To get the best tips on weight loss, visit http://weightlossgeek.net/

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To get the best tips on weight loss, visit
http://weightlossgeek.net/
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The first step for healthy weight loss is to create some sort of weight loss plan.
I know that sounded a little vague, but your weight loss plan does NOT have to be something that
only NASA could understand or approve.
YOUR weight loss plan should include such simple things as what activities (exercise) you are
going to indulge in, when, where, and so on. You will want to outline your goals, both long term
and short term goals You will definitely need to outline what your strategy will be for
nutrition...notice I DID NOT say "diet"!
Why have a formal, or at least semi-formal, weight loss plan?
It has long been known to those who are successful in business, sports, entertainment, motivation,
and other areas, that one way to improve your chances of success is to sit down and write out
where you are, where you want to be, and how you are going to get there.
It is easier to plan for losing weight, or any other goal related activity, if there exists a clear picture
of starting points, ending points, and how you intend to move from one point to the other. It is very
easy to start a weight loss program or any other activity with intense motivation and a flurry of lofty
plans only to lose site of the objective or to be led down unproductive paths by daily activities and
the blurring effect of time.
Here are a few tips to consider when putting together YOUR personal weight loss plan:
1. Make your goals realistic:
Wanting to weigh what you weighed in high school is, for most of us at least, unrealistic. Using
some movie star's weight or a relative's weight as your goal is also possibly detrimental to actually
accomplishing effective weight loss. Each of those people arrived at THEIR weight by a
combination of genetics, diet, and exercise which may not apply to you at all!
Most people do not realize that a healthy weight loss program should, for most people, result in a
weight loss of only a pound or so a week. To many who have been striving for years to lose
weight, this may seem a depressing statement. However, let me put it in perspective.
I have a close friend who was so desperate to lose weight that she opted for gastric bypass
surgery. She weighed 340 lbs at the time of the surgery. When the doctor was briefing her on what
to expect, she learned that even with surgical intervention, she would probably only lose about 70
lbs in her first year. That works out to 1.35 lbs a week, which would be a healthy weight loss that

2. most people could achieve through a combination of physical activity and proper nutrition. The
doctor also informed my friend that she would continue to lose weight over the following years until
she reached some new level which would be determined by genetics, nutrition, and activity. This is
the same expectation that anyone bypassing the bypass and opting for a healthy weight loss
program could expect.
Finally, unrealistic weight loss goals insure failure, while an average of a pound a week over a
period of a year is relatively easy to attain with motivation and effort.
2. Do not focus on weight loss:
I know that sounds strange since your goal IS weight loss, but it is easy to see failure if you are
only looking for weight loss. For example, people's weight fluctuates from day to day and even
within the day itself. A temporary setback where weight is regained becomes inflated if viewed
against the background of only weight loss. However, if your goal is to do the things which are
going to make you healthy, for example, then those few days of overeating at Thanksgiving may
be more excusable in your own heart if you know that you have been taking your walks, or have
cut your use of sugar, or are still taking action in some other form.
This is something that should be considered in your weight loss plan. How are you going to make
your life better overall? How many ways can you approach "weight loss"? Do not make it your goal
to lose so many pounds this week. Rather, set a goal to walk so many minutes, lift so many
pounds, garden for so many minutes. That way, even if your weight does not change that much in
that period or even goes in the wrong direction, you still know that your body is benefiting from the
parts of your weight loss plan that you are still in touch with.
NOTE: People who begin exercising as part of their weight loss program often experience a
weight GAIN somewhere in the first few weeks of their new exercise experience. THIS IS
PERFECTLY NATURAL! If you have just begun exercising to lose weight and experience a weight
gain, this should be only temporary, and is most commonly caused by your body adding muscle
mass faster than it loses fat.
3. Plan to go slow:
I don't know if there is a statistic somewhere that demonstrates how many people drop out of their
weight loss program due to stress, strain, pain, or just plain burnout. However, I have experienced
it myself, I have read about it, and I know people it has happened to. Sometimes the simplest
statements are most true. One that you will often hear is, "It took years for your body to get this
way, and you cannot change it overnight." This is so true. Also, take into consideration that, even
though you might not be SEEING significant changes, if you are taking the steps that you have
outlined in your weight loss plan, your body is adapting inside, in places you cannot see, but it is
repairing and preparing to move to higher levels of fitness and health.
4. Plan to measure your progress:
I know I said not to stress so much about the weight loss, but you do need to see what is going on.
You don't have to concentrate exclusively on pounds lost, however. If you can walk farther this
week than you could two or three weeks ago, you are progressing. Hopefully, in another two

3. weeks, you will be walking farther, or faster. If, at the start of your weight loss program you could
only exercise for five minutes at a time, and now you can exercise for 15 minutes, that is progress,
isn't it? That's an accomplishment and is something you should be proud of.
NOTE: One measurement of progress in a weight loss program is quite simply "size". Two weeks
into a weight loss program, you might actually have gained weight, for example, as I pointed out a
few paragraphs ago. However, if your clothes are looser, or you need to buy smaller clothes, or
friends are coming up and asking, "Have you lost weight?" these are good signs that your program
is working even if your scales haven't gotten the news yet.
5. Plan to stay motivated:
One of the most common obstacles that knock people off their weight loss program is loss of
motivation. The drive and excitement that gets you started is very seldom still around when you
lace up your walking shoes for what seems like the millionth time and have only lost two lbs.
Including your reasons for losing weight, the emotional and perhaps physical triggers that got you
started in the first place, as part of your written weight loss plan gives you a means of
reinvigorating your desire to achieve your goals. We often forget how we felt and what we believed
at the start of such a journey, and being able to pull out the paper and review the dreams and
expectations can bring us back up to that original level, or at least remind us of what we are
enduring this for.
I used to be an instructor for a major national corporation, and one thing that I and other
instructors would tell our students was, to achieve their goals, they had to, "plan their work, and
work their plan."
Donovan Baldwin is a Dallas area writer. A graduate of the University Of West Florida (1973) with
a BA in accounting, he is a member of Mensa and has held several managerial positions. He has
written poetry and essays for his own use, and instructional media in many of the positions he
held. After his retirement from the U. S. Army in 1995, he began writing articles on various
subjects for websites he owned as well as for use by other webmasters. He has a keen interest in
health, fitness, diet, and weight loss and has recently completed courses on Diet and Nutrition,
and Fitness. He has posted a review on a great way to build muscle and burn fat.
Article Source:
http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Donovan_Baldwin

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To get the best tips on weight loss, visit
http://weightlossgeek.net/
==== ====