Keep Your Weight Loss Goals Achievable with These 7 Easy Steps

 Keep Your Weight Loss Goals Achievable with These 7 Easy Steps

"Goals... and resolutions."
The time has come once again, I'm afraid.

Why is it that as soon as January 1 rolls around, everyone starts tomulch over their new year's resolutions? Or maybe "recycled" would be a better choice than "new"? Indeed, isn't it the case that "resolutions are made to be broken" for the majority of individuals?
Setting goals for the year is a great way to motivate yourself to achieve your dreams, but the truth is that most of the time, you'll be disappointed when you realize you haven't accomplished a single one by year's end.
However, such need not be the case.
I kid you not.
If you know what you're doing when it comes to goal planning, you can achieve your resolutions. Plus, I'll provide some helpful advice to get you started in the correct direction.
- A Plan your steps from start to finish. What is your desired outcome in the end? Would you like to reduce your weight? Would you prefer to go down one size in clothing instead?
- A Get down to brass tacks and be practical. Simply stating, "I want to lose weight" is insufficient. Exactly how much money are you hoping to lose? By what date? To be more specific, try saying something like, "I want to lose 11 pounds in 3 months." And set a reasonable and achievable goal.  The idea of claiming you want to lose 27 pounds in the next week is unrealistic and unhealthy. Similarly, if you've been gradually gaining weight over the past decade, it would be unrealistic to expect to return to your weight from a decade ago in only one month.
- A Divide the task into more manageable "baby steps." Suppose your goal is to shed twenty pounds. At first glance, that sounds like an impossible feat, but breaking it down into 20 weeks of losing 1 pound at a time makes it much more manageable. That's much more doable now! A pound of weight loss per week is possible with just a 500-calorie deficit per day achieved with strict dietary restriction and increased physical activity.
- A The "secret" to reaching your objectives has now been revealed: Get down on paper your "why"—the reason you're doing this. A major reason most people never appear to succeed in reaching their goals is because they neglect to take this step. It is crucial that you document the reasoning behind your desire to accomplish each objective. To illustrate, if your objective is to "lose 20 pounds in 6 months," jot down the reasons for your weight loss aspirations. Further advice: Turn it into something "personal and emotional." Your motivation to achieve a goal increases in proportion to how "emotional" the cause is. First things first, suppose you're a parent. A good illustration of a "reason why" can be "I know being overweight is a leading cause of many health problems. I will lose the 20 pounds and get healthier so that I will not be a burden to my children and be able to stay healthy long enough to attend my daughter's wedding and be there to carry my grandchildren." That is, if you consider all of these things to be significant.  But I think you understand.
"Write it down and put it up!" In most cases, visualizing the end result is insufficient. All of your objectives, along with the "reasons why," should be written down and posted in a visible location where you will see them daily. Don't jot it down, and then put the notebook in a drawer. Alternatively, you might stick it on your bathroom mirror or some other visible surface. Please keep in mind that "out of sight, out of mind!"
- A Keep your aspirations in check. Lose no more than one or two pounds every week, at the very most! Your health will suffer if you lose more than that. And it's less likely to be due to your undesirable excess fat and more likely to be caused by water and/or muscle loss.
- A Maintain a level head and "go with the flow." Just as the pounds didn't magically appear, they won't magically vanish either. Moreover, there are instances when the rate of weight loss falls short of expectations. But remember that worrying will only make you gain weight. Keeping the mindset of "all or nothing" away from your weight loss journey is crucial. Just see it happening "slowly but surely." Stick to your plan, and you will still be thrilled at the end of the year, even if the weight goes up a bit sometimes!
This year, change your life for the better by following these easy steps! Good luck!

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