Just like weight loss is different for each person, what constitutes successful weight loss differs for each person. You might feel successful if you lose enough weight to lower your risk of medical conditions like heart disease and diabetes. You might define success as reaching your goal weight or getting to what your doctor defines as a healthy weight for your body type. No matter what your goals or how you define success, when you're overweight, any amount of weight loss can improve your health and boost your confidence.
A Little Means a Lot
You don't have to lose all your excess weight to experience some of the success that comes with slimming down. Losing just 5 to 10 percent of your excess weight can yield dramatic results like decreased risk for heart disease, according to the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute. They recommend losing this much weight, then working to maintain it for six months before you try to lose more. Doing so can help make sure you have the skills to lose weight for good.
Determining Your Clinical Healthy Weight
The ultimate weight loss success comes with reaching your clinical healthy weight. You can determine your healthy weight in three ways: through the healthy weight range established by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and prevention, through determining your healthy body fat percentage or by determining your body mass index, or BMI. Use the links in the Resources section to calculate these values based on your age, height and other body measurements.
Determining Your Personal Healthy Weight
For many people, the clinical healthy weight seems like an inappropriate or unattainable goal. If you have a particular weight goal that feels right for you, reaching it may be how you define successful weight loss. If you're healthy, you take good care of yourself and you feel good in your own skin, you may not need to lose extra weight just to fit into a weight category in a chart on your doctor's wall. Everyone's body is different and reacts differently to weight gain and loss.
Making and Reaching Goals
You may define successful weight loss in terms of reaching your personal weight and fitness goals. Keep a few things in mind as you determine goals. First, you'll be most successful if you lose weight slowly, at a rate of one to two pounds per week, according to FamilyDoctor.org. This rate will help you make realistic, attainable goals. Remember also that as you increase fitness, you'll lose fat but gain lean muscle. Lean muscle weighs more than fat, so your scale might not always accurately reflect your progress. You could gain weight one week because you lost fat but gained muscle in its place. Use a combination of methods to measure success, like measurements, clothing size, increased energy and the way your body looks and feels.
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