The Biggest Question In Weight Loss History

I’ve had both a successful challenge and a failed attempt.
I think the failure was a combination of factors: timing, fear of success, cockiness… I saw great improvement and then a trade show and travel happened, priorities changed and I ‘knew’ what I was doing and so didn’t need to be as diligent. There was shame and disappointment when I threw in the towel and again at the end of the 98 days when I was looking at all of the finishers and their rock hard bodies while I was pretty much the same. I vowed Never Again and completed the winter challenge. I weigh a little less than the holiday challenge. I got sick this past spring with shingles and that slowed me down. I’ve lost some muscle and gained ome fat and am more than ready to reverse the trend!

The main reason people fail to complete is that the scales are out of balance.
On one side of the scales are the ingrained diet and exercise habits that have left us in this mess in the first place, the culture of everything being served in huge portions, too much food that is nutritionally poor and the mental and physical effort required to overcome the inertia.
On the other side of the scales are the motivators that encourage us to get a grip of our lives – knowing that we need to lose fat for our health and for our families, fear that without losing weight we will heart attack, diabetes or some similar health issue, for a sport or fitness goal, to look good, to enjoy life more.
At the beginning, when we first make a commitment, these are hopefully weighing down on the second side. Every difficulty or setback puts more weight in the first side. At the point that the balance shifts in favour of the first side, we give up.
The secret is to maintain the focus on the second side and, every tine a setback comes along, re-commit to whatever reasons got us started in the first place.

I believe so many people drop out because are they not fully educated on weight loss and all that factors in. Rather than focusing on how they feel and look, they are focusing on the numbers. They kill themselves in the gym doing endless amounts of cardio with very little weight training expecting instant results consistently checking the numbers on the scale. They spend more time counting calories rather than focusing on the right foods to eat. Not being prepared, at the last minute scrambling for something to eat only to cave for something fast and fried. I really believe not being well educated, prepared and patient are most of the key factors in people quitting and giving up.
I have stuck with programs for awhile, not completely unsatisfied with my results but getting to a point where I was stuck and not going anywhere only to get off track for awhile. Not until I learned how important your diet is did I really get it and understanding how important incorporating weights into your fitness routine is in order to burn more fat with workouts. I’ve taken the time to read and listen about what really works and adjusting it to fit my needs. Having a support system of a few friends or a board where I can post my workouts and diet have helped hold me accountable. Knowing how great I feel and look now, no way I want to fail and go back to being inactive and eating unhealthy food. That alone if a big reason to stick with a solid program.

The race is not to the swift neither is the battle to the strong. Weightloss is not about physical strength. The battle of the bulge is in the mind. The deterrmination to stick with it cannot be found on the manual of any treadmill or exercise bike; it is in the mind. You might join a million exercise teams and sure, they may be really great,like BFFM. But if you don’t DECIDE that you are going to stick with it, then sorry to say, a flop is imminent. Before going on a weightloss journey, as with any other major project in one’s life, you have to sit still, be quiet and meditate. There is a saying “RUSH IN, RUSH OUT!”. Take time out to think about it before you start. “Why do I want to do this?” “What are the benefits?” “How do I plan to go about this” “How do I fit this into my schedule?” “What are my backup plans in case something goes wrong?”. Only when these are settled in your mind should you go for it!

The simple answer is because it’s hard, and it requires a change in lifestyle, not just a several week sacrifice. The first few weeks are easy, when all gung-ho, but once that honeymoon phase of feeling good getting in-shape wears off, you either convert to a true change in lifestyle, or you get frustrated and feel it is too difficult to maintain and just start to give up.

I dropped out because I had an adult take my after photos and they looked worse than the before photos – despite having made forward progress! I should have had my daugther take the after photos (She hates it and doesn’t like that her mom would even consider wearing a bikini!). I stuck with the challenge so that I could start the new year better off than I left the previous year and I could jut keep the momenbtum rolling. I did suffer an injury during the challenge, but I weathered it and kept going. The forum is motivational. The accountability keeps you sticking to it.

I haven’t entered a challenge but I did buy your book, Burn The Fat, Feed The Muscle a couple of years ago and it just made a lot of sense to me. I was successful with my own personal challenge initially because I believed in it. Now I’ll share why I think I succeeded long-term and conversely, why others might fail. By the way, all the answers above are very good reasons why some don’t have the succes they hope for when they start.
But for me, the main reason I succeeded was positive feedback from others. I was 61 years old, 6’1″ and 215 pounds. My wife is 20 years younger than me and most of our friends are much younger than I am. I started a diet and exercise plan based on the book and bought some weights.
I lost 15 pounds in the first two weeks. My wife started commenting about how good I looked when I came in the bathroom to shower after my workouts. That was my first big ego-boost! However, I was starving myself and running out of energy. I was mistakenly restricting myself to 750 – 850 calories a day!
After I took my diet up to 1200 calories, my energy came back, I worked harder and the muscles started to grow. I decided to take my shirt off in front of our friends one day and play water voleyball with our group of young, fit friends. Afterward, I got several comments about how I looked younger than a lot of them. That really made me feel good and I resolved to work even harder.
In six months, I weighed 182 pounds and I’ve stayed around 185 ever since. What made it worth it for me was the positive reinforcement from loving and caring friends and family. For some people, it’s enough to see the results for themselves in the mirror. It doesn’t matter if anyone else notices. But for me, I needed that extra boost of confidence that comes from other people noticing my success and I was fortunate enough to have friends who cared.

I truly believe the success comes most deeply from the mental toughness & daily investment in positive affirmation. I finished the first chapter last night in preparation for starting my first challenge. It made me realize that prior to BFFM I’d underestimated the positive impact (that getting your brain wrapped around all of the information) would do for my personal success.
I am very thankful for the Inner Circle as well. There is such value in journaling, and keeping connected with people that are walking the same journey. It’s pretty amazing to connect with people from all over the world. Inner circle will keep me motivated and accountable for each and every step along the way. Having my BRAIN engaged in the correct direction will allow me to purposfully avoid yet another failed attempt. This time…is different…is the ticket to being satisfied with my appearance for life!!! Thanks Tom!!

People drop out of transformation contests because they failed to prepare themselves mentally. They approached it in a casual manner and didn’t make solid goals. Part of it is connecting with others in the contest, but if a person is doing it solely for themselves, they will keep working at those solid goals to realize them. One must write out their goals, check them regularly, visualize their success and have a game plan to achieve them.
In the last contest (it was my first), I did those very things. I also intermingled with other contestants, read their strategies and successes and kept reassessing my own goals to keep it realistic. I felt an accountability with others, but my strongest accountability was with myself and my goals. They were on my mind every day. I did finish that contest and have kept recording ever since. I’m also pumped about this contest tomorrow and I will be writing out my goals for my personal success.

I’ve watched friends and family around me continually cycle – starting, stopping, restarting, etc… at attempts at getting healthier. And wither its through changing their diet, their exercise routine, or both, they always seem to fail for the same basic reason. They set their expectations to high, and when they inevitably do not to meet those expectations, they “believe” they’ve failed already – and thus starts the downward spiral to giving up, and true failure.
I “expect” to slip every now and then – I allow myself that, and don’t focus on the slips. Instead I attempt to focus on gradual/incremental improvement. If I have one bad meal, it’s not a failure, it’s a reward for all the other good food choices I’ve made recently. Allowing myself that reward, and seeing as such, helps to motivate me to do even better going forward. If I miss one workout, focus on all the other good workouts that came before, and most importantly, how that opportunity to “rest” will improve the workouts to come.

COMMITMENT! That’s why people such as myself fail. Plus not acting on the info we’ve been given cause we want instant results even though u say it’s a lifestyle change. I believe wholeheartedly everything in ur book but sometimes it becomes information overload. I love everything about what u do but I can sum up this answer in one short sentence. PEOPLE SUCH AS MYSELF DON’T COMMIT TOTALLY TO THE PROGRAM AND EVEN THOUGH WE KNOW WHAT TO DO WE DON’T APPLY THE PRINCIPALS YOU’VE TAUGHT US!

I hope I will. Rock on, Tom!

The biggest reason most people quit, seems to me to be that when they start to confront their addiction to eating they don’t like what they see and go back to the safe place. How I let go of 115 puunds was to go slowly, keep patient with myself, stay persistant and know that I could do it.

The hardest thing for me is willpower I want to do it and I know how to do it it is keeping that will and desire and being succsessful:

Hope, Time, and the Perfect Mind Syndrome
People go into a transformation or contest Hoping they will be motivated to the end, they Hope that their commitment will be repaid with success. Sometime the measure of success is too great and what one visions as success is not possible, then over Time the begin to lose Hope and eventually just give up. The Perfect Mind syndrome, or 100% or Noting way of doing things can also lead to despair after trying to manager every day to perfection the first or second little slip people go from being perfect or applying 100% toward their goal to Nothing.
Life can also help to derail progress that will cause people to drop out, work, travel, change of schedules, holidays all impact our daily lives, miss a day, two or more then motivation is lost and it becomes easy to say ‘I will get them next time’.
If we stick to one day at a time, go with it for the duration and take before and after photos, it is remarkable how much change will occur in the given time. Much like bowling and golf, with a little more practice, next time I know I can do better, use what you do for motivation and learn from both the positives and negatives then apply them to your program.

WHY DO PEOPLE DROP OUT OF FITNESS TRANSTORMATIONS?
I have many friends who come to me and ask to be given a fitness programme, what nutrition changes should they make etc. I am happy to do this but experience tells me that they will take the information away and probably throw it in the bin.
From my friends The reason I find are
1. That they are in their comfort zone and it’s just to much like hard work, they want it now.
2. That they are not comitted enough to make small changes to their routine in order to give them a healthier life. Fear of success stops them from moving forward.
3. There is emotional issues related to their eating pattern and it is too painful to deal with why they eat a certain way.
4. They concentrate on the negative body issues rather than the positives, it is a form of negative attention.
5. That they allow other people to keep them in that diet yo yo fat place and they don’t take control.
6. That they allow themself to go so far, they see results then stop half way never reaching their goal, did they have a goal to begin with.
I am sure there is many more but I feel most people I know have extreme emotional issues with food and are not happy eaters.
HOW DO I STICK TO IT?
Despite being fit and a vegetarian since childhood I have suffered from ulcerative colitis with tumours for many year. Getting surgery and steroid treatment is not fun. I did a great deal of experimenting with my health and am at a place now where I feel that I am treatment free. I turn 40 in september, so my training has changed I do more strength than cardio now. I am a single parent, went back to university to do a doctorate, juggling all the time etc. etc. fitness is my meditation.
I stick to fitness because
1. It has been part of my life and at times part of my sanity and part of my daily routine.
2. That I set myself a goal and visualize it.
3. I come out of my comfort zone and challenge myself.
4. That I make a promise to stay healthy to be a healthy mum.
I became aware recently that If I wasn’t living the lifestyle that I have I would definetly have bowel cancer.
5. I get bored easy so I work a lot with muscle confusion and change my routine often.
6.I tell people what my goals are so that I am more likeley to reach them.
7. I read a lot… sports psychologyis part of my training.
8. I enjoy being fit, it’s fun.
I have a young daughter and feel it is a right for both of us to have perfect health, I am my daughters role model and I am her guide she copies me so therefore she trains beside me. I need the energy to keep up with her, I dont want to be one of those parents that is too tired to swim in the sea with her.

First know thyself. I think that not quite getting there is STILL to do with subconsciously comparing oneself to those ‘ideal’ images of physical greatness with which western culture bombards us. And with plastic surgery being commonplace and fully accepted as ‘normal’ now the pressure increases. I mean, I will never, ever look like the pics in the magazines. I know that I CANNOT be like that. I know why (I can’t photoshop myself in real life, and I have my own unique physique, not theirs.) As, like most people, I have never achieved my physical best I cannot come to terms with what that might be. Maybe we firstly need to change our minds to be content with ourselves as we really are – and to want to work at being the best that WE can.

Tom, I think the only reason is lack of motivation.
Of course, in the beginning we all see the future 6 pack and muscles in our imagination and we strive to do it. You have a goal and you do a lot of things in order to achieve it. You have immediate results while adding trainings or changing nutrition plan, you see the first results, you get the first compliments and… here it comes… we got stuck… Plateau… Such a beautiful word with such an awful meaning…
You don’t understand why it’s happening even though you’ve read a lot of articles on plateau and body’s functions. Ok, then you train harder, you strict your diet and nothing! Then you start thinking maybe I am not so good genetically to deal with that belly fat? Maybe I am not so blessed to have perfect ABS? One day you train less, another day you eat some ice-cream in the night, you like that feeling – to feel free and do whatever you want! Because everyone tells you why are you losing weight? You’re looking good! You believe them and they eat all that delicious stuff (your cravings) and you cheat on your diet, you promise that’s only 1 time! but then it repeats again and again. Anyhow you don’t lose any weight, so why you couldn’t get some pleasure? Still having some hope to lose that fat, but motivation is gone!
You start to believe that’s really not your cup of tea! As a result: you drop off the competition or training program…
The solution of a problem is to find new motivation! Find something that you want so bad, that you would never change it for chips, chocolate, burgers, etc!
I know that well because I had the same feeling and I gained weight instead of losing it. It’s sad, but I hope to get your books and be a member of Inner circle to burn the fat and see my ABS finally!!!
Thanks for attention! :)
Always your fan! =)

I feel that people drop out of weight loss programs because they expect the weight to drop off immediately with little work on their part. It takes work to change your lifestyle-eating habits and exercise. I stick with them because any change is a good one. You didn’t put the weight on overnight, so why should you expect to lose it overnight. I have found success, by accepting exercise and clean eating as a way of life and not a quick fix.

I believe the answer is that many people either don’t set goals or they set unrealistic goals. It’s easy to lose focus in either case. I know from experience that if I don’t have a strong reason and specific goals for losing weight (or anything), I never succeed. I have always succeeded in reaching my goal weight, however, maintaining is another story. That’s where I usually lose my drive. Still working on that one!
I love your insight and articles, Tom. Thanks for all you do to keep us all motivated!
Susan F.

Stumbling blocks include the all or nothing attitude:” I’m too busy and I didn’t make progress this week because I skipped two workouts and ate too much.” Then the towel gets thrown in. Why health gets put on the back burner, I’ll never know because without it, life is the pits.
I’ve tried a number of times to get people back “on the wagon” during the challenges, and it seems that once that decision is made to throw in the towel, it stays thrown. Like an “on/off” switch.
I stick to it because health is a priority and I know that if I don’t, there is no chance in hell in succeeding. While teams help me walk the straight and narrow, I don’t need one as long as I know a lot of people are running along beside me. I do maintain this lifestyle between challenges but end up getting a little sloppy when life gets hectic. During challenges, I am totally consequent. The lure of the chance to go to Maui must be the reason. ;-)

Why do people quit?
Because it’s easier. You know how you wake up one day to realize you’re all of a sudden x lb/kg heavier and then pretend it isn’t true or just live with it until it gets so hard that doing something about it doesn’t seem that hard. So, you take up a fitness and nutrition program, accept a challenge, etc. But then as time goes by it gets harder and harder so you just quit.
What’s my experience?
I have quit a few times. I usually tell myself the goal hadn’t been realistic in the first place. Other times I get satisfied with the results. And then there’s plain old injury.
What would be different if I were to enter the BFFM body transformation contest?
Actually, just by thinking about your question, Tom, I have come up with the right answer – at least the right answer for me. I’d give myself constant reminders that being fat is hard too and even if finishing the contest seems harder, quitting would be way harder because I hate being a quitter. Besides, if I never reach my goal, I’d have to start all over again and again…

Why people don’t finish… well here’s my story…. i really never finished getting started. I purchesed your books, a tape measure, and the pinch measure tool. I read the boooks and that’s about as far as i could organize myself. Just the kickstart i need is me and pain is what sets off the mindset. I’ve tried fasting to kickstart weight loss, I’ve purchesed weightloss programs, I even started doing short walks. Past and current injuries creep in, challenging me even more,, knowing if I would get these 30 lbs off my joints I would feel better! Support must be key I have not tried that. I even fathomed the thought of me nana sugar babies

How do you stick with it ?
WOW , how do you really stick with it, In my personal experience, I would have to say that taking it day by day was what worked for me .I didn’t become a transformation story that you can read and say WOW ..she transformed ..but In my mind body and spirit I new that for 98 days I didn’t not once cheat ..I worked out and felt really good.I looked pretty much the same ..and was mortified ..when I weight myself ..I’d gained 3 lbs ..and felt like a complete idiot ..who gains weight during a challenge ? ME…LOL
I came to the conclusion that the stress in my life altered my results.having work stress and personal stress at home ..really kept me up at night ..sleeping 4-5 interrupted hours a night is not good for your recovery process.
I can understand people dropping out when they figure out that after the first 3 weeks they didn’t lose any pounds ..for me I would say ..not losing any weight was a big problem .
People fail these challenges because they simply love to eat, they are to lazy to exercise or they expect big/fast results. Plain n simple right ? so then why did I fail if I exercised ate right and
worked my butt off..
LIFE ..my life is complicated enough ..this just added more stress to it .

