Anyone who has ever dreamed of losing weight has been there..., imagining what life would be like if you were at your ideal weight. How much better life would be if you weren't trapped in a body that made you feel embarrassed, uncomfortable, ashamed, or unattractive and how much happier you would feel if you were all of a sudden thin and fit.

For all of us who have struggled with weight, the fantasy of snapping our fingers and having our excess weight be gone is surely one that we've all had more than once. As someone who has not only been there but who has also since overcome a life-long battle with weight though, I can tell you that being smaller is not the best part about losing weight.

While the obvious benefits of losing weight like increased energy, wearing smaller clothes, feeling more comfortable, and expressing more confidence were obviously there, it was an unexpected benefit to losing weight that made the others seem small and unimportant. The aspect of losing weight that makes the biggest difference in our lives is not the goal of losing weight..., but the process.

It's the process of losing weight that is the most life-changing. It's the changes that a person goes through in the process of overcoming a life-long battle with weight that alters their lives forever. Being smaller and having more energy is great, but it's the lessons learned along the way that make the most difference in our lives.

In order to go from a chronically overweight, out-of-shape person to a healthy, energetic and fit person, a transformation needs to take place. Not just the obvious physical transformation, but an internal, emotional one as well. In fact, it's the internal emotional changes that allow the physical transformation to take place.

It's impossible to change ourselves physically without changing on the inside first. It can't happen any other way. And it's the internal growth and changes that happen through the process of losing weight that change us forever.

Once a person has grown past the problem of being overweight, they can now take that same growth and apply it other areas of life. The very lessons learned along the journey of losing weight will be the very lessons that open up other possibilities in life. What were previously seen as difficult or insurmountable challenges before the weight loss will now be seen in a whole new light.

In other words, the process of conquering a weight problem not only changes what you look like, it changes who you are and what you are capable of.

If we were ever granted our wish to snap our fingers and have our weight disappear in an instant, we would miss out on all of that and I can tell you as someone who has gone through the process, that would be tragic.

Embrace the process. Focusing on the end-goal is great but realize that when all is said and done and the new clothes have been bought, the compliments have all been handed out and the glory of your accomplishment has faded, it will be the changes that have occurred inside that you will find the most valuable.