Weight Loss
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You have now made the decision to make weight loss a priority in your life. Congratulations. You are not alone in your quest for losing weight.
There are some basic steps you should follow when taking on any kind of weight loss program. If you want to start successful and continue to succeed, these guides can keep you on the right track to attaining your weight loss goals.
The first step to weight loss success is to make specific goals for your weight loss journey. Thinking "I want to lose weight" is a great start, but you need to define some specific goals that will get you that weight loss. Start with three very specific goals at the beginning. The two areas you need to focus on when defining goals are diet and exercise.
One goal that might pop into your head is "I will eat better". The problem with that goal is it isn't very specific. When defining goals for weight loss, they should be specific and realistic, but somewhat flexible in that they allow you to indulge a little every so often. So, a better first goal might be "I will avoid fats and sweets at least five days this week". Diet is the easier of the two areas to define some goals, since you obviously have to eat each day.
Exercise is a much harder area to make and keep specific goals in. Between work or school, kids, and other responsibilities in your life, finding time to fit exercise into your weight loss schedule is quite a challenge. Using the same specific, realistic and flexible formula from above, an appropriate exercise goal might be "I will do one exercise tape for at least 20 minutes five days this week".
The second step to weight loss success is to make sure you monitor and compare your food eaten to your calories burned. Look at the foods you eat in an average day: how many vegetables did you consume? What about fruits? Were a lot of your calories empty because you were eating sweets? Did you exercise? If so, for how long and at what intensity?
Doing
this comparison daily or weekly can help you determine your
eating/burning patterns and what you need to do to meet your defined
weight loss goals.
The third step to weight loss success is to slow
down when you are eating. Did you know it takes your brain more than 15
minutes to get the message that you've eaten? Not many people do.
Therefore, you eat a lot of food in a big hurry and end up eating far
more than necessary to fill you up. Make the larger portions of food on
your plate vegetables, as they tend to take time to crunch and also
make you feel full.
In addition to slowing down, scheduling eating time into your day when on a weight loss program is a proactive measure. That way you won't skip or delay meals, making yourself overeat later on because you are so hungry, and you have time set aside so you can eat at a less hectic pace.
The fourth step to weight loss success is to avoid temptations! Easier said than done. With fast food on every corner and easy-to-make processed food down every grocery aisle, it's simple to fall into the trap of eating inappropriately. Keep healthy snacks in your desk drawer at work, so you are snacking on carrot sticks or celery instead of vending machine chips, and keep fruits and vegetables in your refrigerator for when you get the "munchies". This step is all a conscious choice on your part to stick to your weight loss plan.
The final step to weight loss success is one I'm sure you will like: reward your weight loss! Just make sure you don't reward yourself with a trip to a fast food restaurant! Think of little things you would like to treat yourself to: a new dress, an outing to the movies, a solitary walk on the beach without children. Now, pick an easy goal you can reach quickly and assign it a reward when it is met. Do this often, with a small reward being given after each small weight loss goal is achieved. Small rewards are often more effective than big rewards for larger goals.
Starting and following these steps are the beginning of your weight loss journey. If followed, you can obtain and maintain your desired weight loss.