Weight loss requires a conscious effort and it is easy to feel frustrated as you travel down the road toward your goal. Sometimes the scale doesn't move like you expect it to and occasionally you fall off the dieting wagon, these things happen. But the thing that determines if you will reach your goal or not is how you respond to these bumps in the road.

Jack Canfield, a well-known self-help teacher, uses this simple formula to explain the idea further:

Event + Response = Outcome

In other words, life happens (Event), how you choose to Respond to these Events determines the Outcome you will see. So if the scale doesn't move (Event) you can choose to Respond by getting mad or getting curious. I suggest the latter - pose the question to your mind, "Why have I stopped losing weight?"

How does curiosity help?

Curiosity allows you to remove emotion from the Event and encourages the brain to search for a solution. This allows your mind to stay open, keeps you calm and prevents you from repeating the behavior. In contrast, if the scale doesn't budge (Event) and you Respond by getting mad at yourself and say, "This stupid body of mine never does what I want." then you have shut down your mind; your brain doesn't have to search for a solution because you already gave it one - you didn't lose because your body is stupid and it never does what you want.

Curiosity is a true friend when you are losing weight. Rely on this friend often and not only will you reach your goal you will learn things about yourself that will allow you to keep the weight off.