The truth is, I've always been motivated to change. As a pudgy child I tried to lose weight. I remember being put on a diet that turned quickly into torture. It didn't last long. As a teenager I would ride my bike trying to lose weight. I even got up early in the morning and jogged, per the advice of a well meaning P.E. teacher.
As an adult I tried numerous times to lose weight, with varying degrees of success. My fallback plan was the tried and true Eat Less And Exercise More that has come to be the standard formula for weight loss in the Western World. As a man who's lost and kept off more than 250 pounds, I can tell you that the trusted "formula" is severely lacking. Watch my video The Lies We Believe About Diet And Weight Loss if you're not convinced by the end of this article.
The reason I've struggled with this question is because it makes an assumption that isn't true: It assumes that I finally succeeded because I finally found sufficient motivation.
This Simply Is Not True.
I did not find some hidden spring of motivation. I did not find some Super-Human willpower that was lacking before. In fact, I have no more willpower than I have ever had.
So what made the difference? Why have I failed to lose weight my entire life but this time I've had quite a bit of success?
Knowledge and Perspective.
I finally learned how to eat foods that satisfied my appetite while letting me lose weight. It's that simple. There is no magic. There is no mystery. I became willing to look at diet, health, & weight loss in different ways and from a different perspective than before.
I did not have to change how much I ate, I only needed to change WHAT I ate.
When I learned this I was filled with joy... no more starving myself! I was willing to put a bit of effort into learning. I was willing to put an effort into changing how I looked at food. The promise that doing so meant I could lose weight without starving myself was all the motivation I needed. And while I had to eat less of some foods I loved, I got to eat more of other foods I loved. Yes! I got to eat real food that satisfied my appetite!
5 years into this I LOVE the food I eat. I do not go to bed hungry. If I'm hungry, I eat, it doesn't matter if it's midnight. I never wake up dreading another day of impossible "dieting". I am one happy camper who's 250+ pounds lighter for the "trouble" of learning some simple dietary concepts.
But people don't believe they can lose weight without starving. People are wrong. I'm living proof of that. I work with people every day who are living proof of this.
And people are willing to starve themselves repeatedly and without lasting results, but they're not willing to learn new things. Isn't that crazy?
Are you willing to look at food differently than you have in the past?
Are you willing to look at weight loss differently than you have in the past?
Are you willing to make small changes in what you eat?
Would you, if it meant you could lose weight without starving?
- Raymond Cool
