Do you want it?

I hear people say they need to lose weight, they want to look like they did ten years ago, they want to look like so and so, etc. However, when I further engage in the conversation I am met with “I don’t eat fish” “I don’t like vegetables” “I am a picky eater” “I don’t have time to workout.” Seriously? Is losing weight THAT hard? I am not referring to people with some medical condition that prevents them from losing weight. I am talking about normal, average, everyday people that cant lose weight because they don’t try!!!!

By no means am I a fitness expert. I am part of Team Bombshell. I pay someone to tell me what to do. Its a lot easier to hire a professional than to figure out what to eat on my own and what workouts I need to do. But guess what? I haven’t always hired someone. The internet has a wealth of knowledge, as does your local library or book store. Granted it can be confusing determining which diet to follow as some swear by Body for Life, others swear by Atkins, etc. It can be mind boggling figuring out if you need to lift weights or do cardio. But the basic weight loss principle is the same: Calories in versus calories out. You can find enough tools to determine how many calories you need to lose weight. You can find tools that tell you how many calories are in an item (assuming it doesn’t have a label.) Its is so simple to only eat XXXX calories a day. If you can read, you can count calories. Its also not rocket science to figure out that eating one cheeseburger and drinking a coke, reaching XXXX calories IS NOT GOOD FOR YOU. Diet isn’t the only component of losing weight. You need to work out too. Sure, you can lose some weight with diet or exercise alone, but combining the two will increase your results. You don’t have to do some crazy 3 hour workout either. Go for a walk each day. You don’t have to run a marathon to see results. Ok, ok, if you want to look like a figure competitor, then YES, you have to workout and eat like one. You wont look like one with a 30 minute walk 5 times a week while eating 1200 calories of lean cuisines each day. This post is really geared towards “normal” people that just want to lose some weight.

So where am I going with this? I have heard many people complain about needing to lose weight. Hey, I need to drop some weight too. Been there, done that. But all I hear from people are excuse after excuse after excuse. One person said she was a meat and potatoes kind of girl and didn’t like any other foods. (Ok…then just consume XXXX calories of meat and potatoes???) Another person has gym equipment and DVDs at home but insisted she needed a gym membership and personal trainer to tell her what to do. (Because you might have the wrong form on the elliptical or you might be doing something wrong while Walking Away the Pounds???) The story gets better as she visited the gym and it was too confusing for her. (Its too confusing to walk on the treadmill like the guy showed you???) Ive heard people say its too expensive to lose weight. (I assure you a walk around the neighborhood is free and I can cook for your family 3 times for the amount you just paid for one meal at that restaurant) Another chick said she couldn’t lose weight because her office always had some sort of bad food laying around. (Are they holding you down forcing you to eat the food???) Someone else said she has family meals XX times per month and she feels bad eating something different. (Is your family going to disown you if you eat your own food???)

I will give everyone the benefit of the doubt: there are some foods I don’t like to eat. It is easier if you have someone telling you what to do. Yes, working out and eating right can be a bit more costly than doing nothing and eating poorly. Having will power is a hard thing. I get that, I truly do. I guess the difference between myself and those people is that I really want this. I will eat fish 9 times a day if that means I will look better. I will find time to workout. I will say no to the birthday cakes that are in my office on a weekly basis. I will turn down lunch with a friend if it interferes with my progress. If you want something bad enough, nothing will get in your way. Want to look like Cindy Crawford but don’t have the money? Sitting around doing nothing wont help you get there. But eating better and working out, even if it is a daily walk, will get you closer to your goal than doing nothing. Don’t think you can afford to eat healthy? How about actually pricing it to see if you can afford it. I promise you can eat healthy food just as you ate non-healthy stuff. Even if you can only replace one meal a day, youre one meal closer to seeing progress. The only conclusion I can come up with is that these people don’t REALLY want to lose the weight. That makes me sad.

What excuses have you heard from people about weight loss?