Failure is truly easy! Nothing worth having or doing is easy in this life- children, health, a good job, a great marriage. They are all worth working tremendously hard for. Excuses, we are full of excuses as a society. There are millions of reasons why we can’t or don’t want to do things. I think of all those like my grandparents that struggled through the great depression to find food, shelter, and work. They had no choice, but to work extremely hard to keep it all together.
I have multiple health problems and I have not had the energy or stamina to really focus on a strenuous workout routine, not to mention what hypothyroidism has done to my metabolism! But, those are excuses and I refuse to have anymore excuses. I will quit focusing on all the reasons of why I can’t exercise or how much harder it will be for me to see results. There are no more excuses- I have no choice, but to just do it!

I have had success and I have dropped out so to say. I have dropped out mostly because of not seeing insant success. I know it doesn’t happen in one day but my mind is geared on seeing results right away , I step on the scale everyday (which I know is a downfall) and my weight goes down and then goes up or doesn’t change at all and to me that is dicouraging and failure.
We are creatures of habit and if we don’t commit to doing the eating habit and exercise routine daily it doesn’t work. If you slip up you have to get back on track imediately and a lot of people get the frame of mind I goofed up so it won’t work , they fail to get back in the routine.
Most people try one way and if it doesn’t work they see failure. I think people need to try a variety of different ways of exercise and foods to keep on track.
Some people need family and friends to help encourage them and sometimes family anf friends can be the worst enemy. Having a coach is also a way to stay on track.
Another reason for the high drop out rate is they think about the person they will become (mentally not physically). Some people become not so nice in their attitude and that can be a setback also. Some times your partners attitude changes and that can also be a deterant and cause of failure.
Setting big goals is another cause of failure I find setting small realistic steps are better.
I am embarking on a new weight loss challenge now so hopfully this will work I have mt mind set in a better direction this time.

1. I have never participated in your weight lost contest, but I have dropped out of plenty of programs in the past. The main reason I dropout is because I don’t see immediate results. when I say immediate I mean within 2-3 months I expect to lose some weight. I have always had a difficult time losing weight. I would give 100% to a program and then after about 2 months if I see little to no results I stop.
2. The thing that would make stick to a program is individual help. I am one of those people who have such a difficult time losing weight. I wish I had someone to work with me one on one to look at what I’m eating and work with me to find the right way to eat and exercise for my body. So many times I feel like a failure and give up. Most of the time it would cost a fortune to have someone to work with you one on one and I don’t have a fortune.

When it really comes down to it, I don’t think many people see themselves as the type of person who can compete in such a contest. Sure, maybe they delude themselves for a few weeks, but the mindset, belief, whatever you want to call it, is not a reality for them.
At least that’s the case for me. My reality is that I’ve struggled with my weight since I was 13. I’m now 33. My reality is that my life gets in the way. My reality is that I’ve always been the guy with the pudgy belly but that it’s ok because at least I can enjoy a good meal and kick back a few beers and not worry about it. I have absolutly no idea what it would be like, feel like, look like to have a body that could win, or even compete, in a contest like this.
Maybe more people, myself included, would be more successful if the action was supported by belief. Writing goals, eating nutritiously, monitoring calories, working out – these are all actions. I can do these. But I don’t really believe that I can ever be the guy in the before and after photo’s and I don’t know how to change that.

Commitment to weight loss program cannot be achieved by making resolutions
Or will power. I believe the determination to remain in shape and stay
Healthy should arise from wanting to serve God in good health, not
Overworking the heart due to uncontrolled eating habit. Most people
Drop out of keep fit programs because the motive for joining the
Program is not spiritually based and may not have asked for help
Through prayers to Successfully finish the program.

Most people are looking for the quick fix. That’s our society today. I’ll eat my way into sad shape and then after looking at myself, I’ll think “Wow, I’ve gotta lose weight, burn fat, eat better, whatever”. When people don’t see results right away, they lose focus and, ultimately, pack it in. Having the body you want or the look you want is like anything else–playing the piano, physics, flying an airplane–you have to do it in order to get better at it. It’s practice. It’s repetitions. It’s focus, It’s a mindset. You want to get stronger…then go practice being stronger. You want to lose weight..go practice losing weight. It has to become part of your mindset…a habit. Then, and only then, will the results come.

I think people drop out of contests and don’t stick with it because they don’t plan. It’s easy to just wing it. If you have a general idea of what to do it is very easy to get up every morning and think you are doing all the right things. Then at 4 in the afternoon when the day hasn’t gone just as it was suppose to it becomes very easy to fall into the old comfort zone of bad habits and vow to “start again” tomorrow. Then this becomes the pattern and pretty soon weeks, months go by without progress. It takes a lot of discipline and hard work and most people are more comfortable doing what they have always done.

The reason people drop out of body transformation contest?
The immediacy of the reward is the issue. If someone believes the reward is far away and more difficult to achieve,then it is harder to stay motivated for it versus the immediate reward of the reduction in tension one gets from quitting.
To put it more simply, if I had a one and several thousand chance at a trip to Hawaii, but I have to bust my butt just for the mere chance to win, as the process gets harder to get to the end, the more apt a person is to feel the reward is just not in reach, or just not worth it. But if I knew for a fact the reward was waiting at the end, then staying the course would be easier, the reward is a sure thing. If I do ‘X” then I know I get “Y”.
It can be very stress relieving to quit doing all the hard work, which provides a guaranteed immediate reward, even if there is long term consequences. As we all know long term consequences seem too far off to matter in the moment, particularly when a 5:30 am workout calls versus staying in a warm bed.
This is where proper support for the journey is invaluable. Peer pressure alone is enough to pull some people up out of the bed, some people it will take more than people on the internet to do that. Proper support in their own environment may be necessary. And that takes a personal dedication on the part of the individual to find that. An internet contest cannot do that for them, sadly to say.
My 1 1/2 cent….for what it is worth.

I did finish the one time I entered. Why?
Well, I made the committment to the process, took the photos, and so on. And did an OK but not great job of following through. But part of the the committment was to take the end of contest photos, too. So I did that. And once that was done, submitting them was easy.
I guess that the committment I made at the beginning is what let me see it through to the end.
Best wishes to everyone involved!

Why do most people quit? Well, it is because it is hard. It takes a lot of discipline and commitment to training and nutrition to make it. Many people like to throw out excuses for why they can’t do it today. There are times when I felt tired from a long day at work but I go work out anyway and most of the time by the end I feel better than when I started.
How to you keep going? I found that having a training partner helps out so much. I also like to have a plan for training every time I do it. I also find reading inspirational quotes and videos to help also. I think it’s mostly mental. You really have to want it.

A body transformation is seriously hard work. It takes an immense amount of selfdiscipline, dedication and committment to carry on through the end. Many times people get wrapped up in the big picture, and get overwhelmed at the size of the task and all it involves. Self doubt and fear of failure sets in and may cause us to drop off. So what does it take to combat this? A mindset shift. Do make your goals and overall plan to accomplish them, but once it is set and in place, simply focus on the task at hand. One day at a time, one workout at a time, one meal at a time, one moment at a time. Focus on the here and now and the overall is less overwhelming.

Once I make a commitment to a diet and exercist plan, I can stick with it for a while but I end up quitting, usually by a series of falling off and getting back on the wagon episodes, because it is hard to stay focused and make a sustained effort. I tell myself I am making a lifestyle chnge, but the old habits get in the way of the new, fragile ones. The old temptations seem to win in the end every time. Food, after all, was involved in the first sin! I am not vain enough to care about how I look that much. I do care about my health now that I am facing the consequences of my bad habits. I have a list of obstcles to a succesful body transformation, and to overcome those obstacles, it takes sustained hard work and focus. I tend to feel guilty about being self-centered and self focused during attempts to change, but that is exactly what is required to accomplish the goal. I have read about all the ways around these obstacles, and it works for awhile, but it feels like being one of those people who spin plates on a pole – sooner or later all the plates crash to the ground.

HiTom,
I would love to help you out and to hopefully win a hardcopy of your book. I have been a Burn the Fat reader for two years. I really enjoy what you have to say and have tried to encorporate some of the information into my daily life. I think for me the reason that people quit is that Life gets in the way! It is difficult to shop for the right foods, to afford to buy the foods that we know we should be eating, to find the right things to eat when you go out( even though that is improving), to find the extra time to work out, and to enjoy it enough to keep at it. For myself, kids get in the way and need more of my time, my job requires more from me or I am so busy trying to make all the wheels turn in the right direction that it is just easier to go back to the old routine than to fight to do what I want to do for me! I really feel that is why many of us can’t stay on track. It is a constant struggle and there are too many other people that need things first. The desire is there but there are only so many hours in the day!

I think they drop out because it takes a lot of dedication and commitment that most people don’t have. Having said that, I also think there is an all-or-nothing mentality that derails people. If you have one bad day, you often give up all together instead of dusting yourself off and getting back on track.

“GETTING BACK ON THE HORSE,” or lack thereof, is one reason failure thrives in weight loss attempts. We seem to have an “perfect or nothing” approach and the minute we eat that cake at our daughter’s wedding or drink some wine past 8pm, or whatever weight loss rule we break, we figure we have failed.
I once saw an interview with the CEO of a massive, successful corporation. He said that they may not get their business 100% right all the time, but if they could get 80% right most of the time, then they could be successful. I think that it’s important to remember we are all human and can and WILL make mistakes, in our life, and most certainly in our diet.
I agree with Tom that we should “Train hard and expect success,” but I think we need to embrace that ALL THE MORE if we have experienced a set back or a road block and GET BACK ON THE HORSE that leads to BETTER HEALTH and a BETTER BODY!

Why I DIDN’T quit?
My family is my inspiration. My health was rapidly declining as my health and energy were being sapped away from me. I found myself only able to get my kids off to school in the AM, sleep the day, and open the door upon their return. Depressed and not getting any better. The weight held me back, I couldn’t fit any of my clothes. One day I had to attend a Mother/Daughter tea, ( I had stopped leaving my house) so I needed an outfit. Yup that was me wearing a size 16; up from a size 8! It didn’t feel good, although others thought this new healthy look was fine. For me that was enough. My only Princess conscious of our looks, and of me especially not looking like the “other moms” sent me researching ways to lose.
I found that I needed a long-term “life-style” change not a fad diet. Gradually I made the proper changes, mind, body, and spirit. Today I am up and about; a functioning member of my family again. I have a great body, energy, and healthier than I have been.
Sticking with the new me is possible because I have not made impossible demands upon myself. I haven’t restricted myself, and my family helps keep me accountable, we all eat much healthier and encourage one another.

I believe the biggest reason for failure is the willingness to accept it. We live in a society where technology has made our lives easier, and when something gets difficult, we just don’t want to bother. Unless we are truly committed to defeating our bad habits, they will not change. My father used to be a smoker long before I was born. He had tried many times to quit, but would always go back. One day while driving home from work, he reached for another cigarette, and then he asked himself why he was doing this. It wasn’t good for him, it was dirty, and smelled bad. His own father had died from lung cancer. Is that what he wanted? He realized he hated the way it made him feel about himself. He was giving his freedom up to a smelly cigarette. After that, he was truly committed to quitting. He never smoked again. I have often thought of his commitment when I face my own challenges. Sure there are times I get frustrated and want to quit, but I step back, analyze my method, make some changes, and start fighting again. I can’t quit because it makes me feel hopeless, and I need to hope. I have been trying for two years to lose 50 lbs of built up baby fat. Finally, this year, I found the right method, and have lost 25lbs so far. I had done several popular weight loss plans in the past after prior pregnancies, but they didn’t work for me this time. It turns out, I had lost too much muscle mass in the past from those diets to have them work the same way this time. Thanks to your site, I have returned to weight lifting, and hope to continue to lose weight and get my body back.

I’ve entered several transformation contests over the last couple of years and have never completed any of them. I’m glad you asked this question, Tom, because all this time I haven’t really thought about why! It could be a general lack of motivation or discipline, but I’ve had very successful periods of weight loss and increased fitness. I’ve used many different fitness programs that I have completed with great results. So contest failure would appear to be something else for me. As I’ve gotten older, I’ve had a more and more difficult time getting/staying in shape. My body changes the rules of the game and I have to keep figuring out what the best ways are to respond to those changes. When I figure them out, I have another period of success and fitness. Sometimes when I think I’m on to a good solution I’ll sign up for a transformation contest expecting great results, but then I won’t have as much success as I hoped and I’ll get discouraged and forget about the contest. Or I may sign up for a contest to try a new strategy to get fit and will find that it doesn’t fit into my life very well and I’ll get discouraged and forget about the contest. Interestingly, however, I’ll have periods of great success between contests. I’m thinking that stress may play a role in this story. When I’m in a contest counting down the days I feel pressure to see results and show them to the contest forum community, etc., even though I’m excited about it and have experienced nothing but wonderful support from other contest members. I just put too much pressure on myself, I suppose, and worry about embarrassing myself with poor results. Perhaps at this stage in my life (I’m 45) a steady stream of cortisol from that pressure is enough to keep me from seeing results even with strict adherence to the plan I’m following at the time. That same strict adherence to a plan and dedication to living a fit and healthy life – minus the added pressure of a contest – always give me great results. My problem is that when I see great results I enter another contest thinking I’ll keep doing great and I’ll win something – and that’s when I stop seeing the great results! It’s a vicious cycle! LOL!!

We live in a pay now-expect now society. Its difficult to switch to a pay now-expect latter kind of mentality. Success is always a “pay in advance” kind of investment and most people have difficulty excepting that.
We battle the perceived “easiness” of change through all the quick help books and programs and people seem to expect for change to happen instantly.

A loser didn’t even start properly. Didn’t think it was possible. Didn’t fantasize about wonderful and pleasurable things that never happen to them–like health + beauty. They felt they weren’t worth it. They had too little guts, weaker souls.

People see the contests and think “I can do that easy”, without realizing the commitment and time involved to get to the finish line. As soon as they realize it’s going to take actual WORK to get there, they drop out. Maybe if they hired a trainer to motivate them on, or joined a physical group (not online but right there with them), they could be held accountable. But…they are only accountable to themselves and that makes it easier to just give up. In order to be successful, you have to invest in yourself. Make a contract just for yourself with all the benefits you WILL recieve after you’re done. Good health, low body fat, maybe even a six pack. Then put the clause in your contract that states what happens if you quit. All bad things. Read this contract EVERYDAY. Memorize it. Do whatever it takes to get to that finish line.

I haven’t entered a challenge yet because it’s too daunting. The eating part I find easier to do than the exercise, but the regime you need to stick to in order to actually win this type of competition is quite gruelling day in day out. It is like having a full time job on top of what you do already – it’s alot to take on. I think most people find this too much after a few weeks because other things just get in the way. I follow a BFFM eating plan the vast majority of the time and don’t find it difficult to eat the right foods (though sometimes I’m too busy to fit in all 5 meals). I’m not into junk food and don’t have a sweet tooth so I don’t have food binges. I do however have a weakness for weekend drinking (alcohol) socially. During the week all I drink is filtered water, maybe a decaf tea in the evening and 1 morning coffee per day. The weekend drinking however has made my weight loss after my second baby very slow. I could give this up on my own quite happily, but peer pressure is another matter. I also find it really difficult to get enough workouts in. I love weight training, but find the cardio more difficult to stay motivated with. I have thought about joining the Inner Circle, but what put me off that is I think I would really struggle to log on frequently enough. 2 years ago I had a personal trainer and achieved a small transformation, it was brilliant and I didn’t mind the hard work at all. But then we had to relocate with my husband’s job, I now have the baby full time and I’m not working so can’t afford to hire anyone. Otherwise, I would do that again as a first choice. I don’t think an online support group would work for me. I could really do with entering the latest challenge to get rid of the baby belly and get my figure back, but at the moment all I see is a 12 foot brick wall in the way!!

