What is the big secret to weight loss? Is there a secret in the first place? NO.
Here are some tips to a successful weight loss program.
GRADUAL
No weight loss program will be successful if there is no change in your diet. Whatever diet plans that you have decided to follow, make sure that you introduce it gradually to yourself. Otherwise your taste buds will feel deprived of the flavours that it has been used to, thus causing you to stop the dieting.
Introducing exercise also requires a gradual increment. For a sedentary person to suddenly start running 2 km daily would be too strenuous, furthermore increasing the risk of injury. When the body feels pain, it will naturally not want to exercise again. So start slow, let the body get to physical activity and gradually increase the pace of the exercise regime.
KEEP IT SIMPLE
A complicated diet will most likely put you off, especially if it takes too much time or cost too much to prepare your meal. A easy to prepare meal that tastes good and is wholesome is one diet that you will and can enjoy. This will ensure that you will stick with the new way the food is being prepared.
An exercise routine that takes too much time and requires you to travel far will also most likely not continue after a while. An exercise routine that you enjoy with your friends will enhance the adrenaline rush you get when exercising. Some people enjoy exercising with friends rather then by themselves.
MOTIVATION
It will be a done deal if you have a support group that can motivate you, call on you when you feel "lazy" on some days, even share recipes with each other. Have a pot luck when you gather to meet each other to share your trials or even latest fashion discovery.
A group of exercise partners don't always have to run, you can even play a game of badminton to burn off the calories or any other team sports if you have the numbers. What great fun you will have. This will surely motivate you to keep exercising.
REWARD
Set a target of how much weight you want to lose every week or every two weeks. Give yourself a reward when you get it - not food! Get something pretty or go for a concert or even for a spa treatment. Think of something that you don't usually treat yourself to and go for it. Don't forget your friends, get them to help you think of a nice treat as you lose more weight.
DON'T GIVE UP
In all weight loss program, there will come a plateau where the initial weight loss is easy to achieve, then you seem to be fixed at a certain weight for some time (it's not that the weighing scale is stuck!). This is the most trying time where you really have to exercise more and really watch what you are eating. It does become more difficult to lose weight when you are nearing your ideal weight. Just remember, your ideal weight is just round the corner, you have already done so much. Go on, you can do it!
