There are always all sorts of new claims and products coming out that promise to get you what you want: slim, trim, and skinny as fast as possible. But let me ask you this: how many times have you tried the route of the quick fix? Can you even remember all of those times?

It doesn’t really matter if you’ve tried over and over again to lose weight. Those are experiences that have helped you become who you are today and you can learn from each one of them. What matters though is this: have you kept off the weight you lost from using those quick fixes?

If you’re like most people, the answer is no.

The diet industry rakes in billions of dollars a year and there is a reason for this: repeat business. The “quick fixes” don’t work, and inevitably the same people who purchased that diet pill, diet tea, or diet fix return to purchase something else. They may have lost some weight with that magical solution for weight loss, they may have endangered their health, or they may not have lost any weight at all. Either way, the quick fix just doesn’t work.

I realize that this isn’t a popular concept because our current society lives in the fast lane: fast food, fast cars, fast conversations, high-speed connections, and quick fixes. Whatever can be done to accomplish your wish a.s.a.p., well that’s the one that everyone wants. I understand this because I have my own issues with impatience. I tend to want to see results today (not so much with my weight but other projects) instead of accepting that some things just take time.

The number one reason that diets ultimately fail is because they are meant to be short term, rather than a way to eat for the rest of your life. They are an attempt to put a band-aid on a problem (overweight) without addressing the cause (why is the person overweight?). Now there could be some people whose only problem is that they just don’t know how to eat and exercise, however I don’t think that is very common. The reason I think this is because weight gain affects not only a person’s health and energy level but also their thoughts, emotions, self-esteem, and confidence. At the very least, living in a body with low energy just isn’t fun, much less being an optimal way to experience life.

So, if the quick fix doesn’t give you lasting weight loss and better health, then just what is the answer? The way to get out of the problem of overeating and overweight is to go through it, meaning that when you allow yourself to fall into yourself, into your thoughts and feelings that motivate your overeating, and then you can begin to explore what is in you that is creating your current outcome: your overweight. You have to admit, no one made your thighs fat. You are the creator of your life just like I am the creator of mine. You are living in your body and you have the choice to either figure out why you overeat (food addiction, emotional eating, or maybe you’ve just given up and aren’t motivated), figure out if you want to change, and then take action. Yep, it all comes down to action.

Now you might think that going through the problem will just take too darned long and that quick fix sure sounds a lot better. But is the quick fix truly that quick if it’s just going to lead to a longer road of more quick fixes? When you look at the cumulative time spent on the quick fixes, you could take the other route and use that time to take action and clean up your lifestyle. I sure feel like I wasted a lot of time on trying quick fixes when all along I could have just taken the time (like I am now) to heal the cause and move on.

Are you ready to get off the quick fix path and onto a path of lasting weight loss for life? Do you believe it’s possible to do so?