I’ll start with HOW I stick to a program… NO CONTESTS! The only way any “program” works for me is that a complete lifestyle amendment occurs. Eating around the perimeter of the store was a big one , I had to get back to it after twenty plus years away.
Another point, reasonable exercise to begin with, body weight and walking with deliberate pushing strides, and occasional running intermediately to build wind and muscle endurance.
Good supplements, Nutrilite for me, and good sleep, use melatonin when needed. There are other good supplements by NeuroScience, Calm PRT, and Kavanace PM that help in reducing elevated Cortisol, Nor-epinephrine and epinephrine,aiding sleep.
More time with loved ones and friends that support my efforts, Not competitive, high stress, must accomplish loss mavens.
Make it a point to eat 6 times a day between 100 and 600 for a total of between 1500 and 2000 calories a day to establish a baseline target for loss and a solid foundation to accommodate muscle building with increased protein and increased raw foods for short term energy.
Why do people stop in contests and programs? Simply put- no long term lifestyle changes foreseen, not enough enough connection to family and friends and their lifestyles (don’t want to feel like the freak), or no buy in to the hyped goals or body look. Goals and vision for a program must match the vision of the attendee or participant. Too often the emphasis is on looks or “sexiness”, more emphasis needs to be put on living longer to enjoy life with your spouse into old age, or playing with the grandkids. These are motivating factors that nobody in a person’s inner circle would argue with. In fact, most family and friends will support it and not try to convince you that your program is extreme or out of line with normal.
Enjoy the day team, My change for this week has been to plant a garden for fresh organic vegetables outside my door instead of having to drive to the store. YEAH! Come on September harvest.

I think that people drop out of body transformation contests because it is really hard work! It takes a ton of effort to plan your meals and macronutrients and then stick to it, and it’s hard going to the gym after a long day at work when you’re so tired and just want to curl up on the couch with a bowl of comfort food. Even though I KNOW I will feel great after a workout, it’s so hard just getting there. One must have a rock-solid goal, written down AND visualized constantly in order to be successful. You have to want it so bad that you will resist every temptation to skip “just this one workout,” or eat “just this one brownie :)” I’m looking forward to completing my 4th BFFM challenge this summer!

People drop out of body transformation contests for the same reasons most of them never finish their weight loss programs. Regardless of all the stuff that we take into account, it always comes down to one short sentence.
Losing weight is simple, but it’s not easy.
To achieve your goals you need to have goals first, and it doesn’t really matter whether or not they have anything to do with losing weight. I can say from my own experience that most of the time people think they’re going to go through with the weight loss program and there’s nothing in this world that’s going to prevent that, but in fact that’s just superficial and has nothing to do with an actual weight loss goal.
In order to lose weight most people need to hit rock bottom, almost like drug addicts, before they’re able to come to peace with the way they look and feel and gather the willpower needed to forget everything and everybody and just focus on losing weight and achieving their goal.

For me the key is finding what motivates you to continue in addition to what motivates you to start. I have had a successful challenge and a failed attempt in the past. Same challenge, just different years. On my first go at it I received a lot of encouragement from my trainer and peers in the challenge. I actually won the challenge (5 free bootcamp sessions in the following year); however, never used them all. I didn’t re-establish goals after winning the challenge so I let life take over and pull me back into my old ways. Two years later the I signed up for the challenge again, but was very unsuccessful. I did not have the same encouragement as before and I could not get my mindset right to push myself to the next level during the workouts like I had done before. I also had a lot going on in my life that made it very difficult to put the challenge as the top priority.
So for me, I need to realistically look at my life and if I will be able to put the effort needed for the time period of the challenge as well as make sure I have people to encourage me along the way. I’ve figured out that Third party validation is huge for me. Unfortunately I can’t depend on it, so I also need to challenge myself daily with improving my workout performance vs. focusing on the end goal. Then as I do better (more push-ups, running longer distances, etc.) I can validate myself.

I think back through the years of all the “diets” I have been on and all of the pounds I did lose, but ended up gaining back.I know for me not sticking to a weight loss and exercise proram has alot to do with motivation or lack of motivation, but I think it goes a little deeper than that. I feel that I have a fear of reaching my goals. I feel that because I have low self esteem and I don’t feel good about myself and the way that I look, I not only don’t believe that I can achieve success in my weight loss goals, but I don’t believe that I deserve to look and feel good!That is a very sad way to feel about myself and I want to change that so bad.

They fail because they are not committed to make it a lifestyle . There maybe that small voice still in their head that says its to hard or they are afraid of how awesome they will look. So I would say fear and commitment!
I have not made my goal but I keep striving for it.
Karen

I have never managed to finish a contest. I think the reason for myself and others not finishing a contest is motivation. In the beginning you are all geared up and excited and think you can do this, after a while your motivation wanes and if you don’t see results quickly enough you start to lose focus and don’t believe in the program. My problem is that I try to do it all by myself. I think the best way to stick with it is definitely having a buddy, someone to help you when you aren’t motivated, someone who wants to lose the same as you or has been in the same boat as you. Someone who will make you accountable and will help you to reach the finish line. People who are successful usually have someone to help them when they want to give up or are so motivated and want it so badly that something clicks and they do it. Unfortunately I have not yet reached that place where I believe in myself, that I can get that body. I know I need to start believing in myself. Good Luck to all of you in your weight loss goals.

I think most people that drop out don’t realize the effort, commitment, hard work, etc… that a venture like this requires. Bottom line–this is HARD, not easy. It takes a lot of dedication and discipline.

I have tried weight loss programs and given up. The main reason is because of my mindset. At the beginning of the program I was excited and motivated. I knew my goals and I knew that I wanted to achieve it but after a while I got bored. Sometimes it has to do with not seeing results at all and actually gaining more. I know there is something that says that sometimes you gain and then you begin to lose eventually. It all has to do with your mind and the type and amount of support you get from friends and family. Sometimes when I see no results a few good words can get you back on tract but then I always stop again. Another thing is changing the diet which I find very hard to do. I could do it because sometimes I start on a healthy diet and then at the end of the day end up on fast food. This I think is because I have people around me that are always eating. Somehow I can’t resist food after seeing them eat, maybe if I really decided to commit myself to it.
What I would do to actually stick with the diet is get into a support group, with people facing the same situation as me. We can hopefully be each other’s support. Like I said before it all has to do with your mindset, being around the right people and the right environment can be a gr8 step towards achieving any goals. Everybody have the ability to do anything they want to and I believe and I know that I have the ability to change my shape. I just have to really set my heart and mind to it .

I guess I should say, these comments are from my own dissertation research, available in full-text at: http://etd.lib.fsu.edu/theses/available/etd-04242011-155707/unrestricted/ODare_K_Dissertation_2011.pdf

The main reasons people quit any good fitness program are lack of preparation and lack of determination. The preparation is mental and physical- changing eating habits really is a matter of changing how you prepare to eat- planning, shopping, and prepping prior to eating is the reason people eat well. Failure to do so leads so undermining the goal. Determination gives you the ability to keep doing something that isn’t yet a habit. Without that grit we get sidelined before we’ve given ourselves the fair chance to succeed.

Hi Tom,
I just wanted to share my $0.02! I attempted the summer burn two years ago and eventually dropped out becauseat the time I could not actually see myself maintaining a fit body. I felt i would rather remain out of shape than know how good i could feel and then lose it. A lot has changed since then. I believe that i deserve health and happiness, and i see myself as an athelete. I am giving the competition another shot!
Thank you for creating such a wonderful resource!

People drop out for a number of reasons but personally I believe the biggest reason people drop out is a lack of focus.
Focus on long term results – the initial excitement of a transformation contest for many wanes when they hit their first plateau, or don’t drop as much weight as they expected so they figure it s not worth continuing, forgetting that their health goes way beyond what happens in those few weeks, its your life.
Focus on steady progress – the all or nothing approach cause a lot of people to drop out. The idea that “Oh well, I missed my calorie target today, I may as well have that piece of cheesecake… cupcake… chilli fries… 6 beers etc etc”, rather than “ok, so I’ve missed my targets (be it calories or workout) today, but that’s is ok, the world isn’t going to stop rotating and fall off its axis. I just need to make sure I keep going and do what I need to tomorrow.”
Focus on adapting – just because you injure a bicep, or a quad, or tear your archillies tendon, does not mean you can’t train the rest or your body or keep your nutrition meticulous.
Focus on self – people get caught up in how everyone else is going, and what they’re doing, rather that concentrating on what they are doing. It’s great to be able to see/read about the progress that others are making but when your results aren’t stacking up its easy to to question why and then use it as an excuse as to why they gave up.
Focus on accountability – to someone, to anyone, to yourself. You can make excuses in your own mind as to why you “couldn’t” do something, but it’s a lot harder to make excuses when there are all these amazing people doing things out there, and lets face it a lot of them in trying circumstances. I think some people pull put because they’re afraid of having to own up to their own short comings, and because they don’t want to admit that they blew off their workout or nutrition.
Focus on a plan – Fail to plan and set goals = Plan to fail. Enough said.
Focus on belief – this is a big one… belief that you can do it, belief that you can be better than, healthier than, stronger than you are now. Belief that if you work hard, you can achieve what you’re trying to do. Doesn’t matter if it takes longer than the duration of the contest, if you believe in it strongly enough, and you’re commited to the process you will get there. If you don’t think you can do it, you won’t.

Why do people drop out? Because the honeymoon is over!
If you start something new, then you feel motivated. You put everything aside for it. And then life happens. Your husband gets ill, your boss asks you to work overtime, and all of a sudden, your motivation drops.
What made me stick to my goals:
– don’t set unrealistic goals
– remind myself every day why I do this
– accept that life sometimes gets in the way.
– Start again. You only fail if you stop.

I just joined…I have had some health problems and trusted doctors with tons of medication that made me feel worse and gain 30 lbs. In March of 2011 I was in marathon shape so I know i can stick to a challenge,I am hoping to learn more about food selection and building muscle. how do I join the challenge that starts tomorrow?

I’ve gone through with a 60 day fitness challenge, and I did it without missing a day, I think because I really wanted to see a change AND I did this challenge with my partner, so that support really helped.
However, I did not follow the diet recommendations (5 meals/day) as that was more difficult of a habit to change. I used excuses like work schedule made it challenging, but I really could have done better with that. I think changing eating habits is more challenging because there are emotional and boredom factors tied in to it. As a result of I think eating too many carbs, and not enough small meals per day, probably the main reason for a lot of people, I did not see big changes in my appearance after 60 days, 6 days/week of intensive training. (The Insanity program.)

I’ve been trying unsuccessfully for years to get the body that I want, but always end up pretty much looking the same.
I think it takes more than willpower, determination and planning. You must have a desire and something that resonates deeply within you to take it to the next level.
There is also way too much information out there, we need to have simple guidelines and a way to build on it one step at a time. Now if only I could put this into practise!!

This is fairly easy. COMMETMENT and reaching a plateau. Its a tough road to put the work in, follow a diet if U R addicted to soda popand chockalate, much less have a diet that you have to do twice the work to see results. Then when you reach a plateau and the weight stops falling off(muscle does weigh more than fat)then its tough to reach down deep and keep lifting, start taking supplements to help gain muscle. Bottom line is you have to have major DESIRE and back it up with refusal to fail. Thats why Im on my way down from 325- Im 290 no, give or take, so after Im a winner, I want in on the contest- I have health issues but have read every email you have sent and NOW, Ive paid for a membership in the new fitness center- tons of machines and weights along with youga, basketball court, steam room. For a small coal mining/farm town, Benton, IL. is moving on up- just like the Jeffersons.
regars, Tony lang aka”TonytheTiger” cause thats my car. LOL

To me it’s all about beliefs and expectations.
If I asked an Olympic athlete, if they would eat healthy and exercise for the next 98 days, they would think I was an idiot asking such a stupid question. If I asked an obese person who was say 200lbs over weight and spent most of their time on the couch the same question, they would also think I was an idiot to suggest such a stringent routine.
This challenge will be easy for some and next to impossible for others. I think most that enter this challenge have a real desire to succeed and have made a conscious decision to do so. The first hurdle is so many people live to eat instead of eat to live. If we want to succeed we need to learn to change at the subconscious level. They say (whoever they are) it takes 21 days to create a new habit but if the old programming is stronger than the new habit the old programming will win out every time. For example if you’re stressed out about anything, work, kids, relationships, you may eat something to comfort yourself and mask the pain and you know what, it actually works. It’s automatic and it’s programmed in our subconscious. However there are healthier alternatives… but we have to choose them and this takes effort until the new habit is stronger than the old.
If you enter the challenge and you have too many unhealthy habits, it could be too much for you unless your commitment level is unbelievable. If you want to succeed start from where you are at, no one else is like you and no one else has lived your life. What can you actually commit to doing? Enter the challenge and just walk half an hour a day and change nothing else, change a few things at a time once they become habits then add more.

I started my weightloss transformation 12/3/09 and as of 5/29/12 I’m still working on it. I started as 286 lbs and I’m currently at a very athletic 213. I Still have 83 lbs to go…
Here is why people quit from a personal perspective. They lack determination and support.
First, when you are making a change in your life you’ve got to be really committed, not just have a desire. I call it hitting the “done” place. It’s commitment you’ve never possessed before, and now you’ve got to manufacture it from somewhere. That isn’t easy: to refuse those bites, to get off your butt, to learn how to say no to people and mean it. The first couple months feels brutal because you are your own worst enemy, your behavior is how you got there and suddenly you are trying to be someone else. Everyone has motivation to lose weight, it’s the determination to see it through that’s a key divider.
It’s then that you realize how much the people you know are working against you, not for you. “One bite won’t kill you.” “You look just fine to me.” “That’s crazy.” “Be careful you don’t hurt yourself.” “I could never do that, I would go crazy.” “Whatever you do, don’t lose your butt.” “Gah, you will look like a stick!” “Skinny is so ugly.”
I started my transition by going vegan, effectively cutting myself from fast food, prefab food, and previously easy meals. Friends and family fought against my choices, saying I would get sick etc, and doing everything they could to sabotage including guilt… “…but I made your favorite food!” it made me come to the conclusion people really suck.
Obviously with the progress I’ve made I’m not perfect all the time, once I managed changing the food I was eating I figured out how to eat unhealthy and still eat vegan, but that didn’t last very long. Found I was trying to prove to those same people that I wasn’t weird or different and I hadn’t lost anything. But frankly I’ve lost tons and I’m thrilled.
I used to have Asthma, and take COPD medication, Arthritis, tendonitis, and allergies, my doctor said I was kissing a heart attack, diabetes, stroke and cancer. I couldn’t walk from the back of a parking lot to the front door. I am now running 5K’s and training for my first triathlon. So much for getting sick, hurt, etc. Also I eat amazing foods.
Also, in working so hard for the past couple years I’ve also learned how addiction works in reguard to food. I’ve learned what real hunger is and learned the difference between craving and hunger. Restaurants, prepared foods, etc work REALLY HARD to make sure the most addictive substances are present in their foods. Salt, Sugar, and Fat! And to trigger gluttony by presenting huge portions, sweet makes you hunger, salt makes you eat more, and fat causes satiety, but there are no nutrients in that food!!! So it creates toxic hunger, with your body ringing the dinner bell all the time trying to get some nutrients it can use.
Then we have the problem of GMO and highly processed foods, even raw theses strange frankenstined foods don’t have what our bodies need and then they are covered with cancer causing poisons… GAH it’s no wonder our cancer rates, heart disease, and obesity are at epic proportions.
How do I stick with it? I’m determined. I weight myself everyday. I spent years ignoring it, so I don’t anymore. I establish new goal… not just weight but general fitness and happiness. Like Doing the triathlon or knowing how incredibly cool it will be to do some Parkour as a 40 year old formerly obese woman. If I indulge, (which is rare) I make sure I increase my activity to balance. I am strict, have shown my friends through determination that I am successful so they seek me out for support. I look at my 10 year old daughter, who’s thin as a rail and tell her I can’t wait to look like her and show her the work I put in so that she never has to get where I am.
More incentive?
I don’t have asthma anymore, and I don’t take any medication for anything. I’ve dropped to 0 risk for Diabetes, heart disease, cancer, and stroke and every few months I get my numbers checked and continue to watch then drop into ranges that are for teenagers… not for 40 year old women in the US.
My clothing gets smaller every couple months, and I’m maybe 10 lbs from wearing a medium… I haven’t seen sizes without an L in them in 2 decades, let alone without an X.
Let’s just say, that keeping a man’s attention is not too difficult these days either. Who dosn’t like holding the attention of potential suitors?

