Examine any successful person and you will find they have guts.  It can be called courage, audacity, or bravery.  They weren't all extremely intelligent or highly skilled - which  proves that we can learn to become successful.  We are not born with it.  Most, if not all successful people will tell you they worked hard to earn success - they applied GRIT.  

So how do you know you have GUTS and how do you get it to achieve the things you desire the most? 

BE DETERMINED TO SUCCEED
Failure is not an option.  Those who succeed look at failure is a way to learn and grow.  They do not quit when things get tough - they persevere and keep fighting until they reach their goal, whatever it is they want to see themselves achieving. In order to succeed one is determined that no matter how hard, or how long it is going to take to get the results - you will keep going.

BE A RISK TAKER
“Those who seek safety rarely gain wealth?”  It is easy to seek new opportunities in every situation when you are not afraid to fail. You are also not afraid to ask for help even though you know you might get turned down. Success doesn’t come easily, and it comes to those who are willing to take risks and are willing to grow and learn.
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TRAIN YOURSELF TO HAVE COURAGE
Combat fears by turning them into anticipation of positive future payoffs.
Stop seeing them as potential negative outcomes.
When you fear loss, shift your focus to what you might gain.
When you fear how difficult a process might be, focus on the excitement of achieving your goal.

and finally....
USE THE G.O.Y.A THEORY 
Every single day you have to use the “Get Off Your Ass” approach and make stuff happen! Nothing works unless you do - plain and simple.  Decide to continue to TRY - always. 

In summary - Stay focused, positive and in a state of mind that drives you to keep moving forward..when you do you will taste success.  

So you've given up processed food, avoided fast food and fried foods...and the scale is just not moving as fast as you want it to...WHY? First, remember that a healthy "long term" weight loss is a steady loss of 1 -2 lbs per week.  I know the numbers may seem minimal when you are working so hard at making changes.  But have faith in the process and I PROMISE sooner than you can imagine you will be looking back saying WOW I'm down an entire pants size!

If the number of the scale isn't moving as fast as you like I encourage you to use other means to measure your progress and success.  

Reasons not to depend on the scale to measure your success.  

• When we reduce FAT and increase lean muscle mass by increasing exercise, the scale may not show a change in numbers. 
• Your weight can fluctuate. 
• The scale effects our attitude.  

Our goal is to INCREASE lean muscle so our body will naturally burn more fat.   MYTH: Muscle weighs more than fat. FACT: 1 lb = 1 lb, so if you have one pound of muscle and one pound of fat they weight the same.
What makes them different - muscle is more dense. So muscle takes up less space in the body making us smaller in size. Weighing yourself can make you feel defeated if you are working hard to make changes to reduce fat and the scale has not changed. So it is important to avoid the scale as much as possible and focus in on other factors that measure your success and fat loss.   

When we reduce FAT and increase lean muscle mass by increasing exercise, the scale may not show a change in numbers BUT - our body size is getting smaller.   Here's why:  When we strength train and add lean muscle that means we "add" to our body weight in numbers, however, while we are adding "GOOD WEGHT - Lean Muscle" if we reduced fat the number on the scale won't show it because they will cross each other out.  

I highly recommend weighing yourself no more than once a week. If you're obsessed with weighing yourself (and frustrated by the outcome), here are 5 reasons top stop weighing yourself everyday:  

1. You'll never be satisfied.  Many of us set too high expectation for the number on the scale. Making so many changes makes us feel we "deserve" to see more than 1 or 2 pounds gone in a week. The FACT is 1 or 2 pounds in the safe an best way to lose weight and keep it off.    
    
2. It can influence your mood. Too many people let the number on the scale determine their mood (and behavior) for the rest of the day or week.   
    
3. Your weight fluctuates constantly. The number on the scale can change from hour to hour and day to day for reasons that have nothing to do with losing or gaining fat.   
    
4. The scale doesn't tell the whole story.  A scale can't tell you if you've:
   • lowered your blood pressure or cholesterol.
   • lost inches and changed the shape of your body.
   • improved your strength and flexibility, etc.
   • Improved your self esteem
   • reduced stress and feel happier
      
5. It becomes a game. Too many people make it a game by constantly competing with the number on the scale by making drastic changes just to see the number on scale go down quickly. This will only result in temporary results before the scale goes back up. The only way to achieve permanent weight loss is to make small, gradual, and permanent changes to your lifestyle. 

Why your weight can fluctuate?The number on the scale can change from day to day and hour to hour for many reasons that have nothing to do with losing or gaining body fat.
Your weight can go up several pounds:

• After eating or drinking because you just added the weight of the food or drink to your body.
• After eating foods high in sodium because your body will retain water. 
• If you wear more clothing than the previous time you weighed.
• If you're bloated or constipated.
• Just before or during your menstrual cycle.  

Eating Enough Calories
One of the most important factors to maintaining a high metabolic rate is consuming enough calories to fuel the body to keep the engine (metabolism) running at full throttle.  If most of your past healthy eating strategies taught you to eat "low calories" then breaking this habit may take a little more effort.  Be sure to log your food in a journal so you can see actually how many calories you are consuming and in what areas you can add on calories.  Remember that low calorie is not always the best way to go. Some of the low calorie foods are modified and processed being stripped from some of the most important nutrients. Are you reaching your daily calorie needs?  What ways can you make improvements?