Everyone is in a hurry, whether it's to lose weight, attend a meeting or meet a deadline, everyone seems to be rushing to something or somewhere. We are a country of immediate gratification and time obsession. You'd think with all the advances in technology we'd be less stressed. Unfortunately, it seems the more advanced technology becomes so does our stress level. But more important to me is the lack of patience that seems to be the "norm."  People honking their horns because people don't hit the gas fast enough, or deep sighs from the person standing behind the person with a surplus of coupons in the grocery line and on it goes. However, where I see lack of patience every single day is in my studio with my clients and with the hundreds of letters I get from people seeking the weight loss "secret".

Not a day goes by when I'm not asked, "How come it takes so long to lose weight?"  "How can I lose weight more quickly?"  "I've got a wedding in three weeks, how can I drop weight before then?" I could probably share hundreds more, but you get the gist. It's disconcerting to me that people are in such a hurry to undo something that has taken years to "do."  What's even more interesting is that as life became less active and what was put into our mouth became less important, we never gave it a second thought. Yet, when we wake up one morning out of shape, carrying around unwanted weight, we diligently work at getting rid of it, for a few weeks anyway. I find it curious that we spend years developing a certain lifestyle and expect one simple "diet" to erase 10,20 or 30 years of bad habits. Diets are simply a band-aid, the reality is that you need to allow yourself the same amount of time to un-do unhealthy changes as you allowed yourself to fall in to your current lifestyle.

Somehow I don't believe during the time prior to dieting you ever said, "What is the deal? I've been trying to gain 50 pounds for the last five years and it's taking forever!" Nope, you just kind of went along with life, taking things as they come never even thinking about the ramifications until something triggered the need to change. Maybe it was a physical, a wedding, a graduation, class reunion, whatever it was, something in life forced you to stand back and say, "Ooooops, maybe I haven't made the best choices. Oh well, a couple of weeks and I can lose that weight and make everything right." Right? Wrong!

Here's something that's very important to remember, good health starts from the inside and works it's way out. I often tell my clients that initial weight loss doesn't necessarily mean your health is improving, which is why I encourage folks to notice the things that really matter such as improved energy, better sleeping patterns, less depression and so on. Your body responds to a healthier lifestyle with things like improved circulation, which means stronger heart, more energy, more strength, better memory, etc. These are all things you can not see but eventually add up to good health and ultimately healthy weight. Anything that is worth while requires patience.  I like to use raising children as an analogy. When a baby is born, we don't expect him or her to come out of the shoot running and thinking like an adult, it's years and years of nurturing and guidance and love and yes, patience. Only then can they grow up to be loving, caring productive human beings. So why can we not offer ourselves that same level of patience, guidance and nurturing?

Diet's unfortunately have taken us away from reality which means that we forget that true healthy living and a healthy body can ONLY be achieved through consistency, desire and patience. Consistency of making good choices most of the time, desire to give your body something better and the patience of knowing that good things happen over time, not over night.

So stand back and take a look at the pressure you've put on yourself to change your body and your life in 6 weeks. Realize that not only is that not possible, it isn't healthy.  Here's to your health and new found patience and ultimately a healthier life and body!