However, things get in the way. Chiefly, food favorites. And decreasing the amount of food and certain types of beverages that the body that delighted the old taste buds is accompanied with much discomfort when dieting.

- emotions go overboard

- hunger pains hurt

- bad breath, anxiety and disappointment

These are just a few of the uncomfortable things that dieters may experience. Many have difficulty dealing with these symptoms of dieting, so they opt to postpone their health goals until after Valentine's Day [Chocolate Day].

The best time to diet? Now.

How does postponing dieting do more harm than good?

1. Holiday weight gain is easiest when lost quickly. Time allows new body fat to adhere to the existing excess layers of fat.

2. Postponing allows time for more weight gain.

To Do: If you begin your diet after the holidays and you're just 'not with it 100%' then go hop onto the bathroom scales. Write down your current body weight and keep it for reference.

On February 15th after Cupid takes flight along with his pesky little arrows, hop back onto your bathroom scales. Do you weigh more, the same or less than you did in January when you quit your plan?

If you weigh more, this is an indicator that you pose great risk to your health because you are likely to keep continuing to put on excess pounds. You must find a way to make healthy changes. The motivation that Diet Bites provides can greatly assist.

If you weigh the same - congratulations are in order - because you did well. It's still a good idea to embrace a healthy plan - but you already know that.

If you weigh less, that is wonderful! Review your daily food intake. Try to remember which foods you ate, how much activity you incorporated into your day and what other facts might have led to lost pounds. One note: unexpected weight loss can also be a sign of an existing health issue - so do see your doctor is you suspect such.

Weight Loss Motivation - Body, Heart & Soul

"Never put off tomorrow what you can do today."

A respective and thoughtful prospective, but many times it's easier said than done. Such is the case with weight loss and dieting. Our three tips to shift the balance into high gear.

1. External Support - BODY

Enlist the help of any method or means which inspires you to lose weight.

Friends, family, support groups, websites, books, electronic media - even shopping for smaller-sizes will help inspire and motivate weight loss. Try the smaller sizes on every few days - and keep doing such until they fit. This is a great motivator for losing pounds.

2. Internal Support - HEART

One must believe in their own self before attempting weight loss or face swift failure.

No matter how many pounds one has to lose, each pound was gained 'one pound at a time' and each pound will come off 'one pound at a time'.

What goes up, must come down and in the case of weight, with motivation and determination, weight loss is achievable.

Throughout the years, I've heard many individuals say that their experience with Weight Loss Failure had nothing to do with weight loss motivation - that no matter how motivated they were, the pounds just refused to surrender.

As I recall my own weight loss story, at one point it was weeks before I experience significant weight loss.

I too felt as if no matter how hard I tried, the weight wouldn't come off.

However, I decided to stick to my guns and sure enough, the weight did come off.

This said, there are times when weight loss motivation must be paired with patience to achieve weight loss success.

Whenever the dieter perseveres and weight loss does not ensue, the best recourse is to run to the doctor or nutritionist as quickly as possible rather than stick their head in the sand and go off the diet because there is indeed, a reason why the weight is refusing to surrender.

3. Spiritual Support - SOUL

Getting in touch with your inner self not only invites a sense of peace, it also invites other warm friends such as hope, love and a sense of well-being. Our Maker has powers unknown and we only need to ask for guidance and strength for it to be eagerly handed to us.

And of course, before beginning any diet or weight loss plan, you should always meet with your health care giver.

Why We Gain Weight

Diet & Weight Loss Tips for Burning Calories

To discover why we gain weight, we must first acknowledge why we eat.  We eat because food tastes good, because we are hungry.  We eat to celebrate; we eat in times of stress.  And sometimes we just eat because the food is 'there'.

Why We Gain Weight

1. We may not be aware of how many calories are inside our daily diet.  A quick solution to reap control over calorie-intake is to get calorie-smart by checking out food labels, requesting nutrition information while dining out and by choosing foods that are closest to their natural state.

2. We tend to gain weight when we ignore our Diet Conscience.  It tries to warn us of Impending Diet Danger as it surfaces over the choppy Diet Seas, but often times 'The Reasons Why We Eat' override and drown our Diet Conscience.

As a note, our Diet Conscience is that little warning light that triggers when we know OR think we are being Diet Bad.  However, in some individuals, the light is broken and the individual may feel guilty when eating.  Anorexia and Bulimia may ensure, requiring medical  assistance asap in order to remedy.

3. We may gain weight when we decide to enjoy our food and worry about our diet tomorrow.....or later - but we keep postponing that thought until we gain so much weight that losing it appears an impossibility.  The quickest solution to this weight gain problem is to ACT NOW to lose weight before the problem has time to grow into an even bigger problem.

4. We often gain weight when our personal lives are so askew that we can't possibly worry about another thing - especially dieting.

Hidden Weight Gain Fact

By ignoring our body's outcry to correct our eating habits we actually create more things to worry about such as:  Am I fat?  Do I look fat?  I am embarrassed over my size! and That is what I used to look like.

5. "Here & There" Eating, often called 'grazing' may cause weight gain if we choose to graze like cattle rather than humans.

By examining the reasons why we eat and why we gain weight, we can strive towards identifying and dealing with the issues that impact our personal diets.

Healthy weight maintenance is a very challenging ambition indeed - but we can take solace in knowing that with a bit of elbow grease and knowledge, we can achieve a healthier body and a longer life.

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