You have made the decision but what next? Losing weight can be an exciting time, but it can also be very challenging.
First Things First
Now you have made the decision to lose weight you need to be clear why you want to do this. The "why" is what will continue to provide you with motivation, whether it is your upcoming wedding, a big major milestone birthday or if you are fed up with not fitting your current wardrobe. Make sure that you are clear why you are losing weight and then start to set goals.
If You Don't Know Where You Are Going, You Won't End Up At The Right Place
To start losing weight you need to have goals. Your eventual goal may seem so far away, but smaller stepping stone goals will help your sense of achievement and provide motivation along the way. If you are going to lose weight you need to make these goals clear and measureable (for example; I will lose 250 grams each week for the first month) and put them in a place where you will see them often.
Energy In Vs Energy Out
To start to lose weight you need to understand the concept of energy balance. If you eat the same amount of energy (kilojoules or calories) as what you burn on a daily basis you are in energy balance. Your body weight will not change a lot at this time. If you are eating more energy than you burn in a day you are in positive energy balance. This leads to weight gain. If you want to lose weight you need to be in negative energy balance. This is where you eat slightly less energy than you need to burn each day. As you are not consuming quite enough energy each day, your body has to use stored energy (fat) to make up the difference. Therefore you start to lose weight.
Start Simple
Small changes make the biggest difference to long term weight loss and maintenance. If you try to change too many things straight away you will probably fail. Start simple and get used to a couple of changes before adding more into your lifestyle. Great ways to make small changes include:
- Switch from full fat dairy products to low fat options
- Reduce the amount of sugar that you add to hot drinks by half each week
- Start to eat slower and take notice of how full you feel
- Start to use the stairs once a day at work or while out shopping
- Add a short walk into your daily routine and gradually increase this as you feel fitter
- Reduce the amount of fat that you use in cooking, and trim all visible fat off meat and poultry
- Aim to add 1 extra piece of fruit to your daily intake by ensuring at least one of your snacks is fruit based
- Reduce the number of treats (chocolate, potato chips, lollies) that you eat each week
- Reduce the amount of alcohol that you drink by either limiting the number of days that you drink or by alternating between water and alcohol
- Don't buy takeaways as often and make more meals at home
Losing weight can be enjoyable if you make small changes to your lifestyle, move more and continue to enjoy your food in moderation. If you need more help with losing weight contact a dietitian or nutritionist.
Originally published on Oct 06, 2011
