The Stages of Sustained Wight Loss
Sustained weight loss requires discipline, perseverance and a willingness to make lifestyle changes. Such changes do not occur overnight. Most people pass through a series of predictable stages of motivation and action en route to weight loss.
Challenge
Successful programs for weight loss usually start with a challenge. Perhaps you try on a favorite skirt or pair of pants and find they no longer fit. Perhaps its an upcoming reunion or wedding. A challenge can be the first step in your successful journey, but only when you chose to take that challenge seriously.
Awareness means learning about nutrition, exercise, and the realities of weight loss. Numerous resources including books, magazine articles and websites can help you gain this necessary knowledge. While you need not become an expert, you do have to learn enough to figure out which of the many weight loss programs and strategies will likely work best for you. Be aware of the most appropriate program for you and then continue.
Proper preparation is often key to success. Preparing a weight loss program means setting up the conditions that will make it most easily possible for you to sustain your weight loss program. Preparation tasks may include getting kitchen supplies in order, deciding on what kind of dietary and weight records to keep, and setting a date to begin your diet.
In your preparation phase, break your ultimate weight loss goal down to achievable mini-goals so that you won't easily become discouraged during your diet. Reward yourself for each several pounds lost along the way. Your weight loss goal will stand a better chance of being achieved if you take the time to break it down into small, achievable sub-goals.
Action means actually getting started with your weight loss program. The effort you previously put into identifying, preparing and tailoring your weight loss program and breaking down your program goals into manageable chunks pays off now in the form of your greater likelihood of sticking with your program over time. Be sure to keep records of your weight and diet so that you can actually chart your progress over time. If you're exercising too, keep records of your exercise sessions.
Percentages suggest that your first efforts at dieting will be not produce the results you desire. Those who are most successful in sustaining weight loss learn from, rather than become intimated by, their lapses. The best thing to do when lapses occur is to go to sleep that night and wake up the next day recommitted to following your weight loss program. You may need to increase your awareness in a specific area or prepare more before getting back into the action stage but if you keep at it, you’ll meet your goal.
Source: mentalhelp.net