While many weight loss programs will promise a certain amount of weight loss if you follow instructions, it is up to you to do it, work at it, and when you’ve lost the weight, it’s up to you to maintain it.
Quick, easy solutions to losing weight usually lead to quick, easy weight gain shortly thereafter. You may be tired of hearing the same advice repeated over and over, but the truth is, there are no new weight loss tips. Losing weight means changing your eating habits, exercising more, and learning how to live a generally healthy lifestyle. A weight loss program may help you lose the initial pounds and give you advice on how to keep them off, but the rest is up to you. Going straight back to your old habits is not going to help you stay in shape, or stay healthy.
With or without a formal program, these tips are sound advice.
1. Why do you want to lose weight?
If you want to improve your health, look and feel better – great! If you want to be able to play with your kids more, that’s super. Trying to get your ex back, look better than the next door neighbour, or because your partner says you should – not good reasons. The best motivation to lose weight is for yourself – nobody else.
2. Choose your weight loss program carefully
You must be realistic when you choose how you are going to go about losing weight. Your lifestyle may not suit every type of program or diet, and choosing one that you cannot adjust to or cope with is setting yourself up for failure. Look at your current eating habits, level of physical activity, work schedule, family and social life. Think realistically about how much change each of those areas can withstand.
3. Set practical, realistic goals
Setting goals that are virtually impossible to reach sets you up for failure from the start. Monthly or weekly goals are easier to achieve.
4. Keep a record
Whether you use a food diary or a success journal, get into the habit of recording your eating habits – and preferably start doing this before you go on a weight loss program. Record what you eat, when you eat – and why you eat. Why you eat will help you identify your ‘food triggers’ that set off unhealthy eating habits. Boredom, loneliness, anger, frustration and stress can often lead us to unhealthy snacks and comfort food, even though we know it’s not good for us. Use your diary or journal to record your goals, and your progress.
5. Program for success, but expect some bad days
Accept that there will be bad days – and even bad weeks. You will have a day or two where it just gets too much for you. You may skip a workout, or find yourself unable to resist that donut. It’s okay to slip up! One bad day or one poor decision, does not mean you have failed. It just means you had a bad day. It is NOT okay to give up.
6. Get support
Whether it’s friends, family or an online group, make sure you have people to support and encourage you – especially on those bad days. There are thousands of people in online groups who share their experiences with different diets and weight loss programs, have been through the same difficulties you may be facing, and many who have succeeded.
7. Exercise
Whether you like it or not, some form of physical activity must be included in a healthy lifestyle. Not only does it help you lose weight, but it will help you maintain the weight loss. Of course, the health benefits are a big factor – even if you’re thin, exercise is good for you. Your exercise program should involve activities that you enjoy doing, otherwise you’re going to find any excuse not to do it.
8. Eating
Whether you are following a specific diet plan, counting calories, or just cutting down on the ‘bad’ food, there are a couple of things that can help you.
Eat slowly. It takes 20 minutes from the time you start eating, for your brain to register feelings of fullness. If you gulp your food down in less time, you won’t know you’re too full until it’s too late.
Watch those portions. when you are out, eat half the meal and take the rest home in a take out box. At home, use smaller plates.
Go easy on the salt, limit high fat foods, replace red meat with lean poultry and fish, and drink lots of water. Don’t skip meals, especially breakfast.
9. Chart your progress
Keeping track of your progress, including any slow or stalled loss periods, will let you see what helps you to succeed, what causes problems, and when to celebrate. If your progress has stalled, particularly towards the end of your diet, you may have hit a plateau. The best way to overcome this is to change something. A plateau means your body has settled into a routine, and often all it needs is a little jolt to get it burning fat again.
10.Have a maintenance plan!
It is obvious that once you’ve lost weight, going back to your old habits will bring the weight back on. Either your diet was so radical it is impossible to adapt it for real life, or the weight loss program failed to explain how the dietary changes made to lose weight can be adapted to maintain your new weight. After your ‘diet’ is finished, you should have a better idea of what to eat, when to eat, and how to eat it. Adapting your weight loss program to a weight loss maintenance program and a new healthy lifestyle should be a priority.
Most of us know when we’re eating the wrong food or not exercising enough, but that isn’t always enough. A weight loss program can help you get the weight off, but you have to keep it off. It is not easy to lose weight, and no-one takes kindly to change, but the results will definitely be worth it.
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