While achieving sustainable weight loss is largely dependent on diet and exercise, your mental state and attitude play a monumental role on your ability to get started and ultimately follow through with reaching your goals. Sustainable weight loss results from acknowledging and addressing unhealthy habits and making healthy lifestyle changes. Losing weight may be a daunting task, but having the right state of mind will keep you motivated and disciplined.
Step 1
Ask yourself a series of challenging questions to determine if you are ready to change. The MayoClinic.com recommends that you consider if you are motivated to make a commitment to long-term lifestyle changes and whether you have major distractions in your life that may hinder you from reaching your goals.
Step 2
Deal with major life stressors first. If your are stressed from work issues, family issues or relationship issues, handle those so that you will be able to fully commit to changing the way you diet and exercise. If a dramatic change to your lifestyle will serve as an added stressor, give yourself some time to ease into it.
Step 3
Set realistic goals. Health professionals recommend that you lose no more than 2 lbs. per week to lose weight in a safe and sustainable manner. Breaking your goals into small short-term goals will help your long-term goals seem more manageable.
Step 4
Find a workout partner. Working out with a friend can help provide you with the mental and emotional support you need to help you stay motivated toward reaching your goals. A workout buddy will help keep you accountable and increase your chances of success.
Tips and Warnings
- Keep track of your progress in a journal. Monitoring your successes as well as what may not be working will help you acknowledge where adjustments need to be made and help you stay motivated.
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