5-Steps Permanent Weight Loss Program

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The last time you went on vacation did you plan where you'd go,where you'd stay, how long the trip would last, what you might dowhen there? Most of us follow a plan every day, even on days wedo the sa The last time you went on vacation did you plan where you'd go,where you'd stay, how long the trip would last, what you might dowhen there? Most of us follow a plan every day, even on days wedo the same thing as always, we still have a basic structure toour day.
Why then do we attempt to lose weight without making asimilar plan? How are we supposed to make progress if we simplyhope for the best and then go face the world? It's no wonder weforget our resolve to eat better by 10 AM.It's far easier to reach your destination with a map; therefore,here is your roadmap to permament weight loss. Follow these fivesteps, every day for one week.
At the end of the week (say Sundayevening) take stock. How has the week gone? Did you followthrough? Did you make a plan and then follow your plan? Make adjustments where necessary.
That's the whole point. When you discover a plan that really is workable, you'll be much morelikely to work toward following through until that new planbecomes your new habit.Each week decide if you'd like to follow the steps for anotherweek.
It takes some discipline to follow-through, but anythingworthwhile takes effort. Even the lottery requires buying aticket.STEP 1: State What You Want to Achieve in the Next Month"I want to lose 50 pounds."Is that achievable in the next month? If not, break it down intosmaller mini-goals.
"I want to lose 5 pounds this month."What other ways can you describe what you want? Try using othersenses such as what you'll see, what you might hear (compliments,etc.) and what you will feel:"I want to step on the scale and see (a certain number) of pounds(remember keep it reasonable for something you can achieve in onemonth)."I want to feel my pants getting looser.""I want to see myself in the mirror wearing last year's bathingsuit and it fits.""I want other people to notice my clothes are getting too big forme.""I want to easily bend over and touch my toes.""I want to get up from a seated position, easily and gracefully."Those are positive goals. Focus on what you want.
How you want tofeel, what you want to experience. Imagine hearing these things,feeling these things.
Does it "feel" right? Are there any issuesthat pop up regarding what you are imagining? If so, you'll beable to refine your goals as you progress.STEP 2: Make A PlanGet out your weekly calendar and start with eating less (portioncontrol), eating more (healthier foods), or eating differently insome way. Obviously, you're going to need to make some changesbut that doesn't mean you have to find the latest fad diet tofollow.
Absolutely the best thing is to look at how you eat nowand see where you might make some changes.Do you eat pizza every Friday night? What if you ate it onlythree Fridays a month? What if you stopped at one slice less thanusual? I've noticed that Friday nights I can easily eat fourslices yet Saturday leftovers one slice seems to be plenty.What's different is that Saturdays don't have the "indulgence"atmosphere that I associate with Friday nights. Have you noticedanything similar in your eating habits?Do you mindlessly snack out of the bag of chips until they're allgone? Start to use some portion control.
Take a small bowlful toyour chair instead of the whole bag. Decide in advance how manybowls you'll eat, and stick to your plan.
Be reasonable. If youknow it's going to take three bowls full of chips, fine.
It'sstill probably less than eating the whole bag, and later you cancut it back to two. One day you'll find a handful or two isplenty.Gradually cutting back on quantity, gradually introducing otherideas such as an apple here and there, modifying what you preferto eat is a far better approach than eliminating all yourfavorites.
The former is a way to develop an eating style thatworks for you and that you can live with. The latter (fad dietapproach) is fine for short-term weight loss but that weightinevidebly comes back simply because you'll eventually go back tothe eating style you prefer.STEP 3: Consider ExerciseAdding regular exercise helps more than anything else because themore active you become the more calories you burn, and if youbuild muscle, the more calories you'll burn at rest.
What, when,how often? Do you need equipment, books, tapes or can you justget started and gather the other ingredients as you go?Write it all out. Your plan should include which days of the weekand at what time.
Don't make the mistake of trying to decideyou'll exercise every day. You're not likely to stick to a planthat doesn't have build-in off days.
Make it easy at first. Youcan always add more later.Hate to exercise? Think outside the box.
Exercise does not haveto mean getting sweaty to the oldies. It can be gardening, bikeriding, it can be enjoying nature.
Anything where you're up anddoing something other than sitting watching TV, unless of courseyou're using DDR (Dance, Dance, Revolution) or the newYourself!Fitness program for X-box, PC and PlayStation. Dance,play, go fishing.
Whatever floats your boat but get out and getbusy.STEP 4: Decide Whether Your Plan Is Workable For YouTake a look at your plan and decide whether it's possible. Ifnot, make changes until it is.Start by listing each individually what you want to achieve, andthen answering the question of how you will achieve it?1.
I want to eat less quantity. I'd achieve it by having half orthree-quarters of the amount I usually have.
See if that issufficient. Keep a food diary for one week, religiously writingdown everything that goes in my mouth.2.
I want to eat more, healthier foods. I'll achieve this byadding more fruits and vegetables for snacks, so when I'm hungry,or think I'm hungry, I'll have an apple or some carrots.
This hasthe added benefit of more nutrition.3. I want to eat in a different manner.
