How to Succeed with Your Weight Loss Program

Atkins Diet. Weight Watchers. The Zone. Slim Fast. Jenny Craig. eDiets. Herbal Weight Loss Plans. Nutrisystem. Dr. Siegal's COOKIE DIET™. Beverly Hills Weight Loss and Wellness... the list goes on and on! How do you even begin to choose which one is right for you? Well, before you entrust someone else with your weight loss plan, try doing a little planning on your own.

Goals
What exactly are your goals? Do you want to lose weight only? Or do you want to also be healthier? Do you want to cut your risk of cardiovascular disease? Perhaps you’ve got arthritis and your doctor recommends exercise. Or maybe you want to try to ease some of the stress in your life. Maybe, you’ve even got a long-range goal to train for a marathon or other athletic event. Goal setting is extremely important when it comes to changing your lifestyle. How will you decide to do something, if you’re not even sure about what it is you’re trying to accomplish?

There are two main types of goals: long-term and short-term. Short-term goals are immediate goals that can be reached in a short amount of time. Long-term goals refer to the final outcome. For instance, if your goal is to decrease your body fat from 30 percent to 17 percent, that would be a long-range goal. Your short-range goal may be to decrease your body fat by 3 percent over the next four weeks.

Goals should be realistic, specific, measurable and observable:

• Realistic
  Be realistic! You will only meet with frustration if you set unachievable goals. If your goal is to exercise every day for two hours, perhaps you are setting yourself up for failure. However, to set a goal for exercising 30 minutes, three times a week may be more doable.
  
  
• Specific
  Make your goal specific. If your goal is to lose weight, or get into better shape, your goal is too general. However, to set a goal of losing 25 pounds, or a goal of running an eight-minute mile, is more specific.
  
  
• Measurable
  You should be able to measure your progress. This goes hand-in-hand with being specific. You can measure pounds and body fat. You can take a test to determine your level of physical fitness. Observable means that the change must be able to be seen by you, as well as, others.
  

Sticking with a plan
Many people do not adhere to a weight loss program for a number of reasons. Maybe the plan is too expensive, or maybe it recommends foods that you don’t particularly like, or only offers a narrow variety of foods, with which you quickly grow bored. Perhaps the plan involves a strict exercise regimen, and you hate to exercise. It could be any number of things. If you’re going to stick with a plan, it needs to fit you!

There are three factors to pay attention to:

• Personal: This includes such things as your past experiences with weight loss, the skills you possess to execute what’s being asked of you, self-motivation, your perceptions of the program, and your ability and willingness to overcome obstacles.
  
  
  
• Program: Is the program convenient and flexible? Is it affordable? How much time does it require? Is the program interesting enough to prevent boredom?
  
  
  
• Environment: What kind of support and feedback does this program offer? Would certain conditions, whether social or even the weather, deter you from participating in the program at certain times?
  

Motivation
Motivation is often confused with "will-power" — something you’re born with, that’s innate. But as with adherence, motivation, too, is influenced by situational and environmental factors.

You can increase your motivation by:

• setting realistic goals and expectations.
  
  
• expecting lapses to the plan.
  
  
• choosing activities you enjoy.
  
  
• having a plan tailored to you.
  
  
• signing a contract.
  
  
• allowing yourself choices and flexibility.
  
  
• setting up a support system.
  
  
• measuring your short- and long-range goals.
  
  
• avoiding punishing yourself based on your perceived "failure."
  

Lifelong Habits
How do the programs and plans listed at the beginning of this article measure up to what we’ve discussed? One of the first things you need to ask yourself when determining whether or not to try a particular plan is this: "Is this a quick-fix? Can I do this the rest of my life? Or is it a lifelong, lifestyle-changing plan that will make me healthier and decrease my chance for disease?" One of the best things you can do for yourself is to schedule an appointment with a health professional who can help tailor a program that fits you. After all, it is you who will be putting the plan into action!

Links: Official Zone Diet Site, eDiets, Dr. Siegal's COOKIE DIET™