There is no perfect plan for weight loss. No one source has all the answers. The trick to effective weight loss is to take the right advice and tips like you will see here and build a plan that suits your needs and your lifestyle and allows you to make the changes that work for you.
If you’re trying to lose weight, you’ll have a much easier time if you exercise. Exercise keeps your body’s metabolism from going into a deep dive, which is especially important for people as they age. The key is to find a physical activity that you really enjoy and go for it. Love to dance? Sign up for a dance class or the like. Love to ride a bike? Find a way to bike to work or to the store. Even those who don’t love exercise – and there are a lot of us out there – can find ways to work physical movement into our lives in an enjoyable way.
A great way to help you lose weight is to invest in a video game system that promotes fitness such as the Nintendo Wii. If you have some friends over and play on the Wii Fit, you’ll have a blast and you’ll burn quite a few calories.
Make sure that you eat breakfast every morning. Research has shown that people who eat breakfast each morning take in fewer calories during the day than those who do not eat breakfast. Since the primary part of weight loss is burning more calories than you take in, the less you take in the better.
Once you have decided to lose weight, take an index card and write down all the reasons you want or need to lose the weight. Carry this card in your purse or pocket. Remembering the reasons for changing to a healthier lifestyle will enable you to make good choices.
One important tip for weight loss is this mantra: “plan, prepare, perform, and practice!” Weight loss doesn’t happen by accident, it takes mental effort and deliberate steps in order to achieve the results that you want. Overcoming inertia and stepping out in action is one of the hardest and most rewarding parts. Once you start moving forward, the rest will be easier.
Try and keep self control. Sure that sandwich on the table or the hamburger from burger king would taste great, but you have to maintain that self control and resist the urge to eat these foods. Try eating healthy food that tastes great so you can get used to the change in your life.
Reward yourself. If you are successful in staying on your diet it is good to reward yourself with a small dessert or glass of wine. Don’t think that doing this means you’ve failed to follow your diet. It means you are aware you are doing well with your dieting plan. Of course this does not mean that you should give yourself a reward with each meal, only occasionally when you reach a goal. Remember that your weight loss program is not intended as punishment. Instead, you should look at it as a lifestyle change.
Before attending a holiday party or dinner, ask the hostess to share the menu with you. Once you find out what is being served, you can decide in advance what you will eat. Draw a plate on a piece of paper and portion it out. Seeing it on paper will make you feel committed to those portions while at the dinner. The less you have to make spur of the moment decisions, the more likely you are to stick to your eating plan.
In the same way that you need to monitor what you eat when trying to lose weight, you also need to weigh yourself regularly. This is because you need to give yourself reason to set and achieve goals in order to stay motivated. Be sure to record your starting weight so that you’ll know how far you have to go. Also, how often to weigh is up to you. Some people recommend daily weighing, but most would agree that since weight can go up and down so dramatically from day to day, it’s actually discouraging to weigh too often. A less stressful approach would be to weigh in once every 1 or 2 weeks – or even once a month.
Weight loss will hit a wall after a while. That’s just the way it is. In order to stay on track, try tricking your metabolism after a few weeks on a diet. Eat around 200 to 400 extra calories a day for 3 to 4 days, and then remove 400 to 600 calories from your diet. Your system will reboot, so to speak, and you’ll pick up where you left off with burning that fat.
You should have your goals in mind at the beginning of a plan and, as you have read, these tips can help build upon that plan. Use them to your advantage and get the most from your efforts. Weight loss can be as much of a challenge as you make it or as much fun as you wish to have.