Losing excess weight is a very hard endeavour. Once you start, you want to have every good chance of success. But as you well know, when you try to lose excess weight, there is the distinct possibility that you won’t be able to do it.

It is very common to look for ways to minimise your chances for disappointment, should you not reach your goal. Protecting yourself like this, whether you’re conscious or not of taking such an approach, is a defensive mindset that will leave its mark.

If you really want to avoid being disappointed, you may quit before you even start. But even if you go ahead and start on some weight-loss plan, your defensive mindset will have an effect on how far you get.

FYI: Psychological research shows that it is natural for people to overestimate how much they will regret it when an outcome they desired and intended to make happen, did not happen. But not going ahead and doing it, doesn’t really help either. Here, the psychological research shows that people who forego the risk of an uncertain outcome, underestimate their disappointment at not having tried.

So what’s the answer? Well, it’s probably like betting on a horserace, only it’s you betting on yourself to lose excess weight. You have more assurance that you will win if you are well-trained, well-prepared, know the condition of the “track” (read this “task”), and know how to beat the competition. In the case of weight loss, the competition is all the other nags; that is to say, those nagging, weight-loss problems you’ve faced before.