Successful Weight Loss Needs Right Motivation | View News Archive
Successful Weight Loss Needs Right Motivation
If you want to really kick start your weight loss in 2012 then you need to read this article to get motivated and discover the key to your weight loss success
Posted: Sunday 8th January 2012
Many people rolled out of bed this week determined to kick-start the new year by losing weight.
Some want to shed pounds because they're on the brink of developing Type 2 diabetes, their knees hurt or their blood pressure is too high. Others want their clothes to fit less snugly. Still others were shocked by the number on the bathroom scales.
If you are one of these people, experts have some helpful advice to get you started.
Research shows that no one motivation is better than another in determining success, says Gary Foster, director of the Center for Obesity Research and Education at Temple University. The key is to find the right motivation for you so you do the hard work involved in losing weight, he says. "It could be 100 different things."
Throughout your efforts, you have to keep that motivation front and center and remind yourself why you are doing this, he says.
Sometimes people are gung-ho in the beginning, especially after they lose 10 to 15 pounds, but then their interest starts to wane when they have to work harder and eat fewer calories to keep on losing, Foster says.
If you lose 10% of body weight, you need to eat 10% fewer calories than you were eating to maintain that lower weight, he says.
When you hit a bump in the road, don't let it get you down, says Dawn Jackson Blatner, a registered dietitian in Chicago and blogger at http://yourlife.usatoday.com .
Learn from it, think through how to do it better next time, and move on, she says. People who just beat themselves up when they don't do well lose their motivation and end up quitting, she says. Here are some keys to success:
• Keep a food journal. Research shows that dieters who do this lose twice as much weight as those who don't. If after a few months you get tired of it, then at least try to write down your intake at the times of day that you're mostly likely to overeat, Foster says.
• Step on the scales regularly. Weigh yourself at least once a week, and no more than once daily, he says.
• Get a weight-loss buddy. This might be your significant other, a coworker, a registered dietitian, a family member or a friend. Your buddy can offer encouragement, try new recipes with you and exercise with you.
• Set realistic goals. Blatner advises aiming to lose half a pound to 2 pounds a week. If you're not losing that much, look for "calorie sabotages," such as big portions, sweets, sugary beverages and alcoholic drinks, she says.
She recommends aiming to lose 5% of your starting weight in three months and 10% in six months. "At that point, you can reassess if you want to continue to put more effort into weight loss. Even weight maintenance is hard work."
By Nanci Hellmich USA Today 04/01/12
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