Being overweight can not only be embarrassing, but it creates a whole host of medical conditions such as high cholesterol, heart disease, high blood pressure, gallbladder disease, type 2 diabetes, sleep apnea and risk of stroke. You can prevent these health complications by shedding excess pounds. Although this may sound easy, breaking poor habits is not. It requires you to change the way you view food and your mentality when it comes to your eating and lifestyle habits. You can accomplish this, but you'll need guidance to help you on your journey.
Step 1
Set realistic goals. A healthy weight loss is 1 to 2 lbs. per week. Setting a goal of 5 lbs. per week is unrealistic and may result in lack of motivation or desire to continue with your diet. MayoClinic.com notes that you may lose weight more rapidly in the first week or two; however, this does not continue for the duration.
Step 2
Set both short-term and long-term goals. Short-term goals include the amount of weight you want to lose each week to reach your long-term goal of the total amount of weight you want to lose. Another short-term goal is exercising 30 minutes a day until you reach your long-term goal of 60 minutes a day. Think of short-term goals as stepping stones to your long-term goals. The University of Maryland Medical Center recommends setting meaningful goals. You must do this for yourself, not because your family or friends are pushing you to lose weight.
Step 3
Write down all the details of your diet. When determining your goals, take into consideration your schedule and what snacks you can cut out of your diet. Going through all the details beforehand makes achieving your goals easier. Align your diet with your schedule. Success will be out of your reach if you plan your meals at inconvenient times of the day.
Step 4
Begin with small changes. Not everyone can change all their eating habits at once, and this is okay. One week cut soda from your diet and add more water. The second week, add a new vegetable in addition to the first change. Continue doing this, allowing yourself to slowly adapt to a healthier way of eating. The pounds will fall off as the changes add up.
Step 5
Prepare yourself for setbacks. Nobody is perfect, and you will have a day here and there when you will fall off the proverbial diet wagon. Rather than give up entirely, count it as a cheat day and start anew when you wake up the next morning. Holidays can be the worst time of the year for anyone. Allow yourself a piece of pie or glass of eggnog. Depriving yourself only leads to binge eating.
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