You think that when you lose weight, when you have your eating under control, you will feel happy. You think that when you are a size 10 and you fit back into those jeans COMFORTABLY, yep that is the moment you will be happy.

Can I tell you a secret? The happiness comes first. When you focus on your happiness, your TRUE happiness, everything just happens. Easily. And you might think that eating that food that you have been craving will make you happy, but it doesn’t really. Did it make you truly happy last time? Sure it was a pleasant taste, but did it make real and lasting difference to your life?

When you operate from the place of “I will be happy when I lose the weight” that is when you hustle. And if you are coming from a place of hustle, true change is harder to come by. Because if you get injured or something really bad happens in your life, you get derailed soooooooo easily. How do I know? Been there my friend. Many a time!

If you are happy first, change comes from the right place and is long-lasting. If you get injured it is okay because you are not running 100km a day to run off your emotional/overeating habits. If something horrible happens in your life, you are not derailed by stress eating or excess drinking because they are not habits of yours. When you are truly happy, you simply do not get the urge to overindulge. And any changes you make come from a feeling of wanting to make the change, not like you have to.

So the key to permanent weight loss? Happiness comes first. Create the space in your life for permanent, long-lasting happiness. How do you do that? Draw back from overindulging a little bit at a time, process the emotion that crops up and make changes accordingly. Your cravings will literally drop away as you redesign your life so it makes you happy, truly happy.