NEW YEAR'S WEIGHT LOSS RESOLUTIONS

What would the New Year be without resolutions? Most of us make them, and by the end of the first week in January we have forgotten what they were. And how is it we have at least one resolution on the list that includes getting in shape and losing weight? Year after year we make the same promises to ourselves and then it sort of fades away. I know, I am no exception. So how do we convince ourselves that fitness and weight reduction is important and good health is really not just some abstract idea but a goal we must meet?

Twelve Tips To Help With The Weight Loss Goals

1. Start with the attitude! If you view losing weight as a big "negative" - hunger, deprivation, I'm going to starve - then the changes of success are much less. View this instead as a challenge and a chance for a new, fresh start.
2. Set realistic goals. If you believe the hype of so many diet pills and all the adds showing muscle-bound bodies (of course accomplished in a few short weeks), then you will fail. Losing weight and keeping it off successfully is likely to be much slower. But that's OK. Lose just 3 pounds a month, and at year's end that's 36 pounds.
3. Set a series of short term goals. For example, "I will lose a pound this week by exercising 3 times this week and by cutting out all snacks after dinner". Then each week you can re-set the goal for the following week. This is so much more achievable than the goal of losing 40 lbs in a year.
4. Think through what to eat if you dine out. It is so much easier to control what you eat from your own kitchen. But let's be realistic here. Dining with others is a very social act, and cutting ourselves off from others by never dining out is depressing and over time will not hold up. Hold the eating out to a manageable minimum, but think of your favorite restaurants and decide what you can have that will not blow the calories out the top! Do your homework on this one. Some restaurants have calorie or diet plate meals, some don't. But even if they don't you can usually find something that fits into your lower calorie regimen. And avoid the buffets
5. Create a list of foods to avoid. Avoiding candies, regular sodas, desserts, salting all foods, fried foods would be a good start.
6. Create a list of foods you CAN have instead, especially for "snacks". Carrots, celery fresh raw veggies, apples or other fruit, hard cheese, a few nuts to name a few. I'm sure you can think of others.
7. Have an action list to help you accomplish your goals. Join a gym, walk the mall 3-4 times weekly during the winter months, lift weights, join a fitness class--these are a few ideas.
8. Let friends and family know what your are doing. This often has a subtle effect of keeping the pressure on. We never like to let family and friends down. They will encourage you too, and that helps a lot.
9. Get familiar with the content of foods and the calorie counts. Read food labels. It will shock you to learn how calorie-laden our favorite comfort foods really are. But becoming an informed consumer is important and will raise your level of awareness.
10. If you missed a goal KEEP GOING! So many times we just quit with one wrong "bite" You must just keep going and continue to work the list of goals you have set. Keep the pressure on. What's the worst thing ---losing 3 lbs this week instead of 4? If you stop you surely won't lose any!
11. Keep yourself accountable. Write down your scores as opposed to your goals. It would be great to be prefect, but chances are you won't be. But correcting your course is so much easier if you write down the scores, take a corrective action to achieve the next goal, and make any other necessary adjustments. If you don't, you are likely to be way off the goal and get completely discouraged. Again, don't stop just because you missed the mark.
12. Learn to reward yourself appropriately. Get that new shirt or blouse you wanted, since it will fit now and looks great on you! Learn not to use food as your reward. We often do this, and it can sabotage a diet in no time. A good example is going out for your favorite pizza (large size of course) 'cause you lost 10 lbs! Pizza can run 350 - 500+ calories a slice, depending on how loaded it is.
    

And may all your New Year's resolutions be met! But in case you need some help Visit our Weight Control Page to review our what we offer.