People drop out for various reasons. Here are my TOP 10 reasons why:
1. The reason WHY is not great enough to start with
2. You overkill the first 2-3weeks (eating too little, training too hard). With little energy to spare, you throw in the towel
3. People don’t like the idea of having to hermit-ise for 49/98 days because “I’m on a diet”. We still want to be social creatures :-)
4. We compare our ‘slow&steady’ results to others who are showing incredible results, fast and believe our efforts are futile…so we give up
5. We fail to plan & thus, plan to fail
6. There is no back-up plan for a)when you can’t get to the gym b) you have to attend a social function where snacks/food will be served c) you have no alternative outlet for stress/boredom/loneliness & reach for the cookie bin (woman’s perspective)
7. You have not learnt how to wage war against the EMOTIONALLY hungry monster
8. You have no real-life support system (IC is part of the puzzle, but not all of it..)
9. Your self-sabotage demon kicks in: “Who are you kidding!? You’ve ALWAYS looked this way, your body will never look like Michelangelo’s David”
10. You reason WHY is not great enough to start with (REPEAT #1 – yes it is that important)

I think people, myself included, are mostly lazy. We start with good intentions but laziness sets in. We want instant and easy results and when that doesn’t happen we give in to our laziness. We know that it will be worth it in the end if we stick to it but we just can’t force ourselves to push through. Excuses to quit are far easier to come up with than reasons to stick with it.

People drop out of fat loss programs (even good ones) because the find out that for even the best programs it is still not easy. It still involve hard work. We are in a society of instant gratification with minimal effort. They don’t stay in long enough to gain momentum.

Simple answer: Unreasonable expectations that yield disappointing results.
“Get ripped in 49 days,” Mom lost 87 pounds in 6 months.
These are not typical results for the average person. It’s a long-term lifestyle change for most people that takes time. If people stick to these programs, will they see results? Probably. But for most people, it is going to take time.
I have completed two challenges (not BFFM) and lost 15 lbs the first time and only 6 the second time. Both times I definitely increased my muscle mass and got a lot stronger, however, I got bulky and didn’t look like I had lost any weight. Why didn’t I get ripped or lose 30 lbs? Well I was too fat to get ripped and I’m not sure why I didn’t “lose” more weight. Had I done the program for a whole year, I would have probably lost at least 24lbs? Maybe 40 lbs or more if I did it for two years? In 3 years I would be in pretty decent shape, but 3 years is not 49 days or 90 days.
I don’t have a chance to win a contest like this and I probably wouldn’t enter a contest anyway. But why not “restructure” the program into multiple 49 day periods that makes it more likely for the person who needs to lose 50-60 lbs to achieve success. (You don’t have to actually “restructure” the program, just make the expected results more reasonable/attainable?) If someone does 7 49 day programs/contests in a year and they averaged a pound a week then they would lose almost 50 lbs! But when I do a 12 week program and only lose 6 lbs and get bulky and others are dropping 20lbs or more and getting ripped, it’s very frustrating. Why can’t I get those results?
Either I’m doing something really wrong or maybe that program just doesn’t work for me.
Am I looking for a quick fix? Maybe. But I think a program for us larger people that touted the average results for those who completed multiple short term programs would give us more reasonable expectations.

I feel the reason why people drop out of transformation contests is that they expect easily and soon received results. What I am trying to say is that they join the contests , hoping against hope that they will lose their weight in the blink of an eye. Having such an idea, sooner or latter they would be sorely disappointed and leave the program.
I mean being consistent is one of the most important aspects of changing your body. Success comes with those who are persistent. Persistence is the key element to achieve your goals, especially fitness goals. You can’t change your body over a night. But not all of us have this perseverance to keep up with the program. There need to be a motivation for such things, I personally have been participated in 3 kinds of these programs but I ruined them all .

Yuo have to have willpower. Most people go on crash diets and hope to see instant results, but nothing happens. People go to the gym and they kill themselves working out for 1 day, and then go stock up on chcolate, and lo and behold, they get fat. All you need to do is realize that diets and excercise are not miracles, but things that take time to happen.

I’ve been through four challenges. Officially finished 3, was on a winning team for one. (All the others fell apart by having at least one person drop out, even when I finished personally.) People often talk about laziness, but I don’t think it’s necessary to be that judgmental; it takes a *ton* of emotional effort and energy to keep retrying to get back on the fitness wagon despite sustained strings of failure, which is how most people perceive their fitness journey. I think the reason why many don’t finish is simply that a truly healthy lifestyle involves a lot of commitment and real, deep change for most from the lifestyle they’re coming from. Most people can’t truly lock in to or sustain change with more than a few small habits at a time, and something like the BFFM challenge is a total makeover for some. That means most of a person’s waking energy needs to go into focusing on unwiring a lifetime of layers of unhealthy habits for it to stick. And it’s tough. You can even do well for days or weeks or months… or years… but start to slide into old habits under stress and wa-la, it feels like all your old work is completely undone for a fraction of the slack (by definition) that your body is more psychologically comfortable with.
Personally, what has worked for me, when I’ve been doing well, is to ‘simply’ put my health first, always. Simply with quotes, of course, because it’s always easier said than done. But really, when I start to get on a healthy kick, it becomes apparent that so many of my struggles in so many areas of my life are made better by having my body chemistry in order, and that means eating, exercising, and living well to get anything else done. So it really does mean focusing on health even to the momentary exclusion of other things. Health first, the lynchpin around which all else revolves. Both the base and the endgoal, the alpha and the omega.

I have lost 45 pounds over the last two years, and I kept going in cycles of eating unhealthy and working out. I understand why people quit, because I have done it myself many times, however I have finally managed to break through that and live a healthy lifestyle.
The reason is this. Losing weight requires motivation, moreso than any other fitness goal. You have to adhere to a diet in which you cannot eat any junk food, and the entire world works against you. From the restaurants who force feed you trash to the friends and family who say “Today is okay, you can eat whatever you want”, everything around you is not caring for your health. Unhealthy food is like a drug, the more you have, the more you crave. This, combined with the extreme discipline required to work out and eat healthy, forces most people to break down and go back to being unhealthy.

Why people quit?
It’s death by a thousand tiny cuts….when you try to lose weight or get in shape there is so much conflicting information on how to best go about it that it overwhelms you and you slowly lose your motivation to try due to all the tiny cuts from all the different opinions. I Recently lost 65 pounds and am coming up on 1 year of keeping it off but when I was researching the best way to lose the weight I came up with every plan imaginable through my research. I ended up using a low carb approach, basically atkins but only because I had used it in the past and found it effective without too much hassle about counting calories and such.The problem I find is that a lot of programs talk trash about other programs in an effort to get you to use their program and that is just another tiny cut to your confidence in sticking to a program if you don’t see immediate results. Some programs aren’t festivals for some people to obtain results but the sellers of those programs can’t our won’t invest the time to make sure the program will work for that individual….another cut….ideally if the company would suggest a program more suitable everyone would be better off……less people quiting and referrals going between programs.

Why people quit?
It’s death by a thousand tiny cuts….when you try to lose weight or get in shape there is so much conflicting information on how to best go about it that it overwhelms you and you slowly lose your motivation to try due to all the tiny cuts from all the different opinions. I Recently lost 65 pounds and am coming up on 1 year of keeping it off but when I was researching the best way to lose the weight I came up with every plan imaginable through my research. I ended up using a low carb approach, basically atkins but only because I had used it in the past and found it effective without too much hassle about counting calories and such.The problem I find is that a lot of programs talk trash about other programs in an effort to get you to use their program and that is just another tiny cut to your confidence in sticking to a program if you don’t see immediate results. Some programs aren’t reasonable for some people to obtain results but the sellers of those programs can’t our won’t invest the time to make sure the program will work for that individual….another cut….ideally if the company would suggest a program more suitable everyone would be better off……less people quiting and referrals going between programs.

Intrinsic motivation reflects the desire to do something because it is enjoyable. This is why people succeed and win. We all need intrinsic motivation and it doesn’t take much to throw you off course. People quit because of many different reasons. Life happens. I’ve been there soooo many times. I recently moved to a different area and I know no one. I used to share my success with others and help them with their fitness journey and it motivated me internally. Because I am “on my own” now I find it difficult to stick to routine. If I mess up a week or 2 in I find myself starting all over again and feeling like I failed. Motivators are key and we all need them. They can be different for everyone but still needed.

At 36, having been over weight all my life,is it too late to get ripped enough to start a new career as a personal trainer? If it isn’t where do i start?

I really don’t know why people drop out. Maybe it’s too hard for them. When you enter a body transformation competition, there are alot of changes taking place. Changes in diet, fitness and muscle. If you overload a person and it becomes too painful for them, they just give up, they don’t think it is worthwhile. Changes in diet, fitness and body shape are a lifestyle change, and the change compared to how they have been living may be too much and too fast, so they give up?

The reason why people fail to complete any program is, in my opinion, because they are not truly commited. The goal that has been set is too agressive or not reasonably achievable. The process is not broken down into realistic steps. Because results are not achieved, people quit prematurely. To complete a program, people must be commited,set a reasonable goal,break down the process into realistic steps and most importantly–visualize the end result !!!

Hi Tom,
I used to be a competitive powerlifter and won a world championship (100 kg) in 1995. I continued with powerlifting until 2004 when I ruptured the distal tendon of my left bicep during a deadlift. Full recovery took about a year, after which I started focusing on bodybuilding type training.
I never struggeld with aspects like motivation and determination and was able to stick to demanding training routines when I was younger.
Although I am still training, I now find it much more challenging to find the time to exercise. The main reason for this is that I have grown professionally and that career pressures are making it very difficult to strike a work-life balance. I had to cut down to three super circuit training sessions per week supplemented by a bit of cardio work.
An extremely busy meeting schedule makes it very challenging to stick to a good nutrition plan an I rely a lot on liquid nutrition.
Although a busy work schedule is often used as an excuse not to exercise, my persoanl experiece is that it is one of the reasons why some people are not able to stick to a regular training and nutrition plan.
Regards
Andre

A lot of people will drop out because they realise they won’t win the competition and if they can’t win what is the point in continuing.
One way to get round this mind set is to have a little side bet with someone else to help maintain the focus once the initial enthusiasm has passed.

The factors that contribute to your question are: Timing,commitment,and
deceitful. Many people fail because of time,there is no enough time,some spend a lot of time by do other daily activities. Commitment is also contribute to this in many ways. People may thing bias on the matter and concluded everything in mind that it cannot work.

Hi Tom,
There can be many factors, but imho the main one is that they skipped doing chapter 1 in BFFM! With other words, sincere, deep planning (where are my real priorities) is the foundation to reach goals.
The second factor is the motivation for execution (and the execution itself). We have to recreate the motivation every single day for the action until it becomes habitual. Some people say it is 3 or 4 weeks while a new action will sink in. And recreating the motivation depends on self-discipline. Will I do something that I don’t feel like to do but because I know it is good for me? (That’s why coaches are invaluable, they can move us over the idontfeeltodoittoday feeling.)
And if someone found an excuse once, very likely that it will happen other times as well, so the habit that will be formulated is that someone will be doing it a little and not doing it a little, so the person will get use to mixed execution. That would result in mixed result of course. And the consequence can be:
The third factor, that is shame. It is more difficult to admit that I am weak (at the moment) and cannot keep on track, than finding a reason, or making up one (or an excuse) why I drop the program entirely, rather than confronting the situation and finding someone/something that can help.
So maximizing that someone follows through:
1. Solid Planning
2. Recreating Motivation every day + Self-discipline or help from a friend/coach
3. Measurement of the actions and strength to face the mistakes and be able to get back on track.
If any of these elements are missing – it is then very easy to not follow through.
(I did your BFFM program for 4 months, worked off 12 kg fat built 2kg muscle – never felt better before! Since then sport is part of my life, nowadays I do yoga 5 times a week, plus 1-2 other workouts. Sport became habitual for me :-) )

Hi Tom!
I completed the challenge last year, and I must say, being accountable to my team-mates helped me get through it. I think that the reason that people drop out is that it is hard to maintain the same excitement and motivation halfway through as you have in the beginning of the challenge. Maybe you lost a few ponds, you are already feeling pretty good, and there seems to be reasons to stray from your plan everywhere! I realized after the challenge that you have to stay balanced(diet and exercise) if not daily, then at least weekly…if you let it go for a week LOOK OUT! You are in danger of going off completely!! I actually found maintenance AFTER the challenge harder that completing the challenge. Good luck to all the contenders this summer!

I personally find that something like a challenge or any weight loss venture needs huge amounts of dedication and willpower.Unfortunately most people lack those qualities when it comes to their own body.Work,school ,friends,family,even TV are bigger priorities.Then you have peer pressure to eat out,drink alcohol,or whatever.One of my personal downfalls is not seeing enough progress soon enough or losing weight and not starting a maintenance program.Other people I have met have gotten so used to being overweight they are afraid to change.Anyone who enters a challenge I am sure has every intention of following through,sometimes their motivations for doing it maybe aren’t strong enough.I plan to enter this challenge and for me part of my motivation is that I made a deal with my husband that I would follow through to the end,so he will be there to help keep me accountable,let’s see if I can make it.

I think the reason why people fail is they want to see results and weight loss overnight and when that doesn’t happen they fall off the wagon and go back to there old eating habits

Hi tom I think the reason why people fail is they want to see results and weight loss overnight and when that doesn’t happen they fall off the wagon and go back to there old eating habits people get frustrated an lazy when things don’t happen overnight

I believe that people give up before finishing because they give up on themselves. They begin to see results, and it turns into a ‘good enough’ scenario. They see people having better results and don’t think they can compete. They don’t have enough faith in themselves, or self confidence to carry through to the end.

I have never entered a transformation contest, but I have tried many different ways to lose weight since I was a teenager. I succeeded in reaching my goal weight with Weight Watchers when I was 29, but as I reached 50 the weight started coming back. I returned to the program a couple of times and am now back to a different goal weight which is 25 pounds higher than the weight I reached when I was 29, but within (although at the top end) the normal range for my age and sex. It seems a lot harder to lose the weight and keep it off now at 62. I first became interested in Tom Venuto’s books because a friend of mine told me about them and I realized my body fat percentage is 39%. I was puzzled at how I could be at an acceptable BMI and acceptable weight for Weight Watchers, but still be at 39% body fat. It made me feel FAT all over again, kind of taking away the good feeling I have of doing all the work to reach that goal. When I read Tom’s book “The Body Fat Solution” I realized I must be one of those “skinny fat” people.
I do eat healthy and I do work out, a lot more than most 62 year old women, but I guess it is not enough. I probably will not put myself through a competition, but I will work towards adopting the steps that Tom outlines in his book.
What I know from losing weight is there are many reasons people quit. If a program is too restrictive and you feel you can’t go out and enjoy your life with your friends and family, you quit. If you don’t have enough success, you quit. If it is too much work, you quit. It is not easy to learn what and how to order when eating out. It is not easy to grocery shop carefully, read labels, and cook more of your own food instead of eating fast food. Some people don’t know how to cook in the first place which makes it harder yet. It takes time, thought, and focus to do all these things. On the positive side, it can be done if you take it one step at a time. Exercise is another piece of the puzzle which is being stressed more now in Weight Watchers than it was years ago, but their main focus is the food you eat. I know exercise is important and have been a member of a health club and attending classes since 1981, but I do wonder as I am getting older how long I will be able to do the amount of exercise required to keep in shape and burn the required amount of calories. This is another problem I have noticed. When people are overweight and start an exercise program, their joints hurt because of the weight they are carrying, but they need to do the exercise to lose the weight. It is a vicious cycle. This causes some people to quit also. I myself am starting to have little aches/pains in my knees from the vigorous class I take which involves 50 minutes of non-stop mini-circuits with weights and usually involves squats. By the way, our excellent instructor is a 65 year old personal trainer who can whip anybody’s butt. She is an inspiration to me and my husband.
What is the reason people quit? There are many. It is not easy and it takes a lot of committment to do all the many things that are necessary to succeed. It IS a lifestyle change, not a temporary thing you do and then go back to your old habits. For myself, I don’t think I could take the rigors of a transformation competition, but I will incorporate Tom’s ideas into my already changed lifestyle a little more slowly than would happen in a competition, but still I will get there. We are constantly evolving our diet and exercise to make improvements and this will be the next step for me. Funny thing is, since reading Tom’s book, I found (despite all the books I have read about nutrition and losing weight) it all goes back to a physical education class I took in college in 1969 where we kept track of our calories in and calories out and the calorie deficit. There is no magic–just a math equation. Refreshingly simple in a way. I just finished Tom’s book and have not had a chance to put this into practice yet. I hope it works.
Tom: A question for you. Is it possible to get the muscle definition and a good looking body at the age of 62? As I am sure you know, skin begins to lose elasticity and you get those bat wings on your arms and other sagging skin. Will this get rid of those if I work this program? Not that I am looking for the fountain of youth or anything :)

Why do people drop out?
Specifically to your challenge Tom, I think people would drop out near the end through justification. “Reasons such as I’m not going to be able to win now”. Perhaps seeing others results on the forum contribute to this. “I have lost enough weight”. “I am happy with my effort and need to focus on work/kids”. Irralavant excuses such as these being justified with reason so they can go back to their normal diet and lifestyle. Burn’t out will power has a factor and people can rationalize quiting being a logical decision.
How do you stick with it?
What helps me is every time I face a tough decision I ask myself do I really want these results. I then answer I really want this and take the write decision. When it comes to times like these people don’t really really want it. Positive affirmations help great too. Things such as: “I’m gonna be so ripped avoiding all those carbs in that pie mum just offered me” “I’m a champ I have so much will power” “I’m a lean mean fat burning machine”. Also checking in with self daily making sure you still want these results and are staying true to acheving them. Most people don’t have the mondset for it. When faced with a tough decision you basically have to look at it. Stay the same or loose weight, so 9 times out of 10 people should be taking the harder option.

