Turn Your Bad Habits Into Weight Loss Success

Clearly, we have an obesity problem. Not just in America, but in many other countries as well.

Honestly, I don't think that we have a weight loss problem. Rather, I propose that we have a habitual problem with our actions.

A study from Oxford University published in the International Journal of Obesity confirms that within 3 to 5 years, about 80 percent of all 'losers' have regained the lbs, and often gained back a little extra. Read closely and you discover that what happens is that individuals get back to the habits they have had in the first place; the ones that caused the problems to begin with.

Another study published in the Internal Journal of Obesity concludes that frequent intentional weight loss may reflect susceptibility to weight gain, rendering dieters prone to future weight gain. Dieting itself may induce a small subsequent weight gain. This study found that this tendency is independent of genetic factors.

Look even further. We can say that lots of people have lost weight but not many have kept it off. From this prospective, we don't have a weight loss problem, rather we have a problem with a habit that wasn't addressed during the weight loss cycle and haven't found a way to change it (and make it stick) for a lifetime.

This you can see year after year.

New Year's resolutions start in January. By the time spring is around the corner, we have forgotten our good intentions.

It is not that we don't have good guidelines for a weight loss nutritional program. We actually have some of the best nutrition programs in the world. Our issue is how to stick to it.

You have probably done those steps:

•     Come up with a goal and a timeline when you want to accomplish your goal.
•     Made it a priority to minimize over- indulging in desserts, alcohol, and fast food.
•     Implemented a support system to help you to stay active. Fact is, it is easier to stay on a     long-term wellness regimen with qualified support vs. just on your own. A lone ranger never goes far.
•     Planned meals. You sat down and followed your sample menu programs religiously.
•     Personalized your workout and nutrition to your body type (sonotyping), lifespan and injuries.
•     Received motivation through meetings, newsletters or videos.

All those steps are necessary to succeed in your weight loss approach, in order to burn the fat and keep it off.

I'll share one strategy that is often overlooked. This is a strategy that you most likely haven't analyzed yet and might be the reason for your ups and downs in your weight loss attempts.

Learn from your habits

Going to the fridge and eating because of boredom is a pattern. This is an example of a bad pattern that doesn't help when your goal is weight loss.

It is widely recognized that it is difficult to change bad habits. Alcoholism, drug addiction and smoking (just to name a few) are patterns ingrained in our daily routines that are associated with pleasurable rewards to us.

Rather then fight the habit that contributes to your weight gain or the destructive behavior, acknowledge it. Simply work with it. When you know how to do this, then it is easy to start to work with the bad pattern and turn it into a beneficial habit that will help you to accomplish your goal.

Charles Duhigg, author of "The Power of Habit" writes: "Habits don't change without a fight. So, to shoehorn in a new routine, it has to be triggered by an old cue, and deliver the old reward. That's the rule: If you use the same cue, and provide the same reward, you can shift the routine and change the habit. Almost any behavior can be transformed if the cue and reward stay the same."

Here is what he suggest it works:

Use the same cue.
Provide the same reward.
Change the routine.

For example: You are stressed and you want to snack. This is the cue to eat. After you snacked-whether it's noshing on pretzels, chocolate--or taken a cigarette break, it gives you a stress release reward. You feel better and you think you can handle the task.

This can be the routine that triggers your actions during emotional, work or relationship stress.

This is the routine that we need to change.

In this approach, we work with the same the same habits and cues. As mentioned above, stress and food. In this instance, we enjoy the pleasure when we respond to our cues and reward ourselves.

Solutions to change your bad habits

Here is the trick that you need to change your routine: Instead of just eating (or smoking), implement a different routine, such as walking around the block, getting up from your desk, or performing 10 push ups in the office before you snack or smoke. It may take some time for you to figure out which new activity helps you ditch the old, bad one.

The cue and the reward stay the same. But what you have done is to change the action that proceeds the reward.

When you start to doubt yourself and don't implement the new routine to receive your reward, do not reward yourself until you have done the new routine.

So here you have a strategy on how to change your bad patterns into a successful way so that you can stick to it.

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