You Can Succeed at Losing Weight by Setting Small Goals

You’ve decided that it’s time to get healthy.  Last night you went to bed saying “tomorrow, I’m going to start eating healthy and exercising every day”.  I have to admit that I too have said those same exact words.  I’ve even went to the extreme of throwing all the junk food out of my house, going and paying for a gym membership and running out to buy new workout clothes and tennis shoes.  The problem is I find myself reverting right back to my old habits within a couple weeks.  I’ve come to realize that getting healthy isn’t going to happen overnight.  It’s about making small changes and setting goals that are achievable. 

You can’t set a goal like “I’m going to lose two pounds a week”.  You’re setting yourself up for instant failure!  There are too many factors that have nothing to do with your lifestyle changes that will affect your weight.  Instead focus on setting goals that don’t have anything to do with the numbers on the scale.  Try setting goals that pertain to how many days a week you’ll exercise or what you’ll eat.  Setting goals that are realistic and then accomplishing them will help you stay motivated. 

You probably know, either from first hand experience or from a friend that fad diets work but only as long as you stick to that fad diet.  The problem with these fad diets is that generally we deprive our bodies (when on a fad diet) of certain food groups and cut our calories way back (sometimes) so when we go back to normal food the weight comes back.  The moral of this story: big changes are good for you, but you can’t stick to them for long.  So instead try setting goals like replacing one fatty snack a day with a piece of fruit instead or walk for 10 minutes every day.  Once you reach your goals, set new ones. 

While starting too fast with a diet can make it hard to stick to, starting too fast with an exercise program can be dangerous.  When you are just beginning you need to take it slowly so that you don’t wear yourself out or worse damage your body.  Pick an exercise program and start small.  If you want to run then start out running just until you are too tired to run anymore and then walk the rest of the time.  You might only be able to run five minutes that first day, but if you keep with it you’ll be running the entire way in no time. 

It’s great that you’ve decided to do something about your health and I wish you luck.  Just remember that no matter what you do to lose weight, make small reasonable changes.  If you start out with small steps you’ll increase your chances of succeeding.