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We can be the most stubborn people at times. No matter what we see in reality, we want to believe in the improbable, especially when we are trying to lose weight. Even though it may have taken us years and years of developing habits that cause us to put on weight, when we want to lose it, we expect it to happen suddenly. We forget that it takes habits to make long lasting changes in our bodies, and that no matter how much we want to believe that there is a magical cure out there, its still going to take work on our part.

If you have a look at what is selling most in the weight loss industry, and the products that are sold, a lot of them are sold based on promises of very quick weight loss. Of course this is no mistake. The weight loss companies have already worked out that what people want is to lose that weight quick. So all of their marketing is based around this. Yet there's been no product that's ever been able to defy the magic formula: Burn more calories than you lose.

But we choose to ignore this, still hoping to lose weight suddenly without change even a fraction of our habits.

Unfortunately it's the desire for quick weight loss that is often at the heart of the 'yo-yo' dieter syndrome, where you don't end up losing any weight at all.

Let me give you a very common scenario.

Let's say you find a crash diet that is all the rage. Everyone on it seems to be losing weight. So you think, 'I should give this a go, it'll work for me too.' So off you go, changing your eating habits completely. Burn">All you have is food from a very small strict range. The worst thing is, because you've made such a drastic change from your long term habits, it gets harder to keep up, the longer you try to stick to the diet. You start to fight with yourself internally. Soon enough its not just about the food. You start to feel that your freedom is being taken away from you by this diet, and you have massive urges and cravings to break free.

You and I both know what happens next, you eventually get to the point where you say, 'A small slice of pizza is not going to hurt, I've been very good, and I'll be back on this diet immediately after.' So you go and have that slice of pizza.

But it doesn't stop there does it.

After you have one piece of that pizza, you think, 'Awwww, another piece isn't going to hurt anyone.' Then the flood gates open.

You have released your cravings and then you scour the house for every piece of junk food you've been keeping from yourself. Its all going down. And before you know it, you're back to square one.

What was the problem then? The problem was that your diet was never a permanent move. We all know that diets are temporary. So isn't it silly to get on a diet and expect the effects to last forever? Of course it is!

Seriously, would any of the diets that are on the market even exist if people thought about this before they decided to start that diet? The facts are that it took long term habits to put that weight on your body. So right there, if you realize that, your own body has given you the exact blueprint of how to lose it as well.

You have to form new habits, but this time, these habits have to allow you to reach and maintain your ideal weight. Its not rocket science, no matter what the latest gadget or miracle cure is promising. It comes down to you.

Does that mean you shouldn't use any of the products on the market?

No it doesn't, but it does mean you shouldn't become dependent on them. Make use of any product that you think will genuinely help you to form long lasting habits that will change your body shape, both in the short and long terms. Whatever you do, never ever buy a weight loss product or service thinking that it is going to do all the work for you and get rid of the weight in your body. It just doesn't work that way, and deep down you know that's true. So focus on you becoming the force of change so that you start to develop healthy lifestyle habits. That's the real secret to long lasting weight loss.