Starting over yet again: A guide to successful weight loss

“It’s now or never?” you say to yourself after pinching your belly fat and thigh fat. You resolve that you are going to lose weight now or else you will postpone it again for what seems like years and years. You know the negative effects of your sedentary lifestyle, manifesting on the bulges on your stomach and thighs. So now, you’re really set your mind to do it.

Be warned, though. Mindset is truly very important, but many have tried and failed to carry out their resolve and attain their goals in weight loss and diet. This article provides a few tips and tricks so that you won’t have to suffer the same fate.

1. Current physical state. You have to see clearly where you are, your physiological state when you’re starting the regimen. Many people have made the mistake of recklessly entering a program or self-designing diets and exercises without gauging what their current physical condition is. You will need a baseline, something that you can compare yourself against to see if you’re making progress. Without it, there’s a greater chance you’ll quit.

2. Setting specific goals. Not only should your weight loss goals be specific, they would also have to be realistic. You can’t expect to go from 150 pounds to 90 pounds in a month, unless you have some surgical procedure done. You might also be tempted to just cite an ideal weight, or display your smallest dress on your dresser to motivate you to work. These won’t do because the goals you have to set should be time-bound. That is, you need to have a time frame for attaining each goal. For example, tell yourself that in a week, you have to loose 5-7 pounds. By doing this, you will be more accountable to yourself and you will be more motivated to do what you have set.

3. A step-by-step process. Setting goals is not the end-all and be-all of weight loss. You would also have to plan concretely how to achieve these goals. It helps to start small. Plan small steps first, such as foods that you can and cannot eat, hours of the day when you can exercise, and all other aspects that relate to weight loss. It is much easier to accomplish a plan when it is broken down in small steps. That way, you can really gauge your progress.

4. The time factor. Once you have ironed out your goals and plans, there’s no use putting them off. Start as soon as you can so that you can accomplish your goals sooner. Success and failure lies on the right kind of action at the right time. And in weight loss, the right time is NOW.

5. Emotional preparedness. This is necessary because of the difficult road that lies ahead. Sure, it may seem easy when you’re plotting it down on paper, but when you’re actually implementing it, you will realize that it’s not as easy as it looks like. You might feel one day that you’re on the right track, and the next day you’re depressed because you feel you got the weight back, and more. Learning to deal with this roller coaster of emotions is an important factor in weight loss. You have to focus and not get side-tracked by self-doubt.

6. Momentum. You might be tempted to reward yourself by breaking your own rules a bit when you have reached a specific goal. Don’t even try it, because it can be a very slippery slope. In other words, don’t stop unless you have already attained your major goal, that is, your ideal weight, and acclimatizing your body to physical activity and an altered diet. The indication that you are losing weight is your reward, and when you have finally finished the program, you will feel a sense of accomplishment over your effort and discipline.