Count the Cost to Lose Weight!

Luke 14:28-30

“But don’t begin until you count the cost. For who would begin construction of a building without first calculating the cost to see if there is enough money to finish it? Otherwise, you might complete only the foundation before running out of money, and then everyone would laugh at you. They would say, ‘There’s the person who started that building and couldn’t afford to finish it!’

Count the cost!

Perhaps the most common New Year’s Resolution in the United States is to lose some amount of weight…to lose pounds you’ve been holding onto for 5, 10, 15+ years.  But why do we fail so much with this resolution?  I honestly believe it is because we aren’t truly counting the cost.

Like the passage from Luke says, it would be pretty bad for a builder to start a building without first trying to figure out how much money he or she needs to complete it.  It isn’t enough to have the vision of a building in mind; one must think about the various steps that need to be taken to build it, and that includes thinking about the money needed for materials, labor, etc.

The same thing applies to you if you’re trying to lose weight.  It isn’t enough to simply want to be lighter, trimmer and healthier.  Yes, this is an important step, because you do have to see it first.  But I believe this is where we fail; often after we see ourselves there, we jump hastily into an exercise and/or diet plan without knowledge.  We buy hand weights, and before long, they become paperweights.  We buy treadmills that become good places to hang wet clothes to dry.  We start radical, unsustainable and unhealthy crash diets, like the pineapple and cottage cheese diet, because somebody somewhere said that helped them lose a lot of weight, but when we realize we can’t do it, we crash and are worse off than before.

We pay good money for the latest infomercial exercise programs because of the toned arms and rippling abs we saw, do it for about two days, and then quit, often because it was much harder than expected (no diss intended because some of those programs work pretty well, if done).  Think about all the money made in the Diet and Weight Loss industry off of us as we continue failing in the area of weight loss.  An article from Naturalnews.com suggests that the Diet and Weight Loss industry is a $40 billion industry, while the success rate of sustained weight loss is as low as 5% (read the article here).

My point is, if you really want to lose weight once and for all, take some time to think about it before you try to do it.  It takes months and years to gain weight, so you should expect it to take possibly as long to lose it.

Expect to have to change your lifestyle to accommodate more activity, and to have to change your diet to lean towards foods that are better for you.  Avoid anything that promises to give you ridiculously fast weight loss, because either it’s too good to be true, or it’s dangerous (If you need help with gradual diet change that will help you lose fat and eat a healthier diet, check out my fat loss workbook).

 Plan to set aside more time for exercise, sleep, and food preparation.  Use a personal trainer if you need to.  I am a trainer myself, and although I don’t think it is always necessary to use one, sometimes you might need someone there to hold you accountable and push to do what you have to do.

I also encourage you to follow my blog!  My reason for starting this blog stems from a real passion to give people a sense of empowerment to once and for all take control of their own health decisions.

Don’t be misled.  Think about what you need to do, then do it.  Count the cost!

Are you planning on losing weight in 2014?  What are you doing this year that will make it successful?  Please comment below!

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