Life is busy and if you have a busy job and a family, it’s even harder. People drop out cause they can’t keep up. Some get sick, some have family that get sick, it all takes a toll and sometimes something has to give. If you miss a weeks gym because you are sick, chances are you aren’t going to return in a hurry.
I think changing your eating habits is also really hard. I enjoy going to the gym and if I miss a session, I really feel like I’ve done myself an injustice. It’s the food I have a problem with. I know it’s a lifestyle change but I can’t seem to train my brain into thinking that way. Dieting guidance is what I need most and not those ridiculous recipes that I need to purchase 30 different items to make it.
So when I train hard and don’t see any changes, it’s really depressing and sometimes I want to give up. I’ve been going to the gym more off than on for the last 20 years.

I’ve dropped out of quite a few transformation contests and plenty of my own little challenges. For me I find I have to be willing. It’s hard especsilly once the honeymooin period wears off. I have to only think about 1 day at a time. Just like an alcoholic really. Only focus on what I have to do today. I can do anything for just 24 hours. I have to let go of the outcome too. Just do the footwork and the results will take care of themselves. When I have dine this I’ve been able.to stay on track longer. Up to 8 weeks

I think it all boils down to…”HOW BAD DO YOU WANT IT?”

People drop out of the contest not because they dont have the desire to get in shape or to improve their health (which should be the ultimate goal), it’s because they are doing this for the wrong reasons.
Most people want to get fit so they can fit into a smaller dress to look good at a wedding in front of a lot of people who couldnt care less. This is ruining weight loss and health improvement. If people would stop focusing on the mirror and start focusing on the body (the way it feels, the way it functions, its health) their results would be much better and there would be many more people who complete the transformation.

We live in lazy world where most people want immediate gratification or the easy way to do everything. Most want to take a pill to treat a health problem rather than make true lifestyle changes. In the past I have thought that I was ready to change my life, but was lacking the complete conviction needed to make the change permanent. It seems easier to deal with the known, even if it is making you miserable, than it is to put forth the effort to jump into the better unknown. I’ve noticed with many people that I know, that as soon as they start to feel better, they act as though they have lost their identity and don’t know who or what they are anymore. They then quickly fall back into the old habits, because they feel mentally and emotionally more comfortable there. Most don’t like getting out of their comfort zone.
In order to stick with it, I have to remind myself daily of how much better I feel when I’m active and eating well. I also have to prepare well. Have a solid plan of what I’m doing in the gym and what I’m going to eat. If I haven’t planned ahead then I’m much more likely to abandon my goals altogether.

Seems to me I have signed up for weight loss programs on the average of every two months… for years. Yet, about 2 years ago, I made a decision that has changed my life. I committed myself to walk daily. After a year, I had lost some 25 lbs and I sharpened my plan. Something was different: I was living in senior housing and decided that living there would not be like living in a used car lot, but a launch pad for transformation. From my high point of 280 pounds, I dropped to 246 and then to my present 190.
Now I am less concerned with weigh loss and more focused on body sculpting. I am not satisfied with being a skinny version of my former self. I cannot make myself young again, but I can become a restored classic showpiece. My biggest change in attitude that made me stick with it was my refusal to give in to challenges when I met them and to stay focused on my long and short-term goals. I stopped trying to change and committed to doing it. I can already see myself at the finish line. I thoroughly enjoy seeing people look at me in shock over my transformation. It never grows old.
Success breeds success. I am literally living in the body I spent too much time fantasizing about for too long. There is no going back. My nutrition changes were not for a fixed period of time, but for the rest of my life. The old habits did not work for me, and I’m not going back there. I’m happier where I am with what I’ve got. Any future change will be for more refined changes, not for less than I’ve achieved so far. This time around, I’m going for body sculpting, I plan to be a museum piece, not pawn shop dust-covered has-been.

The obvious success determining factor is adherence. If people are unable the stick to their training and eating program long term, they are unlikely to be successful in body transformation (even for just 50 days). For this reason, I would advise beginning applying some of these lifestyle changes (eating and exercising habits) gradually a good amount of time BEFORE the competition start time so that the changes made are not done cold-turkey, rather have already begun to become habit. This way the onset of the competition is not going to be such a shock physically and psychologically – and therefore easier to stick to. Secondly, an important factor for adherence is enjoyment and not feeling too deprived. To ensure these, one must find exercise modes and healthy foods they enjoy.
The other psychological factors including motivation and goal setting are also of great importance for stickability to a program and achieving a goal. Tom Venuto’s book ‘The Body Fat Solution’ AND ‘Burn the fat, Feed the Muscle’ cover these very well.
These are some incomplete and brief factors, however a few which I believe are most important for completion of a body transformation competition. Good luck to anybody reading this and planning to compete (although, luck won’t get you far.. its hard work that will get you there!).

Coming from personal experience, I always found myself dropping out of diet/exercise programs simply because I found it hard to support that type of lifestyle change. I feel that because this change in style is required and applied across your ‘life’, the consequences of such changes are not easily predicted, nor are they straight-forward. Planning for these consequences is difficult – departing from your lifestyle change is usually the easier or smoother option to take. This particular change definately has its consequences within my social and personal spheres, I find that Id rather give in to these pressures rather than go, against the grain so to speak…
So, to answer the second half of the question, I feel that sticking to programs like these just requires a really good level of support (and a really good dose of strong mental focus too!!!). Finding that support may be a challenge for many (like myself) but I feel that if you are able to find it, youve already passed the halfway mark to success! In education, the high dropout rate for post-graduate study is usually because of social isolation as it is often a lonely, lifechanging journey with minimal support. And like most ‘lifestyle’ changes, it can often be a lonely journey until you find that support, that group of people with whom you can identify, share and communicate with. I suppose thats whats so great about weightloss forums!! But anyway, this is just what I think :)

Old habits. Doing it alone. Takes more time and planning to eat healthy. All events. Celebrations. Funerals, seem to include food. Unhealthy food often tastes great.
I have only been successful when there is accountability. And when that is over I go back to bad habits.

Hi, thank you for this opportunity to win your awesome gifts. I believe the reason people fail at a transformation contest is because people don’t totally devote 100% into their transformation. You cannot just go in and think you can still cheat or even not work out. It takes a lot of time and effort on your part to transform your body. Another reason people fail is because they are afraid of change. With change it may lead to more attention brought to them. This may make them feel uncomfortable. Also, most of the time people are uneducated on what nutrition is best for them to lose weight. They will try these fad diets that fail. They need to get educated so they will learn that it their food is a way of life not a diet.
Everyone needs to remember to get anything worth while you need to work hard for it.
I was 200 lbs. I was tired of looking that way. I have four children that I needed to raise and didn’t want them to be embarrassed by their mom. I changed everything about me. I have done two figure competitions and one of them my brought a trophy home. Anyone can do what I have achieved you just need to want it.
Thank you and have a blessed week.
Lisa V.
afitmom4life@gmail.com

I am the expert on not finishing contests lol. I have entered every BFFM contest since 2009 and dropped out of every one. For me I think it comes down to mindset and staying motivated. It is hard. It’s not a piece of cake and you really have to have your mind in the right place before you start. Even when you think you are ready you may not be. What if you have a trip up? How will you react to that. There was my problem. One bad day led to another and another and then suddenly I was thinking, “well why bother even finishing now?”. They way you react to hiccups really determines whether you will finish I think.
I am going to enter the BFFM summer challenge this year and I am going to do one thing which I never did in the last ones I have entered. I am a part of a TEAM! I think this in itself will be the major factor that helps me finish. The support and extra accountability is what I need to see me through these 14 weeks. Already in prep for the contest I can feel the support and I know I am in a different mindset already. Knowing that my other teamates will have bad days too allows me not to quit and just get back on the wagon and continue on with the journey.

The reason I have not even entered a weight-loss contest is because the program is too impossible to achieve success. I am 68, female, have Fibromyalgia & Type 2 Diabetes. I would totally wreck the gains I have made if I lifted serious weights, & I am not willing to suffer 6 months of agony to prove it. I am not a couch potato..I exercise 4x/week,no longer use insulin,have regained range of motion from complete very painful 7 year incapacity & already eat a healthy meat & veg diet. Yet still I weigh a horrid 190 lbs and have a fat belly. I would truly love to lose the weight, but can’t believe the photos of before & after.They are just taken at different angles to trick the eye and have a shave, a smaller bikini, a sucked-in belly & a tan to mimic better health. So if I don’t believe the results, already eat well & can’t lift weights or do squats, what hope is there?

An interesting question, really.
I took part in one competition in 2010 and placed second to my great surprise. After that I did not compete, because I thought, that my rivals would be too much to be won, perhaps even on a professional level? When I saw their photos, I realized, that they were nothing of the sort! So I was very much disappointed. This year I have been training again very hard to be a winner! If I will not , I must admit, that some others have done more and better work than I did. But I still would be a winner. Why do I say that? I did do my best. The others did more. So simple it is. Next competition will be hard, but I will do more, work harder than ever before, and perhaps I will place myself higher.
Never quit, never let yourself down my friends! Work hard and never let yourself doubt about your possibilities!

Good day Tom, and thanks for the opportunity to comment on such a profound but troubeling question. Why do people drop out of body transformation contests? I believe the answer to be quite simple…..shame. They likely feel shame in their ability, or lack therof, to bring about change. the dieting, excercise and constant effort to do what they need to be doing, instead of what they have been doing is difficult, and almost always challenging. But, as they continue on down the road of body transformation, any bump in that road could upset the apple cart as it were, and leave them defeated, and ashamed that they percievably could not compete with those other people doing the same thing as them. Thus, it is the shame associated with a perceived or real feeling of failure when faced by the competative nature of others, that leads the average individual to drop out of a body transformation contest. My question to you is, “Do they stop trying to transform their bodies when they drop out of the contest, or do they continue without showing you the results?”
Thanks again Tom,
Jeff Cote

Why do people drop out of body transformation contests?
I think the over riding factor is that after a while they believe they won’t win. This could be driven by:
1)They don’t see results quick enough and believe other people will be doing better than them
2)They get distracted by life, principally work. This can stop them working out as much as they should or it can make eating the right foods all of the time difficult and so again they think they are falling behind the competition
Once the thought of the prize starts to look a distant dream, the motivation disappears and they drop out.

Lack of self discipline. Americans are used to being told what to do, despite the hype they arent self tarters. Tom’s Inner Circle is useful because it introduces structure and peer pressure. However, no group or trainer can substitute for inner drive.

I know the reason I have not fully succeeded w/my transformation is lack of support from my significant other. He LOVED the results he saw BUT when he saw how what I was doing didn’t fit into his hillbilly ideas of a meal, he sabotaged all my efforts. Then, when the results started to disappear he turned to negative comments to try to “encourage” me to loose weight again. All that did was make it worse.
Trying to juggle taking care of a child w/invisible special needs; SERIOUS food allergies of myself & above child; battling Clinical Depression; working 3rd shift; significant other works 1st shift & starting a new job that requires us moving to the DC area…. ALL this w/o much support from loved ones.
SUPPORT from your loved one HAS to be ONE of the TOP REASONS why people don’t succeed @ their transformation. IF I HAD that I think I could make it this time.

I think the reason for quitting or a failed attempt is POOR PLANNING; that covers factors such as personal and work schedules, meal plans, workout sessions, stress relief techniques, and craving control.
I’ve been through at least three 6-week transformation contests and have had to drop out during at the start of the fifth week. The only constant and consistent factor was my workout schedule; I go to a 45-min high-intensity bootcamp session in the early mornings and then run 3miles in alternating afternoons. Everything else was so “played by ear” that I was cheating 50% or more the rest of the time with fast food & microwave dinners because it was just convenient.
If I was to enter another contest, I’d have to buckle down and stick with. I’ve found out the hard way the variety (in the food I ate) is actually not good for me. I needed a diet that has been planned out, specified foods to the letter for each day I’m on the challenge. I’m in the middle of a nutrition program that my dietician friend had designed for me and it’s working well. Habits have changed dramatically and drastically for the past 2weeks and I plan on bringing these in for this awesome contest!

Why the large drop out rate?
First, some may quibble about the relatively short time frames of 49 or 98 days. For example, my goal at 65 is lifelong health. How quickly do I have to attain it? Experience, tells me I have occasionally wandered down some unproductive byways, but I’ve also built up many compelling reasons never to return there. This makes healthy habits much easier to set in stone.
After a major accident, I swim 3 times a week for 90 minutes doing about 3ks a session, and find my injury rate is minimal, compared to gym work. The rewards are gradual but the process is an absolute joy. Also belonging to a squad fulfills some of my social needs too.
What do I do to succeed?
Secondly I don’t see the process as a contest. I dislike competition, probably from childhood experiences where as the smallest child I always lost. So I set up my own goals and allow myself to win so long as I’m on the right track with regular objective checkups.
A good software eating program is essential. There aren’t enough around that do the job easily. I have an ancient one from my Zone days which works like dream but it has taken many hours of my own time to enter specific foods available where I live. the software is on its last legs so may I suggest you sponsor the development of another one. Of course I have to do the work, prepare the menus, buy the correct food and make time to prepare it but that goes without saying and is relatively easy once you accustom yourself to the discipline. The end result of being healthier makes this worthwhile.
I like your idea of the inner circle but agree about some aspects of its exclusivity. Also I’m not terribly computer literate and need more help in working out how to access forums etc Can you possibly address this for the less technologically able? It only needs to be done once and will be a lasting benefit for those like me.
I’ve read your work for years and applaud what you’ve managed to achieve on a worldwide basis. You’ve corrected so many of the myths about food and fat and all the other mysteries. Congratulations on your work and really. it’s up to us to succeed. maybe it just takes some a little longer. For me the joy of my brand of exercise is the real clincher. I love it and will be doing it till they cart me out.

Tom, I believe people drop out of a contest, or a weight loss program, because they lose the focus necessary to stick with it. Last year, I lost 101 lbs in the calendar year of 2011 using your program. It was great! I jotted down my progress. Jotted down my mistakes and the whole year I stayed focused on my goal and achieved it! Well 2012 began and I started off the year celebrating the fact I reached my goal that I began to lax on my disciplines I acquired. I’ve gained 8-10 lbs since New Year’s day and have been fluctuating back and forth from 224-229 lbs (I was 219 New Year’s Day). It’s the focus, Tom. I haven’t remained focused. Life’s little issues take over if you let them and you lose focus. The discipline I did acquire though has prevented me from ever gaining it all back and for that I’m grateful but I want to continue going forward so I have to refocus. Thanks, Tom, for letting me share.

Why do people drop out of body transformation contests?
I did attempt it once last year and, of course, I waited till the last minute. I was not prepared. I couldn’t get the photos done in time. I suppose when it came right down to it, it meant being accountable in front of all those other people which I was not ready to do. Though I did not officially enter, I was committed to fitness. As much as I would have liked a “transformation,” I just could not commit to it. I will say, though, that my small commitment to fitness has not allowed me to gain anymore weight for over a year and has improved my fitness level abet without the fat loss. I know what the problem is and it has to do with setting goals in writing. Still a work in process…

This may not be a popular answer, but I think challenges can be problematic. They can force people to make multiple, drastic changes at once. They set unrealistic expectations as far as speed. They encourage extreme measures rather than folding new habits into a sustainable lifestyle. I have seen more than a few contest winners revert back.
I enjoy the challenges as an opportunity to sharpen the saw, so to speak. I have spent years building up a healthy routine and so it is more a matter of buckling down and quantifying things. But if someone is making lots of radical changes — sure, the failure rate will be high.