I'd achieve this by paymore attention while eating. Turn off distractions.
Think of eachbite as a separate event. Write down what I'm tasting and seewhat I notice now that I never noticed before? Different smells,sights, textures, and subtle tastes.
I'll make an effort toreally chew each bite at least 10 times.4. I want to add some exercise.
I'll achieve this by doing someresearch at the library or on the Internet about what I mightenjoy, then perhaps get a free pass to my closest gym, talk tofriends, borrow exercise tapes. Consider hiking.
Find exercises Ican do in front of the TV at first, or on the floor in my bedroomwhen I first get up. Whatever works.I'm willing to experiment until you find what works best.
I don'tcare if other people see me getting started. I'll start slowly,then add more after the first few weeks, when I'm ready.Finally, close your eyes and imagine carrying out your plan.
Ifyou chose getting up an hour earlier, see yourself doing it. Doesit fit? Are you a night person? If so, an early morning workoutprobably won't pan out -- stick to midday or evening workouts.Find what fits for you.
Can you really see yourself doing whatyou've chosen, regularly? If not, adjust, find something you willdo regularly. It's consistency that gets the results.STEP 5: Set Up Plan A And Determine What You Need To Get StartedPlan A:1) I need a small notebook I can carry with me for keeping trackof what and when I eat (only needed short-term to get an idea ofwhat I'm eating now and where I might make small changes).2) Need monthly calendar to track my exercise minutes, even ifit's only 10 minutes this month and 20 next, that's progress.
Youare after progress, not perfection. There is no such thing asperfection.3) Visit library or order book online for using bodyweight forexercises.
Pushups, crunches, etc., can be done without any extraequipment.4) Buy healthy foods to have on hand such as fruits, cut upvegetables. Visit different grocery stores and markets to seewhat's there I hadn't noticed.
Make dinner at least twice a weekand freeze leftovers into ready-to-eat frozen meals.5) Purchase or order supplements, protein powders, videos, etc.,if I want them.Putting It All TogetherStart working your plan. Don't wait for the next full-moon orsome other arbitrary starting date.
Just get started. The sooneryou start, the sooner you begin to see results.If you use EFT (Emotional Freedom Technique), do it at leastthree times a day.
It only takes a couple of minutes and you cando it while you do other things, so get it done. Check in withyour list of behaviors you'd like to change, and then work on oneissue each week or until it becomes a non-issue, then move to thenext.You might start with frustration that things aren't happeningfast enough, since this is a common early annoyance and one thatdrives many people right back to the couch:Example EFT statements:"Even though I'm frustrated by all these instructions, I deeplyand completely accept myself.""Even though I don't want it to take so much effort, I deeply andcompletely accept myself""Even though I hate all this and just want to wake up skinny, Ideeply and completely accept myself."No matter what, if you are putting attention on this process,then you are making progress.
It doesn't matter if you keep toyour plan exactly. What does matter is that you make a plan atall.If you make a small effort every day you'll find that some dayswill be better than others, and that's okay.
It's easy to forget,and fall back into our usual patterns which is why keeping anotebook handy helps keep you on track. So does scheduling yourworkout time just like you would any appointment, and thenkeeping it.The goal isn't to be perfect -- it's to take action.You can use a grading system, such as one point for achievingeach item on your list, and tallying the points at the end of theweek.
You could also color in the squares on the calendar, sowhen you achieve what you planned, you color it in, but if youdidn't achieve what you planned, you don't color it in, ordifferent shades of color. That way you can see at a glance howoften the calendar is colored, how many squares are missing, etc.You can also see as months go by how you are improving.If you exercise five days this month, then 10 next, and 20 afterthat, you're improving.
You're getting fit, and the weight willbe coming off. Having a visual display of your progress can helpkeep you on track.
Remember, expect to be human (less thanperfect) and you won't be disappointed.If you believe you must have a strict plan, that's okay, as longas you're aware that a slip from time-to-time is not the end ofit. Slips are nothing more than a learning experience, then yougo ahead to see if you can prove me wrong.
That would be great ifyou never slipped. Just no matter what, no matter if it's been aweek since you did anything on your list, it does not matter;just pick up where you left off and start again.
Slowly you'llfalter less and succeed more.The goal is to build strength and fitness into your daily life.Better to go about it slowly and achieve small successes than tojump in with all your heart and never come back for day two.Small Changes Equal Big ResultsThere are 365 days in a year. If you achieved your goals on 200of them this year wouldn't that be an improvement over last year?As you improve, your weight will fall.
That's how it works.That's why people who achieve their best weight and maintain ithave learned how to stay "on plan" more often than "off plan."Eventually you don't really think of it as a plan at all but justhow you are. It becomes your new way of life.Use these five steps to get started on a plan, right now.
Startby getting a small notebook, then starting writing down th daysof the week, thinking about your schedule and how you'll makesome changes to your routine. After all, it's your presentroutine that isn't working, so you must make some changes.
Makethem fit, and then you'll fit into those small jeans in no time. Article Tags: Weight Loss, Make Some Source: Free Articles from ArticlesFactory.com .