While I empathize with those who don't succeed, I know that if you want something badly enough, you'll make the effort to do it no matter what your circumstances. So, I've never been a big fan of any one who complains and gripes about bodily dissatisfaction if the only moves they've made towards changing is to talk about what they're going to do as opposed to actually doing it.
On a personal level, the majority of the women in my family are either overweight or obese and it's a condition most of them have come to accept—and even embrace—as a fact of their life. They've convinced themselves that they're just "curvy", "thick" or "real" women.
I often look to them as motivation to not become complacent because, as shallow as it may sound, my desire to be thin trumps any desire I have to over-indulge in the types of foods that were once a staple of my Southern upbringing.
That next level confidence I have in myself as a woman and as a, pardon my frankness, sexual being, comes in large part from being comfortable with my body—both clothed and not. You can't buy that sort of thing over-the-counter and you certainly won't understand the great love it inspires within oneself to know that you've set a goal and stuck with it.
Fitness more than anything is about making a personal commitment to change. You are sending the message to that inner you that the outside will match the inside. You can't do that if you're constantly making excuses and justifying the bad choices you make regarding food.
I read an article recently and something in it struck a chord with me. The author said that, where being healthy is concerned, you know what you should and should not eat, and you understand that there are consequences to being cavalier with those choices. So, if you never reach your physical potential, the fault lies in you. It's a simple message that speaks volumes.
If you want better, you do better. It's not rocket science.
And that change starts with you.