I think the majority of dropouts do so because they are not accountable to anyone. If they teamed up with someone in life or online they would be more committed and less inclined to quit.

I can say that the only times I succeed is when I make a 100+ Percent commitment to MYSELF in the following:
1.attendance to the workouts either at home alone or a bootcamp
2.food program planning, shopping and preparing for success by having the meals ready for the week. If I go off I get right back on the next meal or the next day.
Back in October 2011 I went to Hawaii and planned to go off my food program…I did not plan to get back on( I did not set a date) and the next thing I know I’m up 50 pounds by February 2012. I joined a bootcamp because I like the comradery. I have dropped 24 pounds in the last 5 weeks just by committing to show up and following the Burn The Fat, Feed The Muscle principles. I have used strategic fasting to bring my weely caloric average down too.
So, COMMITMENT to myself has been the best motivator to prove to myself I can keep my word, ESPECIALLY TO MYSELF!!! What we do when there is no one looking is who we really are and I want to be a good/ great person even when no one is looking.

Lack of committment is my answer. Just incase you did not get that from my earlier post;)

For me the one thing that has set me back in the past is having the wrong mindset, aka, the all or none mentality. I used to think of fat loss as only a 12 week change that I had to make in order to reach a certain weight and then I could go right back to my old eating habits.
Turns out that, after a while you just wanna go back to eating whatever you want whenever you want it and, guess what, all the weight comes right back. After discovering BFFM, I realized that fat loss is not a straight line path, but a zig zag. I realized that there will be times when I will not eat perfectly or I will miss a few workouts, but now I think of fat loss as a change in lifestyle rather then just a temporary diet or fix.
I can see myself eating healthy 90% of the time for the rest of my life. I can see myself exercising at least 4 times a week for the rest of my life. And it doesn’t scare me, because I now that I don’t have to be perfect, I just have to do my best and the rest will come by itself.
So, for me the right mindset is by far the single most important factor in fat loss and most of all, in maintenance. I really wish I had realized this a long time ago. But it is never too late. And I am proud to say that I was one of those who finished the 2011 49 day holiday challenge. And I have been able to lose a few more pounds after the contest and keep it off.

Before BFFM – which was tranformational, I tried a weight loss program (not a fat loss program, note). That was not successful. I was part of one of those “boot camp” exercise programs but it was inflexible and they were unsympathetic when I came down with a bad cold.
I had been a member of the Inner Circle a year and a half ago but left because, again, of what is an annual cycle of colds (which I think I’ve solved).
But it’s not the colds. Why did I then not go back to the program? Why did I try a few more times to get in shape and abandon them?
I have 4 reasons that people leave:
1. Losing body fat is HARD.
You have to change EVERYTHING. It’s hard work, you have to stay focused. And, for me, it’s different than in my 20s when I wasn’t losing weight correctly anyway. It used to be I could skip some meals, work out a little and next thing I know I’m down 10 lbs. Now – it just seems harder, because I’m doing it correctly.
2. Goals were not properly set, or they were and then abandoned. Look, I have never seen my abs. And it’s one of my goals – but I have to constantly remind myself that my abs are in there. I start to doubt and then forget it. I’m done.
3.Slow start or slow progress. After a summer of hard exercise last year, when my fall colds/migraines/winter bronchitis came along – I gave up. I just couldn’t get past the seemingly impossibly slow progress. I “only” lost 5 lbs the entire summer (and inches and body fat, but I was ignoring that). So when I was sick – I ate whatever I wanted. I said, the workout didn’t work. And gained 15 pounds.
4. And a last reason, definitely the one I’ve had to fight:
I’m not worth it.
It goes deeper than – I’m a single mom of three kids and I barely have enough time to take care of them much less focus on me.
It is at the very core of my being. Overcoming that, focusing on the fact that I am worth it – that’s the challenge, and that’s really the main key to success for me.

Hi Tom,
Why do people drop out of body transformation contests? I’d have to say my reasons have been…
1) Life gets in the way
2) Injury or illness
3) Lack of support and temptations from friends
How am I going to succeed this time around?
1) Keep the focus and end goal in the forefront of my daily life.
2) Get a buddy and support system
3) Set myself up for success via planning which will make following through much simpler.
Thanks for all your great info!
Best Regards,
Ginger B.

Why do people drop out of transformation contests? I think because these folks allow the excitement of the contest to drive the transformation. And I suspect that works in many cases.
The person most capable of completing a transformation process is one that began the journey based upon the OWN motivation, their own incentive. THEY WANTED IT!
It takes a lot of effort to successfully transform your body: good exercise, nutrition, diet and INFORMATION.
THAT INFORMATION is what I want from you and your program.
I have been working hard on my transformation for almost two years. I am extremely happy about my progress. And I want to go further!!

Yes, I am very interested in your Free book of “The Body Fat Solution”
I can follow the guidelines and proceed from there.
Thanks & Rgds.
Pauline

Dear Mister Venuto & Readers,
Thank you for offering the opportunity for us to freely express our opinion/s.
One can only draw on personal, life experience (and some intelligence) in an attempt to define just why people drop out of body transformation contests.
Humans, by their very nature, are not hardwired to change with ease. They can adapt to change but are not willing participants in being creators of it. If we were; our planet would evolve much faster than it has been. (I.e.: If people actively chose to exercise “the road less travelled” of being always honest, loyal, genuine and sincere creators of integrity … religions would drop away – and we’d move into a spiritual union, as one; women would not be suppressed – there would be an accepted equality of the need for both genders; children would not be abused – because we would all know the damage of creating a human that has only learnt and experienced negativity and would we move to a higher level of being.)
Often; I tell people to change the world, we must first change the self. It is when we make that active committment to become more (and better) than we were yesterday; that each step of being a more enlightened person becomes easier … and we inspire others.
People find it extremely difficult to tell the truth – always; or to turn the other cheek, when they have been so unjustly wronged. They miss the very first step in THOUGHT before applying the ACTION of lying or lashing out (with negativity) at the person who harmed them. What we think creates our reality and it takes (first) awareness and (second) dedicated commitment to change the way we think.
The same process can be applied to something like a (fitness) competition. To achieve the result; we must first be honest with ourselves and be aware that we will actively have to CHANGE what we THINK about how we spend our leisure time and what we consume, for energy.
Sadly; the regular human being has absolutely no interest in altering the way they think and the reality is the majority of the masses take for granted the body they have been given, to experience life with and the basic health they know today (just as most take for granted the planet they live on and it’s health.)
I’ve never entered a fitness competition but I have achieved changes to my health through the way I think. It has been a gradual process but I have made progress and I know it must be contributing to my overall health and longevity. As an excellent high school athlete; I succummed to peer pressure and began smoking. When I was 21 and worked with a trainer, for a month, in a gym on weights; I’ll never forget the night we went down to Langley Park (on Riverside Drive, in Perth) and I was asked to do 3 x 100m sprints. I embarrassed myself and in the elevator, in the way back up to the gym; I said to the trainer that I couldn’t believe that I couldn’t execute the task with ease. He said, “Now you know how much damage one cigarette does” and I vowed to never smoke again – and I haven’t. I had to experience the measure loss of health (in the capacity of my lungs to perform) to value what I took for granted.
Growing up on a farm; we consumed a lot of red meat. As I educated myself about health and food, I learnt the downsides of the consumption of meat and realised that if I chose; I could sustain my body without the need for animals to be killed for me. It took a long time but I eventually weaned to only chicken and in 2007; I’d finally reached the point where I knew it was time to let it go.
Sitting alone, on New Year’s Eve, in 2010; I was drinking a couple of stubbies of beer and writing up what I wanted to achieve in the coming year. I’d not put it on paper but the idea flashed into my head that I had just drunk my last lot of alcohol and I was done now. From New Year’s Day, 2011; I’ve not consumed any alcohol.
These goals have not been achieved on a whim. They are ideas I had in my head for a long time; so the awareness was there. The alcohol one was quite a hard one for me because I’d always been more of an alcohol abuser, than consumer. I have ideas in my head, to achieve for the future. The next one (and I think, the hardest) is the eradication of processed sugar. Like others; there are times I still emotionally eat but I will conqor it and one day, it will float away. (Far away is the idea that maybe I could become a vegan but I’m not thinking that will happen anytime soon.) Small steps on stepping stones, along the way, is the realistic way most people can set a goal for change and achieve it.
My belief is that Mister Venuto isn’t aspiring to have everyone looking like the buff machine he is; I think he is just genuinely trying to do his bit to help change the world, by causing people to care about their bodies. A competition is a fun way to push the limits; if one’s mind is in the right place.
The key to sticking to anything is passion. One’s heart has to be in it and we all know (inside) when we’re genuinely in it. People go into Tom’s challenge hyped up; they don’t actually apply any THOUGHT to a process that requires ones ACTIONS to change. If we convince ourselves that we believe we can achieve the challenge – we will but we have to sit down and ask ourselves that basic question first.
I’ll leave my lecture there and trust I’ve been of some value.
All the best to those that aspire to be better than they were yesterday. xo.

I have had really tough time losing weight and keeping it off. The only time I have had any diet success is when my husband and I divorced I lost 60 lbs. to show him what he was losing. I was able to keep the weight off for 5 years but then i started having to have surgeries and the weight crept back. I am now 100 lbs overweight, I have arthritis in my hands and knees. I have severe problems walking and climbing stairs. My thumbs have been fused from arthritis and i cant lift weights or do aerobic exercise. Is there anyone who can come up with a diet that could help me with my problems? I desperately want to loose this weight and get my health back.

I have been both successful and failure at transforming my body. I think it is 90% mental and 10% environmental. Change is a choice. Your friends may influence you, the stores closest to your work at lunchtime may not sell many healthy options, and you might have a busy schedule that doesn’t allow much time for planning or excercise but in the end you usually make things a priority if you choose to. If I choose to spend an hour surfing the web or watching T.V. instead of making a healthy lunch for the next day or working out, that is because I really didn’t want to. Bottom line. You make a hundred choices a day and if you really want to change you will make it a priority. I have found that taking some of things that are tempting out my life, like T.V., does make the choice easier but I still have to choose to make my health and fitness a priority.

Why do people drop out of a body transformation contest, or any good fat-loss, and/or a well designed training program?
I believe there are many reasons why people drop out of a body transformation contest. I have entered cotests from time to time, and have formed these ideas from not only observing other people’s actions and psychology, but also my own.
I believe there are three top reasons why people quit:
1) A lack of a strong commitment to the desired outcome. When the “honeymoon” phase of doing something new has worn off, and the difficulty of the commitment has set in(and it will) then one thing that will keep a person going, is the commitment to follow through to see the desired outcome. If this commitment is not strong, the person will most likely quit.
2) Lack of accountability: The chances of staying committed to the end, increase substantially when someone else is “checking in” on a regular basis to see how you are doing. Also, when someone is counting on your success to motivate them as well, the commitment becomes stronger. Without this accountability to someone, or a group of people, a person will likely quit before the contest is over.
3) Lack of tracking weekly or biweekly measurable results. When I see the inches getting less, or the body fat going down regularily, that will give me another boost, or reason to keep going.
4) Lastly, I will say that people do not look at the challenge as a lifestyle change, but rather as a temporary contest. When I look at my eating habits and exercise program as a lifestyle change, that will bring me continued results, my determination to follow through to the end of the contest and beyond, becomes very strong.
People drop out because their commitment to reach their goal is not strong enough, to ride the ups and downs of the commitment. . They do not have a “no matter what, I will follow through and reach my goal” or “I will do the work I committed to, no matter what”

I feel like the initial excitement about getting into shape and looking good sparks people’s interest. They think, if they can do that than maybe I can. I am one of those rare people as far as out of people I know, that actually like to exercise. I do know that to get into Awesome shape that it takes Hard Work, Consistency and Dedication. I think that the rate of people finishing is so low because half way through the program most people didn’t realize how hard it would be and they choose to give up, plus you have your friends and family who are supposedly comfortable in their own skin telling you that your crazy and that’s not what real people do, or that you are obsessive. I have reached a goal actually many by working out and eating right, but after I was finished with one of the programs i did I didn’t know what to do or who to talk to about where to go next, so I gave up and life got the best of me and I gained all my weight back. I believe that the inner circle is so important for people who give up easy or don’t have the knowledge for after they finish a program as well. I also know that some people don’t feel comfortable going to the gym if they are over weight -myself included, but you can always find a way to get in shape at home if you really wanted it! Do you want that Jelly Donut and do you want to look like one too, or do you want the lean hot steak and to look lean and hot when you’ve accomplished your fitness goals. People sometimes have unrealistic expectations and load their plate full! I believe in starting small totally and work your way to transformation, that’s we’re I’m headed this time around! Good Luck to Everyone who shoots for their dreams, I hope they all come true:)

It’s a huge committment. Easy to sign-up for anything, but difficult to commit to everything. Whether it’s a body transformation contest, adapting a new habit, whatever, … committment is difficult. What makes the body transformation even more challenging is that it’s multi-faceted and lasts 49 or (yikes!) 98 days. Stick to something for that long?!! Change my diet, change my activity level, find support, offer support, … tough. Only those who really want it stick around, and if you do, you get want you want. Body transformation.

Why do people drop out of body transformation contests? Fear, most likely! Fear of failure, hard work, the unknown, even success. It is truly a commitment which requires tons of focus, discipline, dedication, and patience. All are character traits many of us lack. The whole concept of setting a goal and mapping out what needs to be done to acheive that goal is almost completely foreign to most. Lots of people are “instant gratification” types that fall for the get skinny quick scheme. We work hard all day at life, work, family, etc and it is hard to come home and work hard on ourselves as well. It is much easier to make an excuse for NOT doing something than put forth the effort of following through.

I believe people drop out because they don’t do all the things you need to do like you outline in BFFM. That is why you have a high completion rate in your transformation contest. Some of them follow through with a plan and they keep track of their progress.

The Biggest Question in Weight Loss History always seems to come back to:
How can I lose weight without starving myself and without having to spend hours in the gym?
We live in a society where instant responses andi instant rewards gratify our efforts. We give prizes and rewards for every little thing. People seem to be more and more prone to looking for the “Quick Fix.”. The fact is, nothing takes the place of good old fashion exercise and portion control with your meals.

People fail to complete a challenge because they have not yet realised that joining a challenge does not make you lose weight any more than buying an exercise bike makes you fit – you have to use it. The application of the rules does not fit in with their pre-challenge lifestyle and they are really not ready to change – it is too hard, and they quit.
To stick with it you need to realise within yourself that no one else can do this for you. You have to want it enough! The computer games and the gym workout will not both fit in the same time slot. Something has to give. Good food does not just appear in the fridge – it has to be planned and cooked. A little spoon feeding is good at the beginning to get the general idea and offers something to fall back on if you have to start over, but realizing it comes down to you and only you is the only way you will succeed.

I’m a notorious all the way or not at all person. Over the past 24 years I’ve lost and gained up to 30 lbs at least 6 times. I’ve been looking at the challenge for over a year and have been scared to enter it because of the commitment yet I’ve followed your eating plan for over one year with fantastic success. (Lost and kept 30 lbs off over a year) I still have times where I don’t eat well or I cheat more than I should but Burn the Fat has enabled me to forgive myself quickly and realize that just because I fell off the wagon that it doesn’t undo all my workouts and the majority of my clean eating. Before reading your book I would tell myself I messed up and just stop working out all together and stop my clean eating and gain back all the weight I had lost. I think people quit because they tell themselves they aren’t worthy of success or they beat themselves up too much instead of praising themselves for every small change and challenge they accomplish on their journey. I also think that if you only look at it like a “diet” and not a life change then you are more likely to quit. When you can change your mentality and realize that every little bit of body fat you lose and every little bit of muscle you put on makes you healthier, stronger, and more mentality fit then you realize that there are not a lot of people in our society who value their health enough to address it every day. Then you can start to change your mindset about it. It also helps me to give thanks for what my body allows me to do and to realize what a gift it is.
The biggest change has been in realizing that I can’t always rely only on myself. I have two mentors who are regularly consistent with their workouts and diet and when I feel myself getting off track I immediately talk to them and they steer me back. It helps to journal, especially when you aren’t feeling good about your body or your eating so you can identify what triggers you more regularly and identify how you normally get off track. I also have 2-3 friends who workout at the same time and every time we have a workout scheduled we text or call to make sure each other is showing up. Even when you really don’t feel like working out just knowing that they are going to go keeps EVERYONE showing up more. Accountability is KEY!
Thanks Tom for the regular e-mails. They are always worth reading and inspiring!

