This is a guest post by Amanda Kidd.
Losing weight can be easy and fun, provided you make a determination and follow a sensible strategy. In order to win, you must first have a clear idea of what you intend to achieve, not just in terms of how much weight you want to lose, but why, and the changes that you foresee after you have lost weight. Remember that there is an ideal weight for every person, and gross deviation from it may actually be a liability rather than an asset. It is advisable to be realistic and practical in your approach of losing weight, both with why you want to lose weight, and the amount of weight loss that is healthy for a person of your age and height. Check with your physician before you embark on any weight loss or exercise program if you are unsure of your fitness levels.
Be Watchful:
- Watch what you eat: Avoid fried foods, high cholesterol foods, sugary foods and drinks, and alcohol. Ensure that you get plenty of fiber in your diet. Try to include leafy green vegetables. Adopt healthier low calorie snacking habits. Cook your own food rather than order in or eat out.
- Watch your activities: Begin a thrice weekly regimen of moderate exercise. Start out with 30 minutes of it and slowly work it up to an hour three times a week. Include a walk in your daily schedule. Avoid sedentary pastimes like watching TV and surfing the internet and replace them with something that gets you moving like gardening or bowling or even dancing.
- Watch your thoughts: Anxiety and depression typically lead to seeking comfort in food or drink. Have a clear idea of your weight loss goal and continuously reinforce the benefits of becoming healthier.
Be Consistent:
- Exercise consistently: Many people start out with great plans to exercise, only to discover that they stopped it five days back without realizing it. Set yourself a realistic target to start with and then work upwards. Pip any desire to skip one day right in the bud. You might end up giving it a miss once, but commit to yourself not to miss out a second time. Get back to your regimen at a level you are comfortable with and work your way up again.
- Diet consistently: Keep in mind that you need to enjoy what you eat. Plan your meals ahead so that you don’t end up compromising with junk food at the last minute because you didn’t have a healthy meal planned. Resist the urge to indulge in the common dangers of ice cream, beers, buttered popcorn and the like.
- Think consistently: Remember that your mind is your greatest tool in losing weight. It is your mind that tells you to eat more than you need to, and it is the same mind that tells you that you need to lose weight when you actually might not. Avoid diets and exercise that you will look upon as a punishment. If you do that, it is a matter of time before your mind tells you that you are better off not punishing yourself. Find activities and diets that you will enjoy. You may want to consider exercise that involves dancing, walking routes in areas that you find interesting and satisfying, or a competitive sport. For diets, you may want to look up healthier alternatives to your favorite diet.
Achieving your ideal body weight is a key ingredient for good health. The secret of effective weight loss is to adopt diet and exercise alternatives that fit into your lifestyle easily and joyfully. The two keywords of success in losing weight are watchfulness and consistency. Watch what you eat, watch your activities, and watch out for what triggers weight gain patterns. Be consistent in your exercise, choosing a practical and enjoyable regimen. Be consistent in your diet, avoiding bingeing and comfort eating. Be consistent in your attitude, choosing weight loss as a step towards physical and mental health, and following a regimen that you feel good about following, not one that you beat yourself with.
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