A common MYTH is the idea that
…with enough effort…,
it is possible for everyone to be able
to reach the same goals.

However,
not all goals are reachable
for all people.

The existence of this Myth tends to be overlooked or forgotten when it comes to weight and what our bodies can accomplish.

As a result of this blindness or memory loss, overweight or obese people are wrongfully perceived as morally inferior and weak and lazy. Efforts to Diet become internalized “attempts at redemption.”

Our culture contains an enormous Diet Industry. This is a particular form of economic and commercial activity involving the marketing of food, equipment, and drugs etc. as well as the marketing of information, and services from “experts”.

The term Diet Industry “Experts” involves a wide range of information givers, which includes “successful dieters”; trainers; dietitians; nutritionists; therapists, doctors and other medical professionals; hospitals; drug companies; scientists; educators; authors; publishers; journalists; politicians; and various organizations of all types, including “health care” organizations.

Unfortunately, a close look at the Diet Industry shows that even successfully following any Diet, … even those diets that we choose to call: a “Lifestyle Change”, a “Way-of-Eating” Plan, a “non-diet” plan, … doesn’t really bring us a permanent Solution for long-term weight-control.

However, long-term weight-control has never been a requirement or even a primary goal of the Diet Industry, nor the motivation behind it. Any study of the Diet Industry shows that it is a “triumph of capitalist success in selling promises to desperate people”.

One of the ways the Diet Industry sustains itself is by subtly connecting people to “ideals” of body-weight – even though those ideals are unattainable or unsustainable for the vast majority of the population.

 A Yorkshire Ter...

 
Frequently, weight-loss frustration comes
because
one keeps expecting to see flowers
long before the seeds have been sown.

Learn More About this at:

How Long Does Losing Weight Take?  

Why Diets Fail - The Salt/Water/Waste Issue

Why Count Calories?

 
As stated in my previous article: Why Diets Fail - The Salt/Water/Waste Issue, Diet-related weight loss has two distinct stages: first, the loss of phantom weight, and second the actual loss of excess body fat.

The loss of phantom weight lasts for about two weeks. It consists primarily of a reduction of undigested foods, fluids, and stools inside the gastrointestinal tract, but almost no actual body fat.

The first stage: phantom weight loss, can be anywhere from 5 to 20 lbs., depending on one’s starting weight, diet, and colon health. However, after the first stage, even though one is still consuming the exact same diet, the quick scale drop ends and the “magic” is over.

The second stage: permanent loss of body fat, is where we get what we are ACTUALLY going for. How long that stage takes depends on many factors, beginning with the amount of fat one needs to lose and ending with one’s age, height, gender, ethnicity, occupation, rate of metabolism, personality type, the quality of sleep, physical activity, diet composition, and climate, together with some additional factors.

There is a way to estimate the time it will take to lose excess fat weight instead of using the common “3500 calories equals 1 fat lb Theory”.

 We can estimate how long we can expect an effective weight loss diet to take, by using the following formula:

1. Excess fat = Current weight minus Desired weight minus Phantom weight
   
   
2. Fat loss duration equals Excess fat divided by Daily fat loss
   
   
3. Total diet duration equals Fat loss duration plus Two weeks

• Current weight. Weigh on a reasonably accurate scale the first thing in the morning, in the nude, after urinating, before eating or drinking anything.

• Desired weight is the target “normal” weight.

• Phantom weight loss is determined during the first two weeks of one’s diet. This weight is incredibly self-deceptive, because no matter how big as this number might be, for all intents and purposes it is nearly meaningless to true weight (i.e., fat) loss.

• Excess fat is the only realistic measure of one’s weight “problem.” That is the number one wants to lose, and losing it requires quite some time. One’s excess fat is determined by subtracting one’s phantom weight losses and one’s desired weight from one’s current weight.

• Fat loss duration is the number of days one must remain on a lower calorie diet until attaining one’s desired weight. People who start a weight-loss diet with unrealistic expectations...

 Perfection Is The Lowest Standard We Can Set For Ourselves

Perfection doesn't exist.  When we expect it, we immediately set ourselves up for failure because the unattainable standard we've set in our minds can never be reached. Therefore, we've unknowingly set the lowest expectation for ourselves by mistakenly setting the highest.

It’s rather arrogant to set an impossible standard for ourselves and not for others. But we tend to be kind, supportive and understanding of our friends, seeing them through their tough times and setbacks, while beating ourselves up relentlessly for any misstep of our own.

It’s unreasonable to expect perfection and success from ourselves while holding others to a separate standard.

Lets not place expectations on anyone, not ourselves, our friends, our opponents, our family or even strangers. The truth is that no one can predict or rehearse life. Life has a beautiful unpredictability to it.

Some of the contents of the above post originated from an article by Danielle Robinson, March 29, 2013 - mindbodygreen.com,