For anybody who has never tried to lose weight and are about to start your very first attempt at losing weight, I’d like to offer some advice that can help you lose weight and learn what’s needed to keep it off.
My 5 tips can make your first attempt a lasting attempt. Avoid the yoyo dieting by learning how to lose weight the way that gives lasting results.
1. Start with the end in mind. No, I’m not talking about your goal weight or how many pounds you want to take off. I’m talking about what you can and will change to make your goal your lifetime weight.
2. Read it now, believe me later – you do not want to spend the rest of your life avoiding forbidden foods. Following a weight loss plan that severely restricts food choices or even entire food groups sounds good because it seems to be a simple, uncomplicated approach that delivers quick results. I get why simple sounds better, but lasting weight loss is a learning experience. Steer away from them because you won’t want to live that way forever. Weight maintenance takes learning how to eat what you want without guilt or loss of control.
3. Forget the cleansing shakes, the power bars and the other things that waste your calories. Weight loss isn’t a matter of cleansing and power bars as meal replacements won’t satisfy you and keep you from feeling hunger the way food can. Use your calories for foods that are naturally lower in calories, higher in nutrients, and most importantly, taste really good. The more you enjoy your food, the easier it is to manage how much you eat.
4. Never regret your actions. You won’t be perfect. You don’t need to be perfect. Sometimes you’ll eat too much. Don’t regret it; don’t beat yourself up over it. It happens and it’s okay. You didn’t “blow it.” If you’re having trouble keeping your eating under control it’s not a mistake, it’s just a homework assignment. The assignment is to discover what is the root of the overeating issues and learning how to deal with it/them in satisfying non-eating alternatives.
5. Plan to move more. I’m not saying “join a gym and knock yourself out with multiple weekly workouts. You could do that if you want to, but refer to my #1 tip – “start with the end in mind.” If you do that to lose weight, it’s going to need to become part of your life. If you quit the workouts when you get to your goal, you have changed the ratio of calories in to calories out. That change can make a difference to your maintenance. If you burn fewer calories and fail to adjust downward the calories you’re getting from the food you eat you’ll gain weight. I’m just saying sit less, move more, sometimes move a lot and the more fin ways you can move, the better.