Weight Loss, Happiness, and More

I preach on this site about the importance of healthy weight loss.  At times I think I come across as having a no-nonsense simple approach.  It may seem that there is only one way that works and if you don’t like that way, then the only way you can lose weight is to make yourself miserable for a while.  Fortunately, that is not true at all.

Today I took a trip around the internet and looked at some of the other weight loss blogs.  I paid particular attention to blogs that preached healthy weight loss principles.  What I found, surprised me.  A select few blogs had posts that really got me thinking about taking weight loss beyond the nutrition and exercise principles that produce the best results.  I found that there is something even more important.

Actually there are two things more important: health and happiness.  We must focus our weight loss efforts on these two things because these are the things that are most important in life.  Sure, now, it is true that simply achieving weight loss success will make most people happy to a certain degree.  But there must be a way that we can actually make the weight loss process enjoyable.  Indeed, there is.

While I am in agreeance with the idea that you want to do things that are enjoyable for you that could help in your weight loss efforts, I also strongly believe that it can be even more enjoyable to set up challenges to yourself.  One major area of my own life that I have been working on a lot lately is breaking out of my comfort zone and trying new things.  This, in itself, opens up new possibilities and opportunities for greater happiness.

The same can be done with a weight loss program.  Within your program, try setting up a few goals to try new things.  Maybe you want to run a mile.  Perhaps you want to do a real pull-up or 10 push-ups without any help.  Or maybe you simply want to go a whole month without drinking soda.  Whatever you can think of, set up a few smaller goals within your weight loss program.  This will keep you interesting in the program and increase the enjoyment factor.  Instead of only having the opportunity to celebrate after losing x pounds, you can now celebrate several instances along the journey.

So there is one idea to make a weight loss program more enjoyable.  I’ll be back with another one tomorrow.  If you have any ideas of your own, feel free to post a comment and let me know.