By Michelle Hastie

The truth is the specific answer to this question would vary from person to person. However I can tell you two things:

· You do not have a willpower problem

· It’s not because you are not working hard enough

There is a small chance you could have something up with your thyroid or something going on with some medications, for most of you however, this is probably not the case.

I have met very few dieters that have not done what it takes to lose weight. Dieters are probably the only people on the planet that are willing to sacrifice as much as they do.

They have incredible willpower, and they work super hard to be diligent about their food and exercise.

Even when they are literally setting themselves up to fail.

Why would you be setting yourself up to fail you ask?

It’s pretty simple… what you resist, persists. Therefore every dieter that cuts something out of their diet that they like will be constantly driven to eat it. And will be using every ounce of their power not to give in to a natural human tendency: To want what you can’t have.

Now maybe if enough time goes by without eating that food you think you have possibly overcome it. But you just wait for that one day when you are at a party and that food is there and everyone is enjoying it freely. Or perhaps you have a couple drinks and your guard is down and someone presents the food to you on a menu at a restaurant. At that point you may finally stop resisting it and then you refer to that day as they day you “blew it”.

But let’s say you did resist temptation and it’s been 30 days of complete healthy eating and consistent exercise. You think to yourself… “Of course I will lose weight, I’m eating less junk food, smaller portions and exercising.” You hop on that scale and there it is… the same number you were 30 days ago staring at you on the scale. You think there must be something wrong with you. Maybe I have a health problem.

The world we live in teaches us that if we eat less and move more we will absolutely lose weight. That this simple formula is fool proof. And if it didn’t work for you, then you did something wrong. And so you search for what you did wrong… “Well I did break down and have a soda that one day” or “I could have been working out harder or longer” and the madness begins.

The reason why you didn’t lose weight is because weight loss is not simple science. If it were there would be a bunch of naturally thin people who were overweight, and a bunch of dieters who were thin. There is much, much more to this weight loss thing.

Most importantly it’s a unique blend of science, psychology, spirituality and sexuality.

It’s more than just science. It’s about how you are treating your body and yourself. What your thought patterns are and what deep subconscious beliefs you have buried through a wall of emotions. It’s about letting go of control and trusting yourself and your body. It’s about finding your creativity and pleasure with food, exercise and life.

What it boils down to is your weight is a message to help you live your best life. It’s the motivation to change your life, not change your food and exercise. It’s communication that you are not fully living and it’s time to stop hiding and finally fully express who you are and who you want to become. And it’s most certainly NOT a message to be skinny.

The minute that you realize that your weight is more than a physical thing, you will finally find peace in the fact that simply changing a couple things in your external world will never be the real long term solution.

It’s a mix of physical, emotional, mental and spiritual health.

So continue eating healthy and moving consistently because it’s good for your health.

Because you value yourself enough to take care of yourself in the most effective way.

Because you deserve a high quality life.

Not to lose weight. Then, food and exercise cannot fail you ever.

And get honest about what REAL LIFE changes you need to make in your life to live to the fullest. Take your focus off of your weight and turn it inward to what’s going on in your life. How are you spending your days? Thriving or surviving? Survival mode will never create long term results.

And lastly, thank your body for not releasing the weight with a simple shift in food and exercise. There is so much more to life and there is so much more life to be lived. And now you have the motivation to go after that. If the weight came off would you really make the BIG changes you know you need to make to live to the fullest? What would keep you motivated to keep moving forward when things get hard?

My best advice is to support yourself on this journey. Surround yourself with people who are living their lives free of excess weight without dieting. People who allow their focus to be on other thing, not their weight. And hey why not join us in our new year long support program: Total Body Wellness. This program gives you a movement, food or mindset program each month for a year to give you the tools you need to release the weight without dieting. Think P90x without the extremes.

So you now know you are not crazy, the dieting world is.

Take it from me, if you’re ready to release your weight permanently, it’s time to really step up and change your life. You deserve nothing less.

– Guest Author, Michelle Hastie, Total Body Health Solutions