Getting all the pounds is easy. Keeping it off is hard. That's why so many go into crash diets, purchase all the latest fitness gadgets and buy prepackaged meal plans in an effort to shed all the excess pounds. However, they hardly ever work for the long-term. Sure, the bathroom scale registers some loss but most of it is water weight. A few days or weeks into program and dieters are back into their old habits.

These weight loss plans never get sustained for long because the focus is on numbers and not on health and wellness. Diet and exercise programs concentrate too much on losing a certain number of pounds in a week that it seems that there is no other motivation to lose weight except to see the figures drop on our weighing scales. Diet experts advocate counting calories from every piece of food we eat at every meal so we only give our bodies the number of calories it needs-- no more, no less. In the gym, trainers tell students to do a set number of sets and repetitions to achieve toned and lean muscles. Numbers, numbers, numbers! We've always had an aversion for Math (well, most of us at least), and it is no wonder that this obsession about numbers have transferred itself to any fat loss regimen that we get into. This leads most people to inevitably abandon their weight loss plans.

So what is a sustainable weight loss program? It is one that hinges on the motivation to stay fit for health. When your doctor tells you that you've only got six months to live if you don't shape up, there's a number you're concerned with. If the sphygmomanometer (the device that measures your blood pressure) registers 140/90 and you're only twenty years old and nearing the 300 pound mark, then those numbers matter. And they urge you to take action.

With the right motivation, any fitness program becomes sustainable for the long term. You then begin to understand that crash diets aren't the solution, but consuming nutrient-rich, natural foods like fresh fruits, vegetables, healthy grains, seafood, lean meat and poultry. Even if you don't count calories, common sense will tell you to limit your fat and carbohydrate intake. You'll naturally wean yourself away from soda, too. Whether you're enrolled in a gym or not, you'll know that the key to losing the excess pounds is simply to exercise, to engage in a physical activity. If lifting dumbbells is your thing then the sets and reps become a normal part of the activity. Even if you don't weigh yourself in the bathroom scale everyday, you know you're succeeding in the battle of the bulge based solely on how light and wonderful you're feeling.

Weight loss plans that force you to look at the possibility of death right in the face ultimately become the most sustainable ones. They are the ones that individuals practice for the long-term. They are the ones that produce results. They are the ones that are ultimately sustainable.