On Your Way To Weight Loss: What to Do Before You Begin

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On Your Way To Weight Loss: What to Do Before You Begin - By: Patricia Zelkovsky, Posted on: 2007-08-15

Whether you've been on a diet or not, it's important to understand that not every attempt at weight loss is successful. Many people fail at dieting, therefore, it's important to make some preparations ahead of time to try to ensure that your weight loss efforts are successful.

Setting Realistic Goals

Setting realistic and attainable goals for yourself before you begin your diet is important to your weight loss success. It should be stressed that the key words here are realistic and attainable. For example, you are much more likely to succeed if your goal is to lose four pounds in four weeks than if you were to try to lose eight pounds in four weeks. Nutritionists agree that anything more than a pound a week is not healthy and that you might be doing more harm to yourself than good if you try to lose weight any faster than that. Experts agree that weight loss goals should be SMART: specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and time specific.

Additionally, when you have reached your goals always give yourself a non-food related reward to help you keep your motivation up.

Decide On An Exercise Program

Before you begin your diet, it may be a good idea to decide on an exercise program that you enjoy. Remember that exercise is a vital part of losing weight. Exercise helps you to tone muscles and tighten loose skin that might ordinarily become flabby as you lose weight. Furthermore, exercise helps you to burn fat faster and more efficiently. Keep in mind, also, that if you want to keep the weight off that you lost during your diet, you're going to need to exercise long after you've finished your diet to keep from regaining the weight.

Whichever kind of exercise program you choose, make sure it is something that you enjoy. It stands to reason that you are much more likely to continue to participate in an activity that you enjoy as opposed to an activity that you dislike.

Motivation

One reason that many people fail at dieting is because of lack of motivation. If you constantly feel that you are being deprived of food, you will quickly succumb to your desire to eat foods that are not right for you during your diet. Instead, try to motivate yourself by reminding yourself of how much better you will feel when you've reached your weight loss goals. Remind yourself of how great you will look when you can slip into a new dress or new pair of slacks that are two sizes smaller than you are right now.

Furthermore, it may be helpful to set weekly and monthly goals for yourself. Additionally, when you reach those goals, reward yourself for achieving them. Whether that goal is treating yourself to some fun entertainment or buying yourself a new outfit, it really doesn't matter. The important thing is you reward yourself for your successes.

Final Words

As you prepare to go on your diet, think of yourself as an Olympic athlete. You will need to learn to conquer your fears and insecurities. You will also need to learn new skills, goal-setting and a whole lot more. Each aspect is just as important as the other. However, always remind yourself of how good you will feel and how proud of your accomplishments you will be when you get to the finish line.

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