10 Tips for Healthy Weight Loss
The majority of the population is looking for ways to lose weight. The following tips include different aspects that need to be considered in order to have success for long term weight loss. My favorite part of these healthy weight loss tips is that they don’t include calorie counting as part of the plan.
Tip 1 - STOP Dieting! You've heard it many times, yet still you diet. Consider this - studies show that 95% of all people who lose weight gain it back plus more in 5 years. Realize that your daily habits and mindset about diet and exercise created your body. Changing and keeping new daily habits are the only solution for long term weight loss.
Tip 2 - You will have to permanently change five aspects of your life to lose weight long term: the foods you eat, how you eat, your exercise habits, your behaviors, and how you think about food.
Tip 3 - Don't rationalize that you will the weight on a fad, reduced calories, or some type of restrictive diet "just to get started". This never works long term and can set off bingeing patterns. Stop looking for the magic pill, diet, or exercise plan. Nothing in life that is important changes instantly, including weight loss. Many people need to work on patience to replace the mindset of instant gratification for long term weight loss success.
Tip 4 - Recognize your particular patterns for sabotage during weight loss. Is it motivation, physiology, exercise, emotional eating, understanding nutrition, or thought processing? Each person is individual and unique to their own habits they have created.
Tip 5 - Think about how your weight affects your health. This should be part of what motivates you to move in a healthy direction. The dangers of being overweight include diabetes, high blood pressure, cancer, and heart disease. Make changes in your diet that support a healthier long term outcome vs. short term weight loss that compromises your health.
Tip 6 - Don't think about exercise as an option. Think about exercise as something you just do every day. Schedule it in like everything else you make important and make time for. If you give yourself permission to skip exercise because your tired, have no time, would rather do something else or have some other excuse, you will end up rationalizing why you can't do it rather than why you will do it.
Tip 7 - Be realistic. Set your goals for five to ten pounds at a time. Realistic goals will be easier to attain and keep you motivated in the process of long term weight loss. Think about it as one meal at a time and one day at a time.
Tip 8 - Develop strategies to cope with emotional eating. You've heard it many times, yet still you diet. Consider this - studies show that 95% of all people who lose weight gain it back plus more in 5 years. Realize that your daily habits and mindset about diet and exercise created your body. Changing and keeping new daily habits are the only solution for long term weight loss.
Tip 9 - Stay motivated. The feeling of motivation to lose weight or exercise might help you get started, but motivation always fades at some point. Realize that when this happens, you need to have your schedule in place and support that will help to encourage you. A certified and experienced personal trainer is an excellent person to help you to develop strategies when motivation fades.
Tip 10 - Accept your body during the process of trying to improve your health and lose weight. If you are negative about the way you feel about your body, you will find ways to sabotage your healthy plans by giving into the negative mindset regarding how you feel about yourself. Remember, positive thoughts attract positive outcomes.
Diets don't address the root causes of why people are overweight and in turn success rates are minimal. Yes, you may have to count calories to some extent, but that should not be the main emphasis of weight loss. Think about a new approach including a comprehensive plan that will change your way of thinking, living, and moving every day. A lifestyle overhaul may not be fast and easy, but the rewards will be great.
Article written by Carolyn Phillips
Owner of Fit Behavior
Rocky Hill and Avon CT
Published in Natural Nutmeg Magazine in July 2008