weight loss

7 tips for a successful weight loss

    The desire to lose weight must come from the individual. If you are truly ambivalent about making changes in your lifestyle or do this to please someone else, you're likely to fail. When you make changes, decide what is right for your lifestyle. Your best friend's diet and exercise plan may be totally wrong for your habits and interests. The key is to find a system that works for you.


    Do not blame yourself if you're not perfect. If you're not even in your attempt to curtail your overeating, it does not mean you're a failure at weight control, and that you should just give up. Accept that you made a bad choice, but do not let that poor choice influence the rest of your plan. The same goes with exercise. Skipping a couple of training does not mean that you can not get back on track. Weight control does not imply that perfect choices all the time, but rather about trying to make good choices more often than the poor.

    Avoid surroundings where you know you're tempted to make poor food choices. Everyone has a time when we are most likely to overeat, whether it is morning coffee break or after-work gathering with friends. Try to plan other activities or distractions of the times, or to plan in advance how you will handle them, and stick to it.

    Surround yourself with people who support your efforts. Even our good friends can knowingly or unknowingly sabotage weight loss attempts. Spend time with people who will not pressure you to make poor food choices.

    Decide on some edible rewards for yourself when you reach interim goals. For example, at the end of the first week of healthy eating, or after the first 5 pounds lost buy a new DVD or book.

    Stock your pantry and refrigerator with healthy foods. Get rid of high calorie, low nutrition snacks like chips and candy. But do not forget to have plenty of healthier options as well, such as popcorn (hold the butter, try Parmesan cheese sprinkles), low fat cheese and yogurt, fruit, instant cocoa without added sugar, sugar-free popsicles or puddings or whatever appeals to you when you're hungry for a snack.

    Set small goals and focus on those instead of the "big picture." Decide where you want to be in a week or a month, rather than focusing on the total amount of weight you want to lose.