Finding the Balance with Weight Loss

Losing weight is a great way to feel better about yourself and get into those tighter, shorter clothes in time for summer. Losing weight takes time and effort, but just because you want to lose weight, it does not mean you have to stop living.

In this article I’ll show you how to find the perfect balance, how to shed the unwanted kilos and how to live your life without feeling like you’re being restricted.

The right start

First things first; you need to put together a plan of action. Determine exactly how much weight you want to lose, make sure you set an attainable weight goal and give yourself enough time to reach your goal. Don’t expect to go from a size 36 to a size 30 in two weeks. The ideal ratio to lose weight is to aim to lose no more than 0.5 to 1 kilogram per week.

Plan and action

So now you have a plan, it’s time to put it into action. Sign up for a gym contract, or if you can’t afford one get yourself some free weights, an exercise ball and a skipping rope so that you can exercise at home. You don’t have to dedicate your life to exercising to lose weight.

Set aside at least an hour for your exercise time every day. The best time to exercise for weight loss and for motivation is early in the morning before your day starts. This way you can get it over and done with early in the day and not procrastinate about exercising later on during the day or making excuses.

Exercising in the morning, on an empty stomach also helps you to burn more calories, and another plus is that exercising in the morning will release all the feel good endorphins you need to help you have a happy and productive day.

Eating for success

When people diet, they often feel restricted in terms of eating out with friends or even eating the foods they enjoy. Just because you are eating healthy, it does not mean your food has to be bland and boring, or that you have to be completely unsociable and avoid gatherings where there may be delicious food.

Make a commitment to stick to clean eating throughout the week and allow yourself to cheat a little on the weekend. But be careful; don’t go overboard on your cheat days. As you become more accustomed to healthy eating and realize how tasty it can actually be, you can limit your cheats to one meal per week. So, if you’ve been good all week and you really, really want that piece of chocolate cake, reward yourself, but only if you deserve it. Be firm with yourself. After all, by cheating on your cheats, you are only cheating yourself.

If you have a dinner with friends and you know they will be serving up tempting food, keep your eating clean and make that dinner your cheat for the week.

Invest in a healthy eating cookbook. Stock up on healthy foods and treats and avoid junk food altogether. The old saying “out of sight out of mind” is very true, especially in this situation.

Don’t broadcast your diet

One thing that dieters do over and over again is tell everyone they know that they are on diet. They tell them that they are not allowed to eat such and such foods and all they are really doing is setting themselves up for disaster.

People who are not on diet will, even if they don’t do it intentionally, try to make you feel better about cheating on your diet.

You are also putting yourself in a position to make yourself feel deprived around others that are not dieting when you make yourself an outcast. So, while it’s great that you have made the commitment to lose weight, don’t feel the need to tell everyone unless it comes up.

You will see how much easier it is to handle those “can’t be around people who are not dieting” situations.

Author: Dimi Ingle.
Copyright 2009: Remedium. This article may not be copied, in whole or in part, without the written consent of Remedium.