In my post, How I Lost 25 Pounds in One Month I gave step-by-step instructions on how I did just that.  The post was very popular, but left many readers with questions so I posted an Update as well that answered the most common queries.  Today, I want to go a little deeper on one particular issue that a couple of “nay-sayers” have had recently, and share with you another litter secret that I have stumbled upon.  Obviously, based on today’s title, the subject is exercise.

First of all, I just want to take a defensive moment to point out that I’ve never told anyone to not exercise.  In the first article, I simply stated that I found it less complicated in the losing weight process to not push myself to tackle too many things I once.  And I still believe, and stand behind the statement that it is this very type of thinking that causes people to lose hope.  When you try to quantum leap from being 25 pounds overweight to your ideal weight by methods of torture, you’re going to do everything possible to resist those methods.

It’s just too hard for the majority of us.

Does that mean you never exercise again in your life?  I certainly hope not.

Once I reached my ideal weight and started to go below it, I let up on the reigns a little with the calories and started to walk.  Now, more than ten years later, on a good week, I will walk 3 hours.  I am not athletic except for when I play keyboards!  I have to make myself “go walking.”  But it does pay off.  The walking, combined with my healthy weight, which now hovers around 125 on a regular basis, keeps my body fat % at 18 and my cholesterol and triglyceride levels at numbers my doctors want to trade me for!

Walking also helps me sleep better at night and I feel quite certain that it also helps to elevate my metabolism.  Most experts now agree on the idea that among the easiest forms of exercise, walking probably provides the most benefits.

So why, then, would I say that you might want to try not throwing exercise into the mix when you first start trying to lose weight?  I mean, a lot of my readers have combined my program with exercise and had phenomenal results.  So why skip it?

Due to this one emotion:  discouragement.

If you can take up some form of exercise that you are truly enthusiastic about, that alone would probably help you reach your ideal weight.  For me, there is no such sport!  So what happens?  I doggedly try to stick to an exercise regimen.  Then one night I have to work late, or it’s raining, or I’m extra tired and just don’t want to go.  So I skip it.  Then I feel guilty.  You know how this goes.  The bottom line is, I become discouraged with my exercise program, which dominoes into becoming discouraged about my weight loss, which trickles down to becoming discouraged about my diet, and you know where that leads.

So instead, I get excited about counting calories.  I get excited about keeping an Excel spreadsheet.  I get excited about finding new foods I can eat and stay within my caloric limit.  I get excited when I see pounds melting off.  I get excited when my power suit fits a little looser.  I get excited when I come in “under” today’s limit.  I get excited when I’ve saved enough calories to have a decadent dessert.  I get excited about every aspect of my diet I can – and it works!!!

I’ve been reflecting on this for a while because I have had hundreds of people now try the diet and for some it works wonders and just like for me, they are able to sustain their ideal weight for what feels like is going to be forever.  Why do they have this confidence?  Because they have a new life.  New habits. New patterns of thinking.  Their bodies have adjusted to true health and they feel confidently in control.

Was it the counting calories?  That just seems too easy!  That method has been touted and tried before.  But it has worked for so many people.  Why?

Enthusiasm.

That’s the real answer to your weight loss.  The secret is enthusiasm.

Anything that you can get excited about will work, as long as you stay excited about it.

I’ve had many readers tell me it worked for a while, but then they lost their enthusiasm and guess what, their weight loss stalled or the weight came back.  They get enthused again, go back on the diet and find that it works.  Just knowing that you have that kind of control, for me, is exciting.  But you have to do whatever it takes to remain excited about your plan.  And to me, exercise is just not in that picture.

Even today I do not exercise to lose or even maintain my weight.  I do it for the other health benefits it brings.

But if exercise gets you excited, if you love to play tennis or volleyball or whatever, you should focus on that and enjoy your food!  I have a friend who teaches aerobics and does just that – she eats everything and anything she wants.  She loves teaching aerobics, has for years, and can get excited about it.  Her eating habits are what I would call, “normal.”  She doesn’t gorge herself on food, but she doesn’t count calories or fat grams either.

So choose what works, and I mean, really works, for you.  Get enthused about becoming healthy, and you will become healthy.  Your body will have no choice. Isn’t that exciting?

There is so much to tell about the topic of enthusiasm and how it relates to weight loss, but no one tells it better than Abraham.  If you really want to lose weight, and you’re really ready to lose weight and feel fantastic, buy this DVD.  You will be so glad you did.

Think and Get Slim: Natural Weight Loss

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Posted under Inspiration, Law of Attraction, Motivation, Success, Weight Loss