The reason for dropping out of anything is lack of motivation. I look back over the years and realize when I succeeded at something is when I was motivated. I have not been able to succeed at weight loss for a few years now and not sure how to get myself motivated. I do however realize that no one can do it for me. People can give input but I am the one that has to do it in the end.

I’ve failed a competition before and there were a couple of reasons.
1. The competition was paleo focused and while I agree with the concept of whole foods and healthy choices the dogma and shame that came along with a slip up made it that much easier to turn a beer into a beer and fries and ice cream and pizza…. You get the picture. Whether this would have happened with a normal diet I’m not sure but I do know that having an excessively rigid diet structure made feelings of failure overwhelming when I was first learning to diet.
2. Akrasia. When the goal was so far away (90 days, a long time for my first huge weight loss attempt) the consequences of a cheat meal today seemed insignificant when I could just make up for it tomorrow. All of a sudden a month had gone by I had made no progress and others were leaving me in the dust. I no longer thought about how much more I could achieve but how much I had failed. The result was gaining even more weight and ending the competition heavier than I started.
3. I did it for the wrong reason. A prize is nice (ours was 3,500) but if you’re not doing it for yourself and setting goals you’re confident you can achieve because of your own burning desire to improve the carrot won’t make up for it.
4. Lack of knowledge. Weight loss is simultaneously incredibly easy to understand and incredibly difficult to implement. While attempting this paleo challenge I knew somewhere that the number one step was eating less than I burn but I got so caught up in the calories don’t matter, no carbs, only whole foods way of thinking that I lost sight of the fundamentals that achieve 90% of the progress.
To combat all of the above I’ve taken a longer term approach and focused on the fundamentals. I do it for myself now and as I get closer to my goals I get more and more motivated to succeed for me and on my terms.
Thanks

The answer is to leverage the power of your unconscious mind by means of everyday mental training to successfully reach each and every of your goals by the focused massive action that follows. To learn more about mental training… enter the Burn the Fat Inner Circle and listen to the audio-coaching materials provided over there by Tom!

One of the problems I feel prevent me as well as others from completing the challenge is the feeling you get of being like a prisoner. Once you start the challenge, it’s like you’re put in jail and your free agency is taken away from you. You don’t have any options, and then you are forced into hard labor. (doing physical work you don’t want to do) You can’t eat what you want, or whenever you want and that drives us crazy. Just the thought of knowing “you can’t” eat this or that, makes us want to eat eventhough we’re not hungry. We start feeling like we can’t do anything and wonder why other people can do those things. We start to even resent the rest of the world because “they can”, and then we feel confined and need to break out. So, instead of having the challenge “free” us from our bad habbits, health issues, extra weight, etc. we mistakenly feel they inprison us and we immediately try to break out. I myself have experienced this 2 times already. Not being able to eat at work parties, or family gatherings made me feel locked up and my innerself immediately started causing me to do things to break free. Once I got off the challenge I for some reason felt a huge amount of pressure lifted off my shoulders, or like heavy chains were taken off me. This challenge can actually FREE you more and give you more options, but our twisted minds can’t understand that yet.

Hi Tom,
I think that motivation is the most important factor in successful weight/fat loss with goal setting as the means of maintaining the level of motivation.
Thinking about why one wishes to loss weight/fat will commence the weight/fat loss journey, but only goal setting will keep one on track during times of temptation or moments when the motivation wanes.
Cheers,
David Priddle

I am 55 years old and until 5 years ago have been lean with no real weight problem. I used to do water-skiing, hiking,ultra marathons, road cycling and mountain biking but that has slipped in the last few years and so I have ended up with the older male problem of a spreading middle. What I have found is that a lot of weight loss and exercise programs require quite a lot of time which many people cannot stick to and so do not reap the rewards. From reading and experience over the years I have worked out a few simple exercises which are very intense and do a lot of work on the whole body in a short space of time. The secret to this set of exercises is that because of the intensity and all over body workout my body continues to burn fat long after finishing the exercises. After 20 minutes I am really worked out. basically what I do is: 10 minutes of 5 core exercises for the midriff. Then 7 minutes on 5 exercises done on two independant handles hanging from the garage roof-beams. These work my whole body and are really intense. I finish off with 3 dumbell exercises done at fast reps with two old Alfa-Romeo half-shafts.
The real secret to this is the intense whole body workout one gets by doing exercises while hanging from the handles. Try it!

Many a time the body goes into a plateau, no weight loss inspite of increased efforts in exercising & following tighter diet. sometimes when too much of carbs are cut down, there is carb craving & we eat more carbs than required which once again leads to fat storage.
For majority, the motivation level to lose weight is only for a short period-
I personally think, we need to have an idol( who is desciplined on fitness, a celebrity) like whom we would dream to be, hang pictures of this idol in your room so that we are reminded of our goal everytime we are low. maintaining a low cal diet & exercise plan along with a friend, creates a sort of weight loss challenge & keeps the body to work harder & stay put each day every day.
I personally have a trainer, with whom I share my ups & lows and we plan & work together to reach my desired goal.

People are lazy. However this is not our fault, nature is lazy, water for example will always follow the easiest path. Streams bend when they encounter a harder layer of rock. Nature has programmed us to be lazy, to conserve energy, to give in to our cravings, after all cravings are just our mind telling us what it thinks the body needs. These factors have been hard wired into our survival over the course of our evolution. Laziness is instinctive.
We’ve all been there, whether your a first time gym user or a pro athlete, our minds work the same way. It is all to easy to say “I’ll go tomorrow” or “I deserve to treat myself”. This is what hinders success. To succeed at your goals, you must ignore these lazy instincts (Warning, do not ignore your body if it tells you it’s exhausted, also the breathing instinct is fairly important). Society and civilisation are built on people ignoring their basic animal instincts. Ignoring instincts is what separates humans from animals. No one has the ‘ability’ to ignore these lazy instincts, they simply have the determination to do so.
Be determined, succeed.

Enthusiasm – Commitment = Remorse. (e-c=r). Einstein’s Theory of Summer Challange failure. This year commit, stick to your plan and look farther than the 98 days! This is your life – your time – embrace the challange.

Hello Tom,
I think many people would like to have a nice and fit body. For this reason many people join contests, challenges etc. But first of all after they ” buy ” the dream or the possibility to accomplish it with a good trainer or program, they have to face themselves and answer how did they get to this point to start with. They drop it because is hard to believe that it is achievable, it is hard to have a vision in the transition time because it takes time to see results, and most people want to change in a couple months a body they abuse for many years. Does not matter how motivated you are with a good trainer or the best program. The change comes just in the moment you say to yourself ” I have enough, I can not stay in my skin anymore “, then you will have the motivation that no one can give to you. You have a great program Tom. You are honest and knowledgeable and encourage people to train hard and expect success. Changes has to come from inside to last forever, because a fit body has a lot to do with the way we see,respect and take care of ourselves. Even though it is a ” physical change”,the key should be to explore the psychological aspect of changes. Best regards! Beth

I use to think that people who exercised had some magic or inherited drive within them that I didn’t posses or was born with. Maybe for me the diet shakes and marketing gimmicks would solve my problem…. I have tried most of them with very little success.
I have however discovered otherwise in the past 2 years.
I was fed-up with myself- the way I looked and the way I felt!
I think that is perhaps one of the reasons people don’t change. You cannot change anything about yourself if you are not fed-up enough about it. You can’t just be a little fed-up, you have to be really fed-up and know with conviction that you have to or need to change.
I had my really fed-up moment! I remember that Sunday afternoon when I knew I had really had enough! I decided in that moment that I would change that straight away. I committed to myself that I would start gym the very next morning. I had to overcome my instant thought that I don’t have time because I work. I dismissed it with an instant solution which would be uncomfortable. I would have to get up at 4:15am to get a work-out before waking the kids in the morning and getting them to school by 7:15 and then work by 8am. I did it! As part of my routine every night before I go to bed, I lay my gym clothes out for the next morning so that I am prepared and can eliminate any excuses that may be brewing in my head. I have also learnt that the greatest opposition to me attaining what I want is MYSELF! I wake up and have 2 voices in my head. One says – give up, you have tried before or it is too cold & dark or you are tired and the other voice replies – but I have had enough and want to change. You need to learn which voice to respond to and reason louder with the voice that wants to change.
My days are better- I have the energy and clarity of mind to fulfill my responsibilities as a wife, mother and employee. The pleasure of energy & vitality far outweighs the pain of waking up. The rush of exercise is so worth it, but you can only get it by doing it!
We do not forgive ourselves for the mistakes we make and break-down self trust and esteem when we don’t do those things which we know we should do or do those things which we know we should not be doing. When we slip up, that same old voice that reasoned louder initially, returns to our heads to remind us of our failings and drags us back into our old ways and back to the pain of our past.

WHY PEOPLE FAIL:
Its 6pm & the end of the working day, I’ve just walked in the same door I walked out of some 12 hours earlier…sound familiar? I hold a managerial role in a large Australian trucking firm, a position that I thoroughly enjoy & throw all my energy & passion into every day.
I place my briefcase on the writing desk in my study before swiveling my chair around to my desktop located on a separate desk to the right, opening my personal emails to see one from my virtual trainer & mentor Tom Venuto. We’ve never met…I don’t even know what his voice sounds like.
As a male of the species at 38 years of age, 220 pounds, 5 foot 10 inches, 28.4% body fat & only four weeks into resuming serious training & a calorie controlled diet after some two & a half years away from the weights, I’m eager to see what gem of wisdom Tom wishes to impart today.
I still have to prepare dinner, I know I have plenty of documents to look over before I can call it a day, but there’s one thing more important than both of these matters just now. One thing more important than anything to me right now, at this exact moment, after having recently reprioritizing what matters in my life.
That’s one thing, that most important matter is the knowledge that I have a good long hour in the gym lifting heavy & hard…& I’m looking forward to every bit of it, to hunkering down, gripping that bar with a reverse grip, firmly between my hands for that first time, taking up the strain, rolling back on my heels & pulling up my first set of 175 lbs deads, it being a Wednesday & all.
Why, after a 12 hour day with more work to come, why would I want to exert myself so much harder still…because I’m motivated, I’m hungry for it. I’ve just finished Tom’s “Burn the Fat, Feed the Muscle” in three nights reading & I’m motivated by the fact that after spending weeks trawling the net for a superior knowledge of nutrition, his book has reiterated & confirmed the conclusions I drew from the multitude of reading I found it necessary to do in order to cut through all the BS that’s out there, plus Tom’s concise book has given me some further insights, a more thorough knowledge, a deeper understanding & a sustained motivation.
But today Tom’s not being motivational, in fact he’s not too much help to me at all today, he’s cold cut me with a question I really didn’t need on “Hump Day” Wednesday. Today Tom asks me plain & simple “Why do people quit? Why did YOU quit? Why did you drop out? Why did you stray from the beloved steel?”
“Well Tom…” I muse to myself as I recline in my comfy leather padded office chair that I’ve fallen asleep in way too often “…because they come home at the end of a hard day feeling exactly like I do right now…bloody knackered!”
I momentarily start to consider a structured response to this relevant request for insight when I suddenly realize “Can’t type, must train! Deadlifts…yeah baby!” I swap my professional attire & Cat work boots for a tracksuit & pair of Asics & off I go, one more day winning the war against myself, the weights…& the weight. Glad to be back in the fight…
Two hours have since passed. I’ve done 3x work sets of deads, pull downs, ezy-bar curls, skull crushers & shrugs, all to fail on my last set, pulling up dead on the hour like a well-timed machine. I’ve cooked dinner, sat down & eaten with my family & washed up. Tomorrow, instead of lifting the heavy iron I’ll plug in my earphones & jump on the stationary bike for forty-five minutes…I’ve so far managed to drop 12.3 pounds in just on six weeks, but I’m not fooling myself, I know I still have a long way to go.
Will I make it…you bet ya’! How do I know? Because I want it, because it has recently become the focus of my being, of my existence…it is my number one priority. Not my only priority, I’m not fanatical, everything in balance. I have a life, a career, personal relationships, but for now they come a close second, my focus is my health & reinventing my body the way I see myself in my head. It’s well worth the 6-7 hours per week, a sure investment with incredible returns.
If you want something, if you REALLY want something, then you’ll get it, there’ll be no doubt & never can be & you’ll do whatever it takes to get there. It may be a lonely, long journey & usually is, but you’ll get there no matter what, you know that with a clarity that’s an epiphany & the feeling of pride when you do can never be taken away from you…it pushes you onwards to achieve when everything else is pushing against you. Anyone that says different has never really wanted something or is simply too afraid to try; they’ve surely never aspired to or achieved an “impossible” goal.
Success is about your primary ambition, the single, unwavering focus of your mind’s eye, if something is not your primary ambition then you’ll get distracted, you’ll find a reason not to train, not to drag yourself into position & take up the strain on that first set, or plug the iPod into your ears, pull your hoody over your head & start jogging down that cold wet road. That cold lonely road to success is lined with distraction.
If you think to yourself “Stuff it…I’ll go to the pub instead & knock over a couple of beers. I can train tomorrow!” well it’s obvious that your health, body & soul aren’t what your mind’s eye has an unwavering focus on. This doesn’t just apply to training; it’s applicable to every facet of your life. You can achieve everything you ever wanted in life if you know what IT is & are relentless in its pursuit. I’m a poor dumb son of a dairy farmer that grew up in the Aussie bush…I’ve achieved everything I’ve ever STRIVED for!
Once you change your reward system so that the benefits, the small accomplishments that result from your pursuit are more important than that beer, that high, that TV program, that internet chat room, whatever…your mind simply takes over & tells your body “We’re doing this because I like the reward, I like the pride, I like the self-respect, you’re the body…you’ll do as your told be me! I’m the mind…I’m running the show!”
If you want it, if you look in that mirror, focus on your eyes & say “This ain’t me…this is me building me!” & your reward system is triggered by the size of your arms, how thin your waist is, or the height of your traps, the burn, the pump at the end of the session, then hell there’s no stopping that…there’s no stopping you!
In summary, people fail because they don’t really want IT…whatever IT may be.
Once you want it, REALLY want it…you’ll know nothing else.
Wars aren’t won by those that grow weary…

I just loved all the tips you give for burning the fat in our bodies. I just followed your simple basic formula for weight loss i.e. calories in must be less than calories out & lost about 15kg of weight in about 35 days i.e. on 20/04/2012 I was 92 Kg. & on 24/04/2012 I was 77 Kg. But I did still have some fat left around my abdomen also known as love handles please help me with suggesting some exercises for reducing the fat around there.
Thanks a lot for Your advice.

hi
i am an iranian woman who suffers from being overweight.last year after my 3rd delivery {c section}i was 107kg and i had problems with my usual homework so i decided to lose weight.i lost 6kg in 6months and after starting food for my baby i lost 21kg in 9months.now i am 80kg.i am overweight although i lost 27kg but i am satisfied because i could overcome .i decide to loose more weight slowly in next coming year to become healthier.`YOU CAN IF YOU WANT.

People drop out of body transformation contests simply because they lose their focus, their goal & the path to it(which looks difficult to them). They follow a diet & do the exercises in the initial days but as time passes so does our spirit & enthusiasm in continuing & following the diet & exercises that they had set out for themselves leading to their failure to achieve the short term target they had set leading to disheartening feelings about themselves & even doubting the effectiveness of the diet & exercise, the doubt gives them the excuse & impulse to revert to their old lifestyle without any set exercises or diet & even without any aim to achieve. All this happens just because humans are averse to change, from historic times humans have resisted any change in their lives. Although they set themselves out on a path to achieving a body transformation, in the back of their minds they still love their old lifestyle & are willing to return to them at any chance they get until they have achieved the goal set for themselves, as soon as their mind loses focus before they achieve their goal & the diet & exercising rules start haunting them, they are not used to the new lifestyle & they jump into their first love. This is the reason why people drop out of body transformation contests.

I think one of the reasons people give up on their goals or dreams is that the desire to achieve that goal is not strong enough. The realization of a future gain, particularly if it requires short-term sacrifice and effort, must be far more desirable than the alternative of maintaining the current condition. Quitting smoking and finally getting serious about my body were both long series of failed short-term attempts at change. I really had to hit a ‘bottom’ before I wanted to change so badly that I was willing to do anything to achieve that change. Once I had reached the absolute bottom of my pride and self-deception, I surrendered and admitted defeat; I began to look beyond myself for wisdom and support. I finally was able to achieve success in these areas because I wanted to change more than I wanted to avoid the pain of attaining my goals.
So is it possible to circumvent this? I don’t really think it is possible. When you are ready you are ready. Humility and willingness to do whatever it takes to achieve a particular goal is crucial to success. Unfortunately, this state can often only be reached by hitting one’s bottom and being totally honest with oneself about the reality one is facing.
The other element that helps me is that I can be really stubborn. I have often persevered out of simple fact that I hate to lose. I really don’t like to admit defeat and would rather finish with lackluster results than throw in the towel. This certainly has a lot to do with accountability. The embarrassment of others knowing I have given up is usually more unbearable than the pain of sticking with the program.

