Fighting Failure by Tiffany Remley It’s something that affects us all. You know what I’m talking about. You’re at your company picnic, on vacation, or at the dreaded pool party. Someone walks out with the chiseled abs or the tight buns and you run for cover, shuddering in your blubbery misery. We’ve all been there. Even top athletes and models have had the misfortune of a few extra pounds. The difference between top athletes/models and the average person struggling to lose weight is knowledge, motivation, and discipline. In other words, the pros know that the few extra pounds aren’t permanent; they can turn their bodies around in a few months or less. So what is stopping you from being a pro? Maybe you lack inspiration. Maybe you don’t have the first clue as to what you should do (besides starving yourself). Could you be the one who just doesn’t have the time or discipline? Well then, we have been in the same place together!   If you weren’t born one of the lucky ones, the ones who constantly eat all of the goodies but never gain an ounce, or the naturally gifted beings who never train but have great muscular definition, then we have a lot in common. We have our work cut out for us. Over the years, I have found some little lifesavers and motivators that have helped me out. By sharing them with you, I hope they will be of help.   First things first, you can’t very well start any kind of program without an end result in mind. We need to develop a reasonable goal (the key word here is “reasonable”). I don’t mean to discourage any woman who would like to be Cindy Crawford or any man who would like to be Arnold Schwarzenegger, but there are parameters of realism. Determine first what you have working against you. Ask yourself: do my parents have the tendency to be overweight? Have I inherited this trait? Or maybe one parent is heavy and the other has a tough time gaining muscle (my inheritance).   In this circumstance, you will more than likely pick up one or both traits. Whatever your situation, you can overcome it. What you cannot change is your height, and most importantly, your frame. If you have a size 8 frame, but you are just heavy and wearing a size 24, you obviously have the potential to be a size 8, not a size 2. As long as you understand that you may weigh more because of muscle replacing fat, that results take time, and that everybody’s results WILL differ, then you are already ahead of the game. You will improve your body. You will see results. You will like the way you look. You will lower your body fat. You will have great definition. You will feel better. You will be healthier. Your end result will be fabulous, but may not be the image you had pictured. It will be reasonable though. Now with these things in mind, create a reasonable goal for yourself.