The good news is it’s possible. The bad news: how to lose a lot of weight, and do it fast, is a tricky topic. In America there are millions of people overweight and, in many cases, obese. And while the numbers have continued to increase at an alarming rate, with no real end in sight, everybody is clamoring for a solution.

The solution is simple. It’s the same as say for somebody trying to pay their monthly expenses, but can’t. Simply stop spending your energies on inefficient activities.

We live in a world that revolves around consumer attention. Every advertiser’s job is to get the attention of would be buyers by whatever marketing means necessary. What this does is distract each and every one of us from our directives.

Messages hit you from all angles, daily. Those messages cause us to lose focus.

For example: you leave your house in the morning and report to your job. You’re on a new diet and you’ve been going to the gym regularly. You have a workout planned for after work.

But somewhere between you co-worker telling you a story that made you laugh so hard you could cry and that candy machine in the break area—you lost focus.

Your guard slipped and you decided to buy some M&Ms from the machine. The candy led to a dinner at your favorite fast food restaurant, which led to you skipping that workout. Suddenly your diet is dust.

“How to lose a lot of weight fast?” that question is suddenly is your rear view mirror.

Later that night you feel guilty for what you’ve done and you eat more food. The snowball has hit and it’s rolling very quickly down the hill.

How can this be avoided? First, by realizing it’s there. It’s always there and always will be there. Second you get a weapon to fight against it.

That weapon is a daily journal. A notebook. Inside the notebook you write down your weight loss goals. You write them down every day. This is your daily promise to yourself. It is a guide that will keep you on track.

Carry the notebook with you wherever you go. Review your goals 3 times a day. Whenever you’re feeling weak, open the notebook. It might make you angry. You might get peeved because you are compelled to hold yourself to your promise. But that’s life.

Personal responsibility: this is the only true way to lose a lot of weight fast.