What's MOST important in Weight Loss

What I had shared so far about my weight loss journey is nothing new to many.
I will start by saying again:

‘Everyone knows how to lose weight: Eat less and exercise more. Most people also know how to eat less and exercise more.’



In fact much material, in the form of healthy diets and exercise information are freely available in the internet or even in the library. And what’s more is that some of this information came from nutritionist, health-care experts and even doctors and among these professionals came conflicting viewpoints. But the rate of obesity continued to rise in the developed and developing countries including Singapore.

You might have heard this before:

‘The truth is out there … but so are lies’ – The X-files

This quote strikes an uncanny resemblance to what is actually happening.

And the answer to that may be:

‘There ain't no answer. There ain't gonna be any answer. There never has been an answer. That's the answer. ‘– Gertrude Stein


The quote above really sums up what goes through our minds when we are faced with these questions:

1. How to lose weight?

 So many different ways right, isn’t it? Liposuction? Detox first? Exercising? Eating Right? Supplements? Surgery?

 2. How to have a balanced diet?

When you think reading a book and following the balanced diet suggestion is fine, wait till you read 10 books, and you will know what I mean. Am I supposed to have 3 meals, multiple meals, 10 servings? 15 servings or even >20 servings?

3. What food to eat to get those essential vitamins and minerals?

All books on nutrition WILL describe to you different vegetables/fruits/meats/other food which contains essential vitamins & minerals, and also their properties and their helpful functions, ending up in recommendation for you to consume this meat, that vegetable, and that nut and of course this fruit and that fish. Get what I mean?

 4. How much weight do I want to lose?

This is a trick question, but if you do have this question in your mind, sooner than later you will get answers to the other 3 questions above.

 Many doctors will tell you, do not lose more than 1% of your weight per week, this is really interesting, which I will further elaborate on another post.

What actually happened? People are human, flawed as though we may think how perfect we are, and in constant conflict between our needs, influences, logic and morality. And professionals are also human. Information alone does not change people. We have our own attitudes, fears, habits, emotions and perceptions.

Weight Loss isn’t only about the food, the exercise, the weight management program I been through, the supplements I eat, the slimming centre I went to, or even what doctors/experts tell me to do, etc. Telling people to lose weight through nutrition information is akin to telling smokers the chemical content of cigarettes.

So what is weight loss all about? Information and ways to weight loss are plentiful and interesting, but in the absence of other very important attributes namely – BELIEF, MOTIVATION, COMMITMENT, DETERMINATION, PERSEVERANCE and HOPE – it’s powerless to change anything.

‘Believe you can and you're halfway there.’ - Theodore Roosevelt

‘Motivation is what gets you started. Habit is what keeps you going.’ - Jim Ryun

‘Desire is the key to motivation, but it's determination and commitment to an unrelenting pursuit of your goal -a commitment to excellence - that will enable you to attain the success you seek.’ - Mario Andretti
‘You’ve got to say, I think that if I keep working at this and want it badly enough I can have it. It’s called perseverance’ - Lee Iacocca

‘If you're going through hell, keep going.’ –Winston Churchill

I am not a motivational guru or consultant. But quotes of Wisdom from famous and renowned persons are powerful and self-explanatory on those 6 attributes.

Everyone needs belief, motivation, commitment, determination, perseverance and hope – but where do they come from? For some people, they exhibit lots of these attributes, but for ordinary people like you and me, not every attribute are present readily, so how can we resurrect these attributes when we want to lose weight?

It is something simple: through connecting with people.

‘You alone can do it, but you can’t do it alone’.

How do we connect with people? It is through our different forms of communication, be it face-to-face, over the phone, over facebook, and many other forms of medium. It is through sharing of your experience, in contact with people who are or have been in the same position. This is why I am going to share with you also how other people loss weight. Learning from how someone who overcame weight loss will have a much greater impact than listening to an expert lecture or product offering, as these are real people.