How to Properly Plan for Successful Weight LossPosted by Nick Niesen on October 26th, 2010 Before taking actions in any problem we encounter, there should always be a plan first. That is, if we want to come up with positive results. You wouldn?t want to enter a battle without preparing how to defeat the enemy, would you? Attempting a task without planning is like building a house without a blueprint or playing against a basketball team without planed plays with your teammates. How could you expect a good outcome? Weight loss is not at all different from the above mentioned plan-necessary situations. It also involves taking actions in proper ways that need to be perfectly planned in order to bring satisfying results. Here are the four key elements you will for making your weight loss plan a success. Setting a Goal: Okay, so your weight is somewhere around 20% above the considered normal for your height. You tend to eat more than 5 regular meals a day. You?re certain that you?re obese or at least overweight. Now, the question is, where do you want your weight to be? Be Definite: Setting a specific goal when planning for weight loss improves your chances of success. You just need to be clear and definite with what you want to happen. Vague aims such as ?I?d like to be healthier? or ?I need to lose a few pounds? tend to produce half-hearted efforts and poor results. Instead, state your goal distinctly: ?I want to lose 1 to 2 pounds this week and every week? or ?I want to trim my waist line from 40? down to 38? by the end of the month?. If you need to, write it down and put it where you will always see and read it. This way, you?ll always be reminded of what you want and need to accomplish by the end of the month, the week or even the day. Be Realistic: In establishing a definite weight loss goal, make sure that it is possible to accomplish first. How can a goal like ?I?ll lose 15 lbs. in just a week? happen if all of the evidence presented by research suggests that you should only burn 1 to 2 lbs in a week? Goals need to be sensible so that they are within reason to be able to obtain. What happens when you set a goal and don?t reach it no matter how hard you tried because it wasn?t really achievable? You will only get depressed and disappointed which are two of the psychological causes of obesity. And the problem just becomes a vicious cycle with no end to it. Strategizing: After carefully defining a goal of what you want to achieve with your weight loss efforts and keeping it in mind, the next step is planning on how to accomplish it. Planning involves proper scheduling of activities to be done throughout the whole day for a certain period of time including exercises, meals, sleeping and waking. It comprises of the time these activities should be done, the duration and in the case of eating meals, the food to be consumed and what amounts. This way, inappropriate spur-of-the-moments decisions can be avoided. Also, as you finish preparing your weight loss plan, you might want to write it down since you can?t always remember when you?re supposed to do each part of the plan. Post it in a place where you can always see and read it to remind you what your plans are for the day. Try your best not to skip anything in your scheduled plan so as not to ruin the effectivness of it. Like it? Share it!More by this author |