Motivation: Try, Try Again

ChuckH

April 3

Don't quit, try again.

We live in one of the most prosperous nations in existence. How do we prove that? Our waistlines.

There are approximately 320 million people in the United States¹. 68% of us are overweight or obese. At any given time, about 50% of overweight people are trying to lose weight, and 25% are working to keep from gaining weight. But the good news is that you are part of the 75% trying to do something about it. It is evident that the United States is prosperous based on their waist circumferences and most will fail in their attempts to meet their goal.

One of the most difficult things about losing weight is finding what works for you. Whether we have tried commercial diet plans (Jenny Craig, Nutrisystem, Weight Watchers, etc.) or cobbled together something on our own, we have all tried multiple programs. According to a study in the UK, the average woman has attempted 61 diet plans by the time she is 40 years old, spending just 15 days on each of those programs before they quit².

How do we stay motivated to keep trying until we find what works for each of us? The commercially available schemes have years of research and development behind them, yet they are continuously being updated. We should not punish ourselves if what we try is not working. Change things up. Find another option. Just don't give up. Remember this one thing: nobody gets it perfect the first time so try, try again. Like a smoker quitting the cancer sticks, the more you try, the more likely you will eventually be successful. Besides, you have not truly failed unless you quit trying, so this is only a delay in meeting your goal.