The hard truth is that you don’t get what you want by sitting on the couch and wishing for it. No amount of complaining, moaning, self loathing or looking at pictures of skinny women and articles on weight loss will make any positive or visible change to your body.

Most people know someone who constantly says that they want to lose weight or get fit but never do anything about it. Perhaps they just like complaining, maybe they just want reassurance that they look fine the way they are and don’t have to do anything. It may be that they are scared of changing their habits, giving up their vices or making sacrifices. It is also possible that they don’t know what to do, so feel helpless and lost.

If you are one of those people, if you find you spend most of your time hating the way you look, putting down your body in front of others and as a consequence feel bitter and unhappy about yourself then please stop.
This is not a healthy way to treat your body, you certainly wouldn’t treat anybody else this way- imagine if you said (out loud) the things you say about your body about your best friends body, to their face. How long do you imagine they would remain your best friend for? Do you think that saying these things, daily, to your friend would have a positive or negative impact on their body and health?

Being horrible, judgemental and nasty to your body may make you feel slightly better, in an abstract way; that you might not be doing anything to change or fix it but at least you hate yourself for it.
This is what trashy magazines teach us to do: loathe yourself and attempt extreme weight loss programs but don’t actually become fit, healthy or happy, otherwise we won’t have an audience to sell our products to. This is great for selling weight loss pills, diets, clothes, makeup and self help books but it is not great for your mental or physical health.

Change takes effort, it is hard, and it doesn’t come easy. If you don’t like cardio because it leaves you out of breath, sweaty and fatigued then you are not alone, but if your cardio doesn’t leave you feeling pooped then I’ll let you in on a secret... it isn’t going to change you.

Most people understand that in order to succeed in life a certain amount of hard work needs to be done; those that refuse to study for an exam are hardly surprised by a poor result. It is understood that in order to learn an instrument, a new language or gain a new skill that a certain amount of time, effort, frustration and perseverance will be needed.
However when it comes to weight loss, or physique change people expect a high level of success with a low level of self sacrifice.

There is an expectation that alterations to one’s body, whether that be losing weight, gaining muscle or increasing fitness should not be uncomfortable, but this is simply not the case.
For example, changing your diet to lose weight is not sustainable, and it isn’t supposed to be. You are depriving your body of the level of food it is used to, not only that but in order to lose weight you are depriving your body of the amount of food it needs. This is going to be hard work, it is going to be uncomfortable, and you will be hungry.
This is not a lifelong commitment to starvation; it is making sacrifices to achieve your goal. Once you have attained your goal you then need to maintain it, this phase is maintainable (they key is in the word) this can be a lifestyle and should be comfortable.

To make changes means doing something different to what you are currently doing. It often requires hard work and discipline on your behalf. In a world of instant gratification, where you are told you can have want you want the instant you want it, this is an uncomfortable truth to face. No matter how unpleasant it is to hear, it is still true. Facing this truth, embracing the suck and making changes will allow you to achieve what you want. Avoiding it however will leave you in a constant state of self-pity, frustration, bewilderment and self-loathing.

“Quick fixes” are never really quick, and they very rarely fix anything. They work quickly, yes, drinking shakes instead of eating meals will deprive your body of calories, so the body will react accordingly. Then the diet finishes and instead of “maintaining” you go back to your former eating habits, and the weight comes back on, so then you go back to the shakes. For every time you use them you lose a little less and gain a little more. The studies have been done, the facts are in- this sort of dieting makes you fatter in the long run.

True and enduring change takes hard work and dedication. Getting out of your comfort zone and being as committed to looking after your body as you are to being successful in your career, or raising your children or sustaining a strong relationship.
If you’re looking for cardio that is “easy” you will not get fitter, if you’re looking for a fast and easy “diet” you will not lose weight (in the long run), if you plan to simply complain, gripe and moan about the state of your body but continue to eat poorly and do no exercise then don’t expect anything but a bored friend with a stock standard response: “what are you talking about, you look great” wishing you would do something about it if it really bothers you that much.