Admiring the problem is not the solution to losing weight.  

Woman with tape measure worried about weight

You have made the decision to lose weight, and that is a huge decision that is very admirable.  I made the decision three years ago, and I decided to document my various bouts of challenge and success in this blog.  

Over the next 4-6 months, I lost the weight I wanted to lose.  I lost nearly a third of my body weight.  I was able to maintain the weight loss for nearly two years, but after that, it has slowly come back.  I have since slowly yo-yoed my weight up to where it is today.  Part of my success was due to the fact that I lived apart from family and was better able to maintain a strict diet.  The problem, today is that my family is not helping my ability to remain on target.

Weight loss is a simple problem with a complex solution.  I would never say that weight loss is easy.  Weight gain is infinitely easier to accomplish than the loss.  Sure weight loss is simple to understand, but the factors that play into losing weight are hard to solve.  

First of all, hunger is not easy to resist.  If you think you can just ignore that little signal to eat, you are fooling yourself.  Hunger is a complex hormonal and neuronal relationship that compounds on itself.   The key in that statement is that if it is not satisfied, it will build or compound on itself and soon you will be so hungry that you will be scavenging for scraps of what every you crave.  

Besides hunger, weight loss also has multiple other factors that increase the odds that your diet will fail.  Emotions, stress, sleep, quality of food choices, peer pressure, and just about anything can increase your risk of weight gain or weight regain.  The deck is nearly stacked against you being successful at losing or keeping it off.  

Research has proven that all deist can be successful if you can keep the weight off.  Low-carb, low-fat, vegan, and Paleo diets all were possible options for success.  You have to choose a diet that fits your needs and controls your hunger.  A low-carb diet may be the right match for you, but it might also be disastrous if you are unable to maintain.

You have to find a diet and take action.  If you are like me, you have spent a long time looking at the problem, admiring it, and figuring our who helped you create the weight problem.  Own the problem and take action.  You must create a state of personal accountability.  You are the cause of your own failures and successes.  Your family can help, but you must shoulder the responsibility.  

The bottom line:  Stop admiring the problem and just start doing.  Weight maintenance state is a lifelong journey, and nearly all lower calorie diets can work to facilitate weight loss and keep it off.  Promises of our dieting culture are just a temporary bandage unless you can maintain the change.   For many of us, weight loss diets will fail, but be responsible and accountable. It is not just you, but only you can change what you do.