As much as you may want to be convinced by unscrupulous manufacturers and weight loss programs, quick weight loss of more than 2 pounds just isn’t possible. While you may be able to lose 10 pounds in one month the methods you use will likely be so extreme that you’ll gain that much back and more the next month. Just like you didn’t gain the weight in one week, or one month, you won’t be able to lose the same amount in that time frame. In fact, taking the weight off is more time consuming than putting it on.

It is important to note two things right now. Weight loss is very possible for those who are motivated to shed those pounds and weight gain often happens because you were leading an unhealthy lifestyle. I should then be obvious that in order to lose the pounds you have to learn to live a healthy lifestyle.

This is such a simple concept that it should be easy to understand. BUT, and it’s a big but, people are creatures of habit and have specific reactions to stress. In other words, when the habit is to grab the donut in the morning, skip lunch and eat a big dinner where vegetables make their appearance as the red coloring in the tomato sauce it’s no wonder that fad diets, starvation and intense exercise programs are doomed to failure.

The second point is that people will also react to stress. And with stress comes hunger pangs, nervous hands and an intense desire to chew. All of these things lead to a sabotaged weight loss program and probably weight gain.

When people are encouraged to exercise in their weight loss programs it is no different there either. If an overweight man or woman is told to workout regularly in order to lose weight they often hit the gym daily for a month or two. Then as quickly as their motivation bloomed it dies on the vine. They get fed up with slow results and quit going all together.

In both cases of dietary changes and exercise habits people may feel that their weight loss results are too slow to warrant them continuing to work at better health.

And when people stop doing the things that are necessary to move them toward a healthier lifestyle then their weight loss stops, energy levels decrease and health risk levels increase. These individuals believe that weight loss is impossible for them. They can’t maintain a fad, starvation diet nor are they willing to workout at the gym for 3 hours a day.

There are four important things that can be done to make your weight loss efforts successful:

1 Develop a weight loss program that fits your lifestyle and that incorporate factors of good health.

2 Commit to stick to the weight loss program.

3 Understand that weight loss doesn’t happen overnight. Instead plan on an average of one pound of loss per week and understand that you aren’t working toward weight loss but rather a healthier lifestyle that will result in a trimmer you.

4 Find support! People who find and use the support of friends, relatives or groups are more likely to stick to their program and lose the weight they desire – and they are more likely to keep it off.

Remember that just as Rome wasn’t built in a day neither did you gain that weight overnight. Weight loss is commitment that goes on for years – not weeks and not months. You aren’t dieting but instead are changing the way that you see and feel about food.