There are lots of reasons for people who are overweight or obese to lose weight. To be healthier. To look better. To feel better. To have more energy. No matter what the reason may be, successful weight loss and healthy weight management depends on sensible goals and expectations. As a starting point, we have to decide on a reasonable target weight and know roughly how long it will take to achieve the same.THE GOAL :
Decide how much weight one needs to lose to be in healthy weight range? For this one may use the following resources:-
- Ideal Body Weight Calculator
- How to Assess your Ideal Body Weight
- Height – Weight Chart
- BMI Calculator
SHORT-TERM FOCUS :
Focusing on a long-term goal can be daunting, especially if there is a lot of weight to lose. Research shows that when goals are big, and distant, people often get frustrated and give up. So the best strategy is to break the long-term goal down into short-term ones. For example, if the long-term goal is to lose twenty kilos, the short-term goal would be to lose two kilos i.e. 10% of the original weight. Most people see two kilos as possible and something that can be achieved in a short time frame. After losing the first ten percent go for the next ten and so on until you obtain your goal.
"CAN DO" MINDSET :
The next important thing is to have a positive attitude. Your belief in your ability to lose weight and tone up affects how hard you try and that in turn affects your success. If you have tried to get your weight under control in the past and failed your confidence could be in tatters. You now need to focus on developing your "can do" attitude. It could be done by writing down why you have relapsed in the past and come up with as many ideas as you can on how to resolve problems that cause you to lapse, overeat and give up. Make sure your new weight loss behavior, like the gym, is linked with something you love, or that makes you feel good, like socializing.
The next important thing is to have a positive attitude. Your belief in your ability to lose weight and tone up affects how hard you try and that in turn affects your success. If you have tried to get your weight under control in the past and failed your confidence could be in tatters. You now need to focus on developing your "can do" attitude. It could be done by writing down why you have relapsed in the past and come up with as many ideas as you can on how to resolve problems that cause you to lapse, overeat and give up. Make sure your new weight loss behavior, like the gym, is linked with something you love, or that makes you feel good, like socializing.
PRACTICE MAKES PERFECT :
Practice your new weight loss behaviors until they become automatic and if you slip up, it's not because you lack willpower or self-control, it's because you need more practice in dealing with tricky, high-risk situations. When you focus on perfecting your weight loss behaviors and techniques you put yourself in control — there is something you can do — you can practice developing skills and plans to deal with any situation that causes you to overeat or under exercise.
How long will it take you to reach your target?
While it might be tempting to slash our calorie intake considerably in an effort to lose weight fast, one shouldn’t aim to loose more than 2lb a week. We may lose slightly more than this when we first start slimming as our body gets rid of water as well as fat. In the long term though, a weight loss of more than 2lb a week means that we’ll have to cut calories excessively – and ultimately, this will make it even harder to shift those ugly extra pounds. Effectively, very low calorie intakes simply push the body into ‘starvation mode’ so that it becomes super efficient at making the most of the calories it actually gets from food and drink. It does this by protecting its fat stores and instead using lean tissue or muscle to provide it with some of the calories it needs to keep functioning. This leads to a loss of muscle, which in turn lowers metabolism so that the body needs fewer calories to keep ticking over and weight loss slows down. This is not at all ideal for someone who wants to loose the unwanted pounds.
While it might be tempting to slash our calorie intake considerably in an effort to lose weight fast, one shouldn’t aim to loose more than 2lb a week. We may lose slightly more than this when we first start slimming as our body gets rid of water as well as fat. In the long term though, a weight loss of more than 2lb a week means that we’ll have to cut calories excessively – and ultimately, this will make it even harder to shift those ugly extra pounds. Effectively, very low calorie intakes simply push the body into ‘starvation mode’ so that it becomes super efficient at making the most of the calories it actually gets from food and drink. It does this by protecting its fat stores and instead using lean tissue or muscle to provide it with some of the calories it needs to keep functioning. This leads to a loss of muscle, which in turn lowers metabolism so that the body needs fewer calories to keep ticking over and weight loss slows down. This is not at all ideal for someone who wants to loose the unwanted pounds.
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