A common trait of people pursuing success is enlisting the
help of a coach or mentor. It is fairly common knowledge
that one of the quickest ways to succeed at a goal is to
find someone who has previously achieved your desired
outcome and then emulate that person.
The person is your role model, a mentor, and teacher. Often
they will be able to provide a step-by-step plan of action
that will help you achieve success and maintain it, far
faster and for far longer than if you had made the attempt
on your own.
Sometimes in the area of successful fat loss, however, such
a mentor is hard to find. Sadly, most of us do not know
many people who have achieved the apparently miraculous
combination of both losing weight and keeping it off. It is
not often that we are able to surround ourselves with such
a group, let alone find a single person that falls into
this elusive category.
Thankfully, such a group exists, and we are going to show
you exactly where to find them.
The National Weight Control Registry is a research project
that tracks the progress, habits, and characteristics of
people who have lost over 30 pounds and kept it off for
longer than a year. They are currently tracking over 5000
people, year after year, studying the traits that enable
perpetual fat loss.
To keep current with the National Weight Control Registry's
(NWCR) findings, be sure to frequent their website at
www.NWCR.ws. In the meantime, here are five of the key
factors associated with people that have achieved results.
1) One of the best findings of the NWCR is a subject that
appears to be very well known, yet somehow people ignore it
day after day and year after year, as they add pound after
pound. Here it is: successful "losers" lost their weight
with a combination of diet AND exercise. Just dieting does
NOT work! Exercising 2-3 times a week while eating junk
food does NOT work! We all know this, yet why do so many
continue to struggle every single day, ignoring the facts?
2) In one study, the average participant had lost at least
66 pounds and kept the weight off for over 5 years. Pretty
impressive, right? The common characteristic of this group
was that they followed a lower calorie, low-fat diet.
Before you completely kick fat out of your diet and off of
your plate, however, it is important to know that this
group's average daily caloric intake from fat was 24% of
total calories. Fat is an extremely important part of our
diet, so shoot for this percentage as you eat throughout
the day.
3) Nearly 80% of the "biggest losers" ate
breakfast...everyday. Breakfast helps jump start your
metabolism each day, so make it a top priority in your
weight loss program.
4) Participants in the study who were consistent with their
diet throughout the entire week, as opposed to just Monday
through Friday, were 150% more likely to keep their weight
at bay over the course of a year. A cheat MEAL or two per
week can be helpful to keep you sane, but a cheat DAY or
two will probably prevent success.
5) We know that the NWCR group lost weight through both
diet and exercise, but how have they successfully kept it
off for over a year? Drum roll, please, as the results are
announced...
They continued to do both diet AND exercise. It's just that
simple.
There you have it. The combination of diet and exercise is,
by far, the most important factor in the achievement of fat
loss. The group from the National Weight Control Registry
can be fantastic allies in your weight loss endeavor. Use
them as mentors and role models, and allow the lessons they
have learned to more quickly help you develop new lifelong
habits that virtually guarantee weight loss success!
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The author, Jeremy Nelms, and his wife, Alissa Nelms, are
known as "The World's Happiest Fitness Couple!" You can
visit their website and read more articles, as well as
follow their personal training journals and fitness
adventures at http://www.TheFitCouple.com .
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