treating the root cause of your weight gain.
Weight gain is not a problem, it is the result which has a specific cause. In most cases that cause is an unhealthy lifestyle. So to be Effective your plan must treat that cause directly. For example, if you overeat because you don't know what a healthy diet should be you will lose weight if the plan teaches you how to eat healthily. But if you are an emotional overeater the plan won't be effective because it doesn't directly deal with the emotions.
Finally, Enjoyable means exactly what you think it means - you must like your new lifestyle. If you don't like it you won't be able to follow it for the long term. So you have to find a way of eating foods you like, avoiding those you dislike, doing the type and amount of physical activity that suits you and so on. In short, Enjoyable relates to your personal preferences about a wide range of lifestyle components.
So there you have it, the three most important principles for permanent weight loss. Losing weight is not about forcing yourself to follow a supposedly perfect one-size-fits-all plan. The best plan is not the one that makes you lose weight the fastest. Weight loss is about making lifestyle improvements based on your unique starting point and the best plan is the one that is Easy, Effective and Enjoyable so you can keep the weight off forever.
