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If you’re a regular reader of my blog you’ll know that I think long term weight/fat loss has less to do with physiology and more to do with psychology.  Now don’t get me wrong, you have to eat the right foods and do the appropriate exercise.  That is a given.  But I think all the arguments on the internet about the amount of carbs we should eat, the type of exercise we should be doing, and the magical supplements we should be taking are all secondard to having the appropriate psychological environment for weight loss.  After all, a plan you don’t follow is only as good as the paper it is written on. 

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If you think back to the number of times that you or someone you know has failed at achieving their dream body, has it been because they didn’t know what they should and should not be eating?  Has it been because they didn’t know that they should exercise regularly?  Or has it been that even when a plan was going well, they were unable to make it stick or to follow through on the commitment in the long term?

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I would say that the latter is definitely more common.  But before I get hate mail about this I want to touch on two very important points. 

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1 - There are some people who are limited by other metabolic issues like food intolerances and so on.  I can acknowledge this and I HAVE seen in…but it is unlikely and this probably does not apply to you.  And even if it does, you still need to get a solid exercise and nutrition program in place before you start to address these details.    Without such a plan, you’ll never be able to lose weight regardless of whether or not you’ve addressed these issues.

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2 – Not sticking to the plan may have something to do with willpower, but you are not necessarily to blame for this problem.  In fact, it frustrates me when fitness professionals belittle and blame their clients for something that may not be as much in their control as we’d like to believe.

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Fortunately, today I’ve got a really great explanation for WHY our willpower fails and a couple methods to improve our ability to self regulate our behaviours so we CAN stick to our diet and exercise program and get the results we deserve. 

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Check out this video by my friend and colleague, Dr. Kathleen Martin Ginnis on willpower, planning, and exercise adherance.  I think many of you will be able to relate. 
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Does this make sense?  What do you think? Could we not use this to improve exercise AND diet?