Setting Yourself Up for Dieting Success
It’s January – when hundreds of thousands of us will be going on a diet. You might be looking to lose those few extra pounds that you put on over Christmas. Or perhaps you’ve got a longer journey ahead, and you’re determined that 2010 will be the year when you finally succeed in getting down to a healthy weight.
My jeans are fitting a little too snugly at the moment, after gaining a few pounds through a combination of busyness, slipping out of my usual exercise routine, and enjoying a bit too much of my mum and grandma’s cooking over the holiday period! I’ve been preparing myself for success – and here’s how you can too, however much weight you need to lose.
Take Your Measurements
If you don’t know what you weigh or how big your waist is, it’s time to find out! It can be painful to face up to the truth – especially if you’ve been ignoring a weight problem for a while – but being honest with yourself means you can:
- Work out sensible goals and a timeframe right from the start
- Eat the right number of calories to lose weight sustainably
- Track your progress
- Get realistic: you might not be able to fit into that size 8 dress by the summer
When you know what you weigh, you can use the BMI calculator here on You On A Diet to work out how much weight you need to lose overall. You can also use the calorie calculator to find out how much you should be eating each day to lose weight at a safe, sustainable rate.
Choose an Achievable Target
If you’re 100 lbs overweight, the thought of losing all that weight is probably daunting – and it might take you longer than a year. For now, set yourself an achievable target: experts often recommend that your first goal should be to lose 10% of your starting weight. That means that if you weigh 250lbs, you should aim to lose 25lbs.
It might not sound like much, but it will make a dramatic difference to your health. And achieving that first target will give you the knowledge, the motivation and the self-discipline to carry on and lose more weight.
If you have just a few pounds to lose, don’t get too hung up on the idea of perfection. You don’t have to have a BMI of 20 to be at a healthy weight – a BMI of 23 or 24 could be much more achievable. Being realistic and choosing an achievable target means taking into account your busy lifestyle, or your propensity to gain weight easily.
Give Yourself a Deadline
Whenever you’re trying to accomplish a big goal, it’s useful to have a deadline. Many dieters pick a particular event – perhaps a birthday, a wedding, or Christmas. Having something to focus on, and day dreaming about how great you’ll look, can often provide that boost of motivation which you need in order to stick to a planned exercise session, or to resist the lure of the cookie jar.
A deadline can also be reassuring because you know you won’t have to stick to your diet forever!
Deal With Those Christmas Goodies
One of the problems with starting a diet in January is that you probably have cookies, candy or other high-calorie, high-fat or high-sugar goodies. If you know that your self-restraint is low, you’ll want to take that into account. There’s no point setting yourself up for failure, or blaming yourself when you succumb.
I find that these tips work well:
- Put candies out of easy reach. Studies have shown that we eat more when the food’s visible and nearby.
- Give yourself a small treat each day. If you really love chocolate, allow yourself a piece after dinner.
- Limit the days on which you eat or drink certain things. You might decide to only have wine on Friday and Saturday nights, for instance.
- Focus on the treats you love … let other people finish up the chocolates or cookies which you don’t especially like. Don’t eat for the sake of eating!
Best of luck with your dieting in 2010! How are you going to set yourself up for success?
Written by Ali HaleRelated posts:
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