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No matter what the reason, successful weight loss and healthy weight management depend on sensible goals and expectations. If you set sensible goals for yourself, chances are you'll be more likely to meet them and have a better chance of keeping the weight off.
For safe and healthy weight loss, try not to exceed a rate of two pounds per week.
Facts about Achieving Weight Loss goals
Men and those with lower initial BMI were more likely to meet activity but not weight loss goals. Hispanic, Asian, and Native Americans were more likely to meet the long-term activity goals, and whites were more likely to meet the initial weight loss goal. In multivariate analyses, meeting the long-term weight loss goal and both activity goals increased with age, while psychosocial and depression measures were unrelated to goal achievement. Dietary self-monitoring was positively related to meeting both weight loss and activity goals, and meeting the activity goal was positively related to meeting the weight loss goal.
Factors that affect achieving Weight Loss
What you weigh is the result of several factors:
- Quantity and quality of food you eat.
- Whether your lifestyle includes regular physical activity.
- Whether you use food to respond to stress and other situations in your life.
- Your physiologic and genetic make-up
- Your age and health status.
Care for a Weight Loss Achievement Program
Consider the benefits of moderate weight loss. There's scientific evidence that losing five to 10 percent of your weight and keeping it off can benefit your health — lower your blood pressure, for example.
- Check with your doctor. Make sure that your health status allows lowering your caloric intake and increasing your physical activity.
Follow a calorie-reduced, but balanced diet that provides for as little as one or two pounds of weight loss a week.
- Make time in your day for some form of physical activity. Start by taking the stairs at work, walking up or down an escalator, parking at the far end of a lot instead of cruising around for the closest spot. Walking is an excellent form of physical activity that almost everyone can do.
Remember the following while starting a weight loss program
What's going on in your mind as you try to change your behaviors? Remember the connection between our thoughts, our emotions and our behaviors. The first feeds the second, the second the third. If our thinking is awry, so goes our emotions, and our behaviors reflect how we're feeling.
Do you have a clear plan about how you're going to get where you want to go? If not, it's time to turn on the computer (or get out the paper and pencil). Write down what you want to achieve and how you're going to do it.
Having a hard time figuring out where to start? It doesn't really matter – as long as you start. You might want to start with something that's relatively easy for you to do, so you can experience success quickly. It's also important not to take on too much at one time, to avoid overwhelming yourself.
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