Any casual walk in public these days will make it it very apparent why there is such a huge demand for diets in America. Did you know that over 60% of Americans are over weight and over 30% are obese? With numbers like those, more and more people are looking for a viable and sustainable answer for weight loss.

I really hate to sound so harsh, but your next diet is likely to fail. If peoples diets succeeded then why would they go on diet after diet? Are all the diets really just crap? Or is it possible that the person on the diet has more influence than we are led to believe? That's a good thing because it means you have all the control to make your next diet a slimming success.

We are constantly demanding weight loss success in days, weeks at the longest. That's a pretty shortsighted perspective. If expected to lose it in weeks and it took months, you feel like a failure. If you expect months and it takes less time you feel like a success. So what would happen if you changed how long you expected it would take you to lose your weight?

The people who truly succeed with a diet long term decide to make a change in habits, to put forth a little more effort, consume better foods, and develop healthy exercise habits. A habit is something you do subconsciously, without thinking. And the only way to get rid of a bad habit, is to replace it with a good one.

If you were looking for the secret, I'm sorry. And if you are still reading at this point then maybe I've struck a chord, otherwise you are likely off to find the next quick fix. I know because I've tried both ways. The way that worked was to realize one important thing.

You see when I realized that I didn't get fat in days or weeks, I was able to accurately see a realistic time frame. I allowed myself, as a 5'10" male, to reach 220 lbs. Mmmm, nice and chunky. However, I knew it was time to change when I couldn't make it up a flight of stairs without huffing and puffing. The key to my eventual success was that I realized 45 pounds was not going to disappear in a month or two.

Just do the math. An aggressive 10 pounds a month would take almost five months to lose. You may not know it, but 1 pound of fat has 3500 calories. And to burn extra fat you need to expend 500 calories above you normal metabolic needs. 7 Days of burning an extra 500 calories is only 1 pound a week. 10 pounds a month would take 1250 calories a day!! So start your diet off right with a realistic expectation.

Facing such long times can be very very daunting. If you can get past that and accept it as the worst case, then you can move forward with confidence and ultimate success. Just start small, maybe 1 pound a week, and see how it goes. As you start to have success you will get more motivated. And remember the scale isn't everything. The weight is important, but how your cloths fit and how your feel matter most.

In the end a diet program will help you slowly make the changes you need so that when you hit your goal you will realize that it wasn't the diet that did it, it was you. It was you that changed your habits, you that made better choices, and you that took control of your weight and your life.