This is not original with me - it's from the book, "The Biggest Loser Success Secrets". Maybe you have already started on your weight-loss journey, but no matter where you are, these items can help you focus your efforts:
1. Admit you have a weight problem. Denial can prevent you from taking action, and pounds will keep piling on.
2. Don't make excuses for delay. There's never a "good" time to start a weight-loss program. The best time to start living healthfully is NOW.
3. Learn from your past. If you are trying to lose weight now, you have probably tried before. Maybe you failed in the past, but use those failures as an opportunity to learn. What worked before? What didn't work before? Figure out what worked for you, and incorporate the successful behaviors into your new diet plan.
4. Make a clean sweep of all junk food. You can't eat it if it's not there, and it cannot tempt you if it's not there. Rid your environment - home, office, car - of foods that will cause you to stumble.
5. Build your team. Research shows that people who lose weight and keep it off have good support systems to help them along. This could be your family, your coworkers, an exercise partner, or a weight-loss group.
6. Set realistic goals. If your goals aren't realistic and attainable, you'll get frustrated and most likely quit. Set small goals that you can meet in order to maintain your enthusiasm.
7. Make daily resolutions toward reaching your goals. Early in a program to change your lifestyle, it's helpful to make daily resolutions that are manageable rather than focusing on far-off end goals. (I can attest to this - throughout my Biggest Loser experience, I have looked for benchmarks that I strive to reach that can be attained in no more than three to four weeks. 25 pounds, then the 300 pound barrier, then 50 pounds, then 75 pounds, etc., are the markers that have kept me going. I don't think about the 140 lbs. I need to lose - if I hit my markers, the 140 will take care of itself. Currently I am working to hit the 250 lb. mark, which is only about 12 pounds away as of this writing.)
8. Set your calorie budget. Without a dietician or a specific plan, you may not know how many calories you should eat in a day. A simple guideline to use is this: decide what you want your goal weight to be; multiply that number by 10, and that will tell you roughly the number of calories you should eat in a day. Generally, you should try not to eat less than 1000 calories in a given day. Doing so will actually slow your weight loss as your body goes into starvation mode.
9. Plan to be active for at least 60 minutes a day. This may be walking, exercising with free weights, playing a game, or any number of activities. The key is to keep moving.
10. Expect to have setbacks. They will come - you may as well brace yourself for them. Some weeks you will lose little - some weeks you may even gain. Don't view these setbacks as "failure" - you will be tempted to give up. As quickly as possible, identify the reason for the setback. You may have to decrease carbohydrates, increase your protein, and exercise a little more to get things moving again. But they will get moving again - be patient!
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