I need your help in loosing weight. I have just gotten to the point where I hate the way I look. I would love to win the books!

This is a sly question, because the answer will vary by the person. And the answer requires deep thought and honesty.
I don’t like to think of myself as a person who quits, but I apparently do quit. I haven’t been to the Y in months, my eating habits are either spot on perfect—or not. I let my membership in the IC lapse for *gulp* years, even though I had initial success.
So why do I (and we can extrapolate that to people) drop out? Why do people quit?
1. Life intervenes. Is that true? Hmm. See 2, 3, 4 and 5. LOL!
2. People are afraid to change. Change requires risk. When we change, we force those around us to change, too, even in subtle ways. It’s really kind of exhausting to deal with questions, comments, and opinions about changes we’ve made in diet, exercise, etc. Not to mention the resentment that comes from some who seem uncomfortable or jealous with our success.
3. People lack a sense of self-worth. Some of us fail to understand that taking care of oneself makes every other area of life easier, more fulfilled, and more joyful. It’s not a selfish thing to care for oneself. Yet, in my world, I often say that I am the end of the crack-the-whip line. And guess what? I’ve put myself there. So how to break that pattern AND get the kids where they need to go, the laundry done, the groceries purchased, the food dealt with (seriously, eating whole foods is fabulous, but the time required to process food when you decide not buy processed food is shocking. LOL!) [For me, as a Christian, this is tied into a fundamental lack of understanding that I am God’s beloved. I was named before the creation of the world, and because God loves me, I am free to love myself—and others. I think various religious traditions all share this kind of concept … ]
4. Lack of balance. One of my greatest challenges is finding balance in the face of a natural tendency toward All-or-Nothing. I can afford to go all-out in fitness/nutrition/health for only so long before other areas of my life begin to crack under the pressure that I have imposed on myself. So that requires me to come to a new understanding of what “All Out” means. For me, a full, productive, vibrant life includes a healthy body, mind, and soul. It is living … not just existing, and it is balanced and sane. I stopped going to the Y when I realized that it was stealing my soul. That sounds dramatic, but I really can’t spend hours every day at the Y and tend to the other important areas of my life. I also don’t believe it’s an efficient way for me to achieve health.
5. Cultural pressures.
a. It is a difficult thing to find really good, healthy food in a restaurant.
b. Processed, non-nutritive food is ubiquitous.
c. Our society relies too heavily on medicine and has forgotten what preventative care looks like. In general, western society abrogates responsibility for its health. Instead of taking measures to prevent diabetes, heart disease and a host of other ailments, we rely on medicine to fix us instead of sacrificing those things that are making us sick.
d. C is tied in with government, pharmaceuticals, and insurance companies having more say than an individual over his or her health.
e. Television, gaming systems, computers, iPhones … we no longer move.
f. Yada, yada, yada … LOL!
6. Failure to forgive, to offer ourselves a little grace. We quit because we are not perfect. We quit because we don’t give ourselves a break. We quit because we let one bad moment, day, week determine who we will be. We lose sight of the big picture and wallow in our defeats, which takes us back up to #3.
Shall I continue? I think not. LOL! I will stop here. We spend July up in the way north of Wisconsin on an island that has a glacial fjord on its northern end. The water is bone-chilling cold all summer. We stand in one or two feet of water at the edge of this fjord, where it drops dozens of feet, and we prepare ourselves mentally to dive in. We are always glad when we’ve finally done it, but it’s a hard thing to do.
That’s where I am right now. Thanks for challenging me to reflect on all of this. I stand on the edge of that full, productive, vibrant life that I mentioned in #4.

I think people drop out because they have a couple bad days or weeks in a row. Then they think there is no catching up, so they just give up entirely.
I think the best way to combat this is mental training. If you have a few slip ups, tell yourself it’s okay and get back on the wagon! Just never give up!

I wish I hadn’t read this. I assumed the reverse ie atleast 75% make it to the finishing line. :(
Anyways, I have read the journals of the winners and I think the most important thing that gets them through is TIME commitment. The BFFM programme requires firing on all four cylinders – nutrition, cardio, weight training and continuous mental motivation. All this requires at least 30% additional time to be taken out from one’s reqular already-starved-for-time work-week. For the duration of the challenge, the priority needs to be BFFM, and all else needs to revolve around it. It is said that this (program) can be built into the regular schedule, but the winners and ‘finishers’ journal tell a different story. No point kidding oneself that one can do it with one hand tied behind one’s back — nope, it needs priority place. And why not, after all its going to be worth it.
Second reason for inability to complete is inability to get off toa good start or sudden long plateau that. Its like the marathon, if one is far behind and all around others are dropping out, the chances of completing the marathon are zilch. Off to a good start (in terms of results) and ability to keep up with the ‘toppers’ is motivating. Trailing far behind requires tremendous will-power to keep going. That is the time the spectrum of past failed attempts loom large and can cause giving up. Thus, being able to getOff to a good start is important.
And finally, to be able to get the ‘flick start’, it is important to warm-up before embarking on the challenge. It needs a 21-day consistent routine to be able to ‘change the lifestyle’. Its preferable to get into the ‘groove’ of planning, nutrition etc. well before the challenge start date. Besides, all the creases need to be ironed out, creases like figuring out the actual TDEE, an agreeable meal plan with family, tried out recipes, gym routine, gym timings that don’t have you waiting for the machine, or where you are frustrated looking for parking — oh there’s so much stuff to clear out so that the path of the challenge is as obstacle-proof and as less impinging on time, as possible. One is anyway running against time and any other wrench that causes more time-losses, is a dampener and sure-shot cause for drop-out case.
This is a little long — but just sharing my observation and experience…btdt….

in my opinion , people drop out of body transformation contests due to lack of self-belief , they don´t really believe they can do it and start making mental excuses such as “i will never win because there´s always going to be someone better than me” or “i don´t have enough time for all that training” or even “it´s impossible i´ll stick to the diet for that long” this lack of conviction and constancy may arise from the fear of success, a fear of change and of becoming the person you trully want to be,a fear of success…i believe everyone can achieve anything they set their mind to and it all starts with faith and belief. The key is to take it one day at a time and to feel good about yourself at the of each day when you stuck to that routine which will eventually change you into that person you want to become. And most importantly you have to really WANT IT , have a true desire for change…

There are lots of excuses why people drop out of the competition but the real reason is that participants are not prepared to deal with issues that arise. We all start off enthusiastically but then something happens. When it does, most people get discouraged and lose sight of why they entered the contest. Instead of dropping out – ask for help. That is why there are teammates and discussion forums. Then look at your plans, recognize what happened, see where you are and get back in the game.

Quitting is easy; we’ve all done it, but action—–now that’s the hard part. You see, taking action gets you started, and each subsequent action leads to an opportunity to either move forward or quit. When we ask why people quit anything, we also have to ask the question, why don’t people take action. These questions seem different, but they are very similar. Action deals with getting started and quitting implies you have started, but are no longer working towards your goals. You simply can’t quit anything, if you haven’t taken action in the first place.
Hundreds of thousands, perhaps millions of people each year take that all important first action—-they set a goal to transform their bodies and lives, but only a handful take all the necessary actions to actually see their goals and dreams come true. So, without action, dreams die—–quitting is simply a consequence of not taking action.
If you want to make it to the finish line, take action each and every day in a positive way. The more steps you take, the further you’ll get.

Your book, Your Body Fat Solution, has helped tremendously. I started at 320 lbs and now weight 190 and still loosing today. I have started my journey 2 years ago. I exercise and have changed my whole life style of eating and cooking. I don’t have any excess skin that you can tell I have lost so much weight. I had a personal trainer for 6 mos and I blew him away as to how well I have done. I just wanted to let you know that I still use your book and have also given it out for several friends to read and they also have done very well in their weight loss.

I think that being overweight is a symptom of addiction. The addiction to food. yes, it really exists. And just like overcoming any other addiction, you have to be ready to make the change. Thinking about making the change is not the same as being ready and making a true decision to change. One reason many fail, is that many people want to change and at the first sign of difficulty, they slip back into old habits, which means they aren’t ready.
This is my year…I’m ready!

The Biggest Question In Weight Loss History.
Why do people drop out of body transformation contests?
For me it’s been about that inner voice …it starts coming up with excuses,justifies the excuses and it grows until I eventually give in to it and give up.
HOW DO YOU STICK WITH IT?
I need to be able to chance or shut down the voice when it starts happening…I plan to keep a diary and start recording it and reflect on how I can change the negative voice into a positive one each day.

The biggest reason people drop out of weight loss programs is…IT’S WORK!! They start with the best of intentions, energy, excitement. Then reality sets in. Keeping a regular work out schedule, altering their diet, missing out on some their free time. The word diet implies that it’s a short term thing, once a goal is reached you go back to doing the same thing.
Add to that the frustration that comes with the weight not coming off as fast as they think it should, visible changes in their bodies not appearing right away. Most people go into a new fitness program or start a new diet with very unreal expectations. Shows like “The Biggest Loser” make them think it should happen overnight. The media tells them to take a pill and the fat will melt off in 30 days. Just look at the amazing transformations of the regular folks who took their products! Of course they miss the fine print at the bottom of the TV screen that states “These results are NOT typical. Follow a sensible diet and exercise regularly.”
I was successful in losing over 60 pounds by deciding I was sick and tired of being sick and tired. In the beginning, I didn’t follow an exercise schedule, completely ate what I wanted. And big surprise, nothing happened. What did happen was signing up for a boot camp class, having a trainer who held me accountable. If I didn’t attend class, I could expect a “Where were you?” e-mail. I made friends with the other participants. We held each other accountable. I stopped obsessing over the scale and started gauging my results by how I felt. Small successes led to more dedication. Attending class more often, getting my diet cleaner, reading and educating myself on foods, physiology. Each success brought even more dedication.
So my advice? Find work out partners who are as dedicated as you are. Find something flexible enough to work with your schedule so you can’t make excuses. Look at your food labels!! Educate yourself about what you are putting into your body. TRACK EVERYTHING!! Especially liquid calories. There are several really good food trackers online and phone apps. Ask yourself how you feel each day. Are you sleeping well and enough? Drinking plenty of water? Track your progress by noting the little things. Not getting winded by climbing a flight of stairs. Being able to carry several bags of groceries at once rather than having to make trips. Falling asleep quickly rather than tossing and turning. Tackle changes one at a time rather than going all in. Get the sleep and water thing down first. Then add regular exercise. Finally start fine tuning your diet. If you make gradual changes, it won’t be so overwhelming.
Slowly as you feel better and see results, you’ll get more committed. Once you get to the place you want to be, look at that as the beginning, not as the end.

I think the reason people quit is that they forget that progress takes time. It’s easy to slack off and be lazy when you’re sore and you’re sick of eating chicken breasts and tilapia, but it’s much harder over the long haul to carry around an extra 50+ pounds. That’s why incremental goals are important, to keep discouragement at bay and achieve a sense of accomplishment at each step.

My personal experience: Without a solid conviction/goal to carry me through the ups and downs of a lifestyle change, it is easier to admit defeat to circumstances than persevering to overcome them! The times of perseverance reap the greatest rewards but I often forget them in the midst of the struggle. My best results came when faced with a major medical crisis that required me to lose weight, and that accomplishment made me better in many other ways. But the weight has crept back on as my vigilance has waned, and I am hurting again. At some point, I will make the decision that I want to live BETTER, not just live.

I don’t know if there is one single reason people drop out of transformation contests/nutrition and training programs. Some just don’t want to make the commitment and sacrifice, but I think other are afraid of change. That never made any sense to me because the changes would be good ones and who could be afraid of that? It wasn’t until recently that I finally understood. I’ve wracked my brain over it trying to help her until I recently realized that it’s not the good changes to come she is afraid of, but the changes she will have to make in her comfortable life right now to obtain what she wants. Then, if the changes don’t bring the desired results, she views it as failure and slips back to old habits instead of trying a different approach. Therefore, I feel fear of failure and changing what’s comfortable is a big cause of why people drop out of transformations.
Personally, I’ve been on a transformation journey the past couple years, slowly making the changes to my eating habits and training regimen. I enjoy exercise so that part isn’t generally a big problem for me and I have a great trainer who pushes and encourages me. I have a major sweet tooth so is where I sometimes struggle. Have I fallen off the wagon….you bet! Actually just very recently for 3 or 4 weeks and I did have a hard time getting back on track, but I saw some pictures I saved that reminded me what my goals are and I also just started reading Burn The Fat, Feed The Muscle and came across a few things that have helped me. One in particular is writing down goals. I had never done that before, but definitely found a difference in my actions once I did. Now anytime I want to eat food I shouldn’t I stop and ask myself what I want more….the immediate non-lasting gratification from food, or the huge forever-lasting gratification I’ll get when I reach my goals. So far that is what is working for me to stay motivated, but I’m hoping as I continue to read the book I get more information that will help.

I believe people drop out because it’s just easier to say “I couldn’t do it because…” Fill in the blank. Any reason would do. It’s a big commitment, a tough one. A person has to be mentally “there” to make such a commitment. It’s like a switch going off in your head. The thought of the end result is awesome, but the work to get there, not so much.
My suggestion to succeed…do it with a friend. The best moral support is another person in the same situation. It’s much more fun to work out with a friend or share a healthy lunch date with a friend.

People quit when temptation exceeds motivation.

I love Tom’s approach to fat loss and body conditioning. Everything he writes is so motivating!

The demands of a busy lifestyle make it difficult to stay fully committed to a diet & exercise program.

There’s a moment when you see it, if you go back, you never saw it.
A true longing for a future outcome ignites a fire of true commitment. True commitment does not fall mercy to resistance. True commitment understands what others perceive as failure to be life’s lessons. These are the lessons that will repeat themselves over and over until you have learned them. True commitment does not fall prey to outside forces, it has made up it’s mind to stay the course and weather the storm, long after others have given up because they had become tired and broken. True commitment understands setbacks and “failures” are the most important ingredients to success…if one learns from them. In essence, True Commitment understands success is inevitable when persistence effort is given. True Commitment is Resilience.
You need only look at your past successes and understand that it was your True Commitment to that cause that determined your success. You experienced all the setbacks and “failures” that you are experiencing now with your body transformation. However, in your past successes you saw those “failures” as challenges, or opportunities to achieve your greatest ambitions. You already have the formula for success for body transformation, as it is the same for every endeavor in life…True Commitment- it is not THE way, it is YOUR way. Believe in it, pour all your effort into it, trust me, it’s worth it.
You are powerful beyond measure. It is up to you to unleash upon the world your innate beauty.

Big commitment that is easy to sign-up for but difficult to commit to. And commitment is the hardest part.Only those who really want it can get through it.

The main reason for not completing this would be lack of will. I believe a great deal of the reason you asked this question is to have us think about it. Which is the first step.

Lack of confidence in their approach. The core reason why people take action is because they believe that what they’re doing is going to work. If you truly believe 100% that if I do X I’ll get Y, and Y will change my life, then you’ll do it. The way to success is a program that you are absolutely, positively 100% sure is going to work in advance.

I want to encourage everyone to stay the course with their fat loss goals. Never give up and realize that it’s more of a mental battle rather than a physical one. The key to being successful is about being consistent each and every day. This means being consistent with your workouts, your diet, and your supplementation.
Also, I’ll just add that my site is dedicated to providing tasty and healthy meals that aide with fat loss. Dieting doesn’t have to be filled with boring meals!
-Cheers!

The biggest reason that people drop out of body transformation contests is because of fear. This fear could be fear of success or fear of failure. People drop out because they believe that the new nutrition or diet program they have purchased is just another diet book; that’s just going to sit on their selves. They don’t truly believe that the program will work, and even if it works plateaus are created and the person gives up. Another reason people drop out of body transformation contests is fear of success, because they have never had their ultimate physique and they’re afraid of how other people may perceive them once they attain it. Lastly people drop out of transformation contests because they want to have a reason for doing it whether its getting a prize, feeling confident in their own skin in everyday life situations, or so they can praise themselves