The key to a successful weight loss...

I've had 15 kgs of excess weight on me for a long time, and 3 years ago I began to count my calories with MyFitnessPal. It worked, but the main reason it did was not the daily routine of logging my intakes and burns. It certainly helped, but this alone would not have persuaded me to continue despite my extreme hunger periods. I reached my goal weight two and a half months after my first day, and it took me almost three full years to understand how and why my weight loss worked then, and why it did not ever since... Until now.

The key to making any endeavor work in your life - I found - is the same property in you that forces you wake up at morning despite your sleepiness, prepare and go to work on every weekday, cook for your family, or go shopping, spending your hard earned money on stuff you crave, and have fun. Willpower, and motivation.

Without willpower, you achieve nothing. You just go with the flow, which is usually the easiest and least rewarding way leading somewhere you don't want to be. You can try the best methods out there, proven to be working, or start the craziest diets known to men, but you will inevitably fail without willpower. To make anything work in your life, according to plan, the number one thing you need in your life is willpower. There's simply no going around it.

Motivation on the other hand is the fuel to the fires of willpower. If you have motivation – something desirable associated with your weight loss program – , like trying to look your best to your new love interest, looking forward to defined abdominal muscles or anything else that interests you in going forward with doing this activity is almost 100% guarantee to success.

The basic equation thus is this: Willpower is your engine, and motivation is the fuel, one won't work without the other. Keep it running however, and you will unavoidably win. Given you're going in the right direction with using the right method. You won't need any dietary supplements or magic potions. Just be sure to log each little success every day to keep that fuel flowing though. Keeping daily track of your achievements helps tremendously. If however you fail at one point, by giving in to temptation, and eating a massive slice of cake or something, I suggest you create a canceling cardio activity that same day if possible, that reduces or even overtakes the excess intake, burning it all. Doing this not only helps you get back on track as soon as possible, but it even increases your endurance and serve as caution next time: eating more means moving more.

To give you an example, I'll share my success with you, however I need to point out, that my case might be different from yours in terms of speed. I cannot guarantee the same rate of weight loss as I've had, as this depends on many factors that contribute to your final daily burn. I'll try to keep it simple and short.

I began my journey as a 189 cm high, 95 kg, slightly overweight dude, who fell in love. This gave a terrible amount of motivation to me to make the best of my body and thus feel better, more confident and energetic when appearing near my crush. I lowered my calorie intake to a daily 1500 kcal for about 75 days. At first I've logged 7-800 grams lost daily, which later decreased to 200-250 grams per day. I've had a 10-12 day long plateau, but I've continued despite the fruitless efforts. Sometimes I did exercises to get an extra meal a day, sometimes I just had my normal daily routine, while eating far less than I normally do. It was hard. I craved pizza and cheeseburger all the time, but I never slipped once. What kept me going all this time though was an immense amount of determination and motivation to reach my goal weight and to (in my mind) look the best I can. By the way she had a crush on me too, and never once told me to get slim, I just felt like I needed to do this. It worked.

What you need to understand though is that willpower and motivation cannot be thought, shown or given to you. I can't tell you to do this or do that, you will have to come to the conclusion yourself. This is the perfect example of what it means to “show you the door, but let you walk through it” yourself. Contemplate what I've said, and do what you need to do. Good luck in finding the will to do so!