Even the most earnest individuals who genuinely want to lose weight can fall into the trap of expecting to lose too much weight, too quickly. This mistake can diminish their capacity to stay on a calories loss diet and doom their chances for a long term, healthy weight loss. Anyone aiming to lose weight and keep it off needs to understand how to set goals that are achievable as these are at the heart of successful weight loss.
The end product of losing weight is a re-shaped body and to reach this goal, weight loss professionals have established one or two pounds a week as a healthy weight loss rate. Unrealistic weight losses like five pounds a week or sixty pounds by the end of winter are not only unhelpful but also potentially medically dangerous. These goals can cause disappointment and lead to you quitting the calories loss diet that drives your weight loss, so consider the tools below to make sure your weight loss goals are achieved.
Lower your expectations because losing one to two pounds per week is healthy and if you weigh yourself at the end of the week and you have only lost one or two pounds, do not consider that a failure because it is not. Congratulate yourself on sticking to your calories loss diet, losing that weight and focus on losing another one to two pounds the next week. If you celebrate each pound lost you will be motivated to keep losing weight and you will be losing weight in a healthy way with far greater prospects of keeping it off.
Percentage weight loss of your body weight instead of pounds alone, means that you will avoid aiming for a pre-determined weight loss and give up if you do not appear to reach it. If you are carrying excess pounds now, it is likely that losing around 10-20% of your total weight is worth aiming for to reach a healthy weight. By losing 20-40 pounds a 200 pound person who is overweight is far more likely to reach a healthy weight than one who was calculated a set weight loss because it seemed like a good idea at the time.
Measure your weight loss in different ways to see the full impact of healthy eating and exercise on your body shape and include in your goals these different ways of charting your weight loss. The measurements you read on your scales do reflect your weight loss but so does the size of your waist, your hips and your chest. Sometimes you will find the loss of your body mass plateaus for a time but your body measurements continue to diminish so make sure both of these forms of measurement are part of your goals.
Do the math because if you want to lose 25 pounds and you know that a safe weight loss rate is 2 pounds per week then you need to plan on taking 12 to 14 weeks to lose this weight. In the beginning it might make it seem more difficult to lose weight, but if you have a realistic expectation of how long it will take to lose the amount of weight that you want to shed, it will help you remain focused and stay on your calories loss diet. Weight loss goals that are 'short and furious' generally go out with a bang soon after they have been set.
Try to reduce your daily calorie intake by 500 per day either by exercising more and burning more calories or by eating less. Use a calories counter to estimate the changes you need to make to bring about this calories loss each day and use it to determine the foods that you can continue to include in your menu. Losing weight is a numbers game so get familiar with those numbers and how to use them to lose weight.
Set short term goals, but think of long term goals so set weight loss milestones and celebrate when you reach them. Buy yourself a new book when you lose 5 pounds, or a new dress when you hit 10 pounds lost. But even as you are celebrating each milestone, keep focused on the big picture and how much weight you want to lose in total. You need to celebrate your progress along the way but also stay focused on the big prize at the end because this will make your persistence to bring about a consistent calories loss worth the effort. - 15438
The end product of losing weight is a re-shaped body and to reach this goal, weight loss professionals have established one or two pounds a week as a healthy weight loss rate. Unrealistic weight losses like five pounds a week or sixty pounds by the end of winter are not only unhelpful but also potentially medically dangerous. These goals can cause disappointment and lead to you quitting the calories loss diet that drives your weight loss, so consider the tools below to make sure your weight loss goals are achieved.
Lower your expectations because losing one to two pounds per week is healthy and if you weigh yourself at the end of the week and you have only lost one or two pounds, do not consider that a failure because it is not. Congratulate yourself on sticking to your calories loss diet, losing that weight and focus on losing another one to two pounds the next week. If you celebrate each pound lost you will be motivated to keep losing weight and you will be losing weight in a healthy way with far greater prospects of keeping it off.
Percentage weight loss of your body weight instead of pounds alone, means that you will avoid aiming for a pre-determined weight loss and give up if you do not appear to reach it. If you are carrying excess pounds now, it is likely that losing around 10-20% of your total weight is worth aiming for to reach a healthy weight. By losing 20-40 pounds a 200 pound person who is overweight is far more likely to reach a healthy weight than one who was calculated a set weight loss because it seemed like a good idea at the time.
Measure your weight loss in different ways to see the full impact of healthy eating and exercise on your body shape and include in your goals these different ways of charting your weight loss. The measurements you read on your scales do reflect your weight loss but so does the size of your waist, your hips and your chest. Sometimes you will find the loss of your body mass plateaus for a time but your body measurements continue to diminish so make sure both of these forms of measurement are part of your goals.
Do the math because if you want to lose 25 pounds and you know that a safe weight loss rate is 2 pounds per week then you need to plan on taking 12 to 14 weeks to lose this weight. In the beginning it might make it seem more difficult to lose weight, but if you have a realistic expectation of how long it will take to lose the amount of weight that you want to shed, it will help you remain focused and stay on your calories loss diet. Weight loss goals that are 'short and furious' generally go out with a bang soon after they have been set.
Try to reduce your daily calorie intake by 500 per day either by exercising more and burning more calories or by eating less. Use a calories counter to estimate the changes you need to make to bring about this calories loss each day and use it to determine the foods that you can continue to include in your menu. Losing weight is a numbers game so get familiar with those numbers and how to use them to lose weight.
Set short term goals, but think of long term goals so set weight loss milestones and celebrate when you reach them. Buy yourself a new book when you lose 5 pounds, or a new dress when you hit 10 pounds lost. But even as you are celebrating each milestone, keep focused on the big picture and how much weight you want to lose in total. You need to celebrate your progress along the way but also stay focused on the big prize at the end because this will make your persistence to bring about a consistent calories loss worth the effort. - 15438
About the Author:
Rowena French sets realistic goals for her weight loss and exercise programs. Tired of dieting without success? Need to reach your weight loss goals? My free tips show you how calories loss is the simple answer. Read my guide, hear my audio book!
