If you're like most people, you probably start looking to learn how to lose weight at some stage between Christmas and New Years Day. You probably start promising yourself that this is the year where things are going to be different, the year you are finally going to lose some of that unwanted body fat you've been carrying around for too long.

So why does it never actually pan out like you plan?

This is a problem which affects millions of people, so if you have fallen victim to it in the past you can seek some reassurance in the fact that you are certainly not by yourself. January has become associated with joining a gym and many people do it purely because it's habit.

As you might expect, if you start telling yourself that your life is going to completely change just because the calendar says January 1st you are probably going to fall off the rails pretty quickly. Your life is a long-term thing, therefore any attempts to change it also need to be long-term, too.

This quick fix mentality is something which holds countless people back from seeing any good results with their diet and it's a cycle which can take years to break. If you've been setting end-of-year weight loss goals purely because it's January and you think it's what you're supposed to do, then you need to assess why you're actually trying to build a better body in the first place.

It doesn't make a difference what time or day it happens to be. If you decide you want to change your lifestyle you can begin taking action right now. Those who are serious enough to possess that type of mentality are the ones who tend to get superior results.

Ultimately it's a ready-made excuse for you and you know it. If you are going to allow yourself to fail in your next diet routine purely because it's a Wednesday and you now need to wait until next Monday before you get back on your routine, you have become your own worst enemy. Dieting is the same no matter what day it happens to be.

Results are there for you to achieve at any time of the year. You can start by setting a calorie deficit, which means consuming slightly less food per day than you do now. Once you have this in check you can combine it with regular water intake and small, regular meals replacing big, square meals which will help your metabolism.

Rather than making excuses for why your latest diet failed and why you were unable to stick to it this time around, try looking at the facts. It's not that you don't know how to lose weight, it's that you probably aren't truly ready to commit to a lifestyle change at the moment.