How To: Achieve Lasting Weight Loss by Ali Hale
This is for all the Diet Blog readers who've been subscribed for a while
because they keep meaning to get round to starting that diet. All the readers
with the site bookmarked because they had great resolutions on January 1st ...
but who somehow, have lost motivation. And all the people who've landed here
after desperately searching the net for a healthier life.
If the thought of "going on a diet" sends you straight to the fridge to scoff
all those foods you'll soon be forbidding yourself, read on...
Make a List of Changes to Your Diet and Exercise Routine
Don't try to change
your whole life in one great big moment of resolve. Sure, you can decide to get
up tomorrow and "Stick to my rigid diet plan, go jogging every day, never let a
morsel of chocolate pass my lips ..." but while unrealistic plans may look fine
on paper, they'll make absolutely no difference to your health if they're so
overwhelming that you give up after two days.
Instead, write a list of small changes you want to introduce into your life.
(It might help to keep a diet diary for a few days, to gain a better
understanding of your eating patterns.) If you're stuck for ideas, try some of
these:
Cutting out sugar in your tea/coffee
Having a big salad with your evening meal, three times a week
Drinking more water instead of fizzy drinks or coffee
Walking the kids to school rather than driving (good for them, too!)
Taking a healthy packed lunch to school or work instead of going to the
nearest fast food place
Keeping the fruit bowl topped up, and eating two pieces each day
Start Improving Your Health Right Now Now pick one small change to make
starting now. Commit to doing it for a whole week, and record your progress in
some visual way - maybe putting a gold star on your calendar to mark every
successful day.
At the end of the week, pick the next change. This time, you've got two small
things to do each day. Again, keep a visual record - and, if you can, get a
friend or family member to check up on your progress.
If you're thinking "But I've got so much weight to lose, it'll take me forever
at that rate" - ask yourself, how long did it take to put on that weight? And
how much time is it worth investing to lose it safely, sustainably and for good
- not in a quick-fix starvation diet that leaves you piling it back on?
And even if you're thinking the opposite - "I don't need to lose weight and
I'm reasonably fit" - there's still room for improvement. Maybe your "one small
change" is to get to bed on time each night, to increase your fruit and veg
intake to six or seven portions a day, or to cut back on caffeine.
What change are you going to make this week?
