Know your target weight and determine how much you need to lose. Break your goals down to weekly weight loss amounts and work one pound at a time towards your goal, it may seem pale in
comparison to those Biggest Loser contestants but yours is realistic and achievable in the time that you can devote. Don’t think you’re going to lose 100 pounds in one month because it will mostly be water and precious muscle and to shift that kind of mass in such a short time frame will no doubt damage your body in the process.
Slow wins the race. That’s how the weight came on, so don’t think you can lose 10 years worth of weight in one month. I promise it will come off quicker than it went on. Stick with it.
Prioritize your weight loss. Sacrifice something you can do without such as watching television or playing video games. It’s important that you make that time for yourself if you want to see results.
Keep track of your calories and how much you’re eating. Buy yourself a little notebook and jot down all of the things you eat in a day. Look at the food packaging and determine how many calories you consumed. Also watch out for how much sugar and sodium you are taking into your body. Unless they are unprocessed and raw, most cereals will have high hidden sugar content in the form of fructose which is fruit sugar to give cereal its sweet taste.
Fructose although a fruit sugar can still be stored as fat if not
burned off as energy. You must be aware of this because this is where hidden calories are coming from. Be mindful and aware of what you are eating, and find the things you can do without in your current diet such as food high in fat and sugars. Look for added sugars and added juices on your food packaging.
See where you can start reducing calories from your diet. As
soon as you have figured out how many calories you are currently consuming compared to how many calories you are burning you can get started. This can easily be achieved by cutting out extra fatty junk foods and reducing your food portions.
Look at your current schedule to see where you can start
scheduling in some exercise. Are you able to squeeze in an easy walk for at least 30 minutes? Can you go for a bike ride with the kids?
It doesn’t matter where your fitness level is currently at, you will only get stronger from this point on.
Be consistent, this is now your lifestyle. It takes a while to replace old habits with new ones and your health will improve and you’ll feel better than you have in a long time. Don’t cheat because the only person you’re cheating is yourself. Stay focused on your goal; remember your reasons for wanting to lose the weight in the first place and the weight will drop off. (This is why your purpose is so important).
Re-evaluate where you’re progress is every 30 days. You will gain more energy, more strength as the weight falls off and as you do you will be able to increase your exercise intensity and duration.
Conclusion:
Never give up until you reach your goal.
How long should you give it? A week, a month? How long should you give yourself before you are well and your blood pressure and body is out of danger?
As long as it takes because this isn’t a temporary fix, this is for keeps.
Remember the appealing factor about crash diets is that they have a time limit, lose 20 pounds in one week. This makes you feel that you can tolerate the craziness for a short period of time yet we are under the illusion that we can still keep the weight off when we return to our old eating habits.
Slow wins the race you are in for as long as it takes. This is not a crash diet with an unrealistic timeframe. This is you; your weight loss, your life and your journey will be different from the next person.
This change is for good and the beauty about that is the results won’t go away. You will permanently keep the weight off because this is how you will live for the rest of your life. Not only that but you will have reduced your risk of heart disease, high blood pressure and stroke and are on your way to living the full life that you deserve.
No matter what weight you have to get down to, you’re going to keep going until you arrive at your goal however long that may be. If you are 300 pounds it will take a little longer to get to your goal weight then if you were 200 pounds. But it’s only a small price to pay compared to the quality of life you will gain in return.
The fact that you will be able to live life again where your weight may have previously restricted you is priceless. You will be around longer for your family and to watch them grow up. So in answer to your question, How long should the process takes?….the answer is "simply as long as it takes".
You didn’t get this way overnight so it will take a little bit of time to undo it, but not nearly as long as it took to get that way in the first place. Remember what you gain in return far outweighs the little sacrifices, any day.
Recap:
1. Weigh yourself to determine your current weight
2. Determine your ideal weight from the calculation, find out how much you should weigh, (available from the resources below)
3. Determine how much weight you need to lose by subtracting your ideal weight from your current weight
4. Take your measurements
5. You need to lose 3,500 calories per week to lose one pound
6. Choose foods from the Food Pyramid and from the food table that will give you a 250 calorie deficit per day (consume 250 calories less per day) (available from the resources below)
7. Choose low impact exercises you can do now that will burn 250 calories per day (available from the resources below) And there you have it; you’ll be well on your way to losing one pound
per week and consequently 50 pounds per year, which is incredible. You can do it!
Valuable Resources Of Interest:
You have at your fingertips valuable information designed to aide you with your weight loss. The Internet is a rich source of information that you can access anywhere in the world. This is also part and parcel of being empowered with information so that you can make better informed decisions for yourself.
Because information changes at the speed of light you will have access
to the latest cutting edge information when it comes to hand.
Here are some helpful resources you may find useful.
BMI
http://www.nhlbisupport.com/bmi/
Great for estimating your Body Mass Index to determine where your
weight lies for your height and for determining which category you fall
into, whether your are overweight or obese.
Ideal Weight
http://www.halls.md/ideal-weight/body.html
This enables you to determine the ideal weight you should be for
maximum health and how much weight you need to lose.
Updated Food Pyramid
http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource
To get the ultimate balance in your diet find out the portions and amounts you should be eating from each food group for optimum health.
Healthy weight calculation:
http://www.health.gov/dietaryguidelines/dga2005/healthieryou/html/chapter4.html#definition
Calorie burning exercises:
http://www.healthstatus.com/cgi-bin/calc/calculator.cgi
The number of calories in everyday foods:
http://www.weightlossforall.com/number-of-calories-in-food.html
http://www.fitwatch.com/caloriecounter.html
http://www.fitday.com/WebFit/calories/calories.html
Insulin Resistance, how to undo the effects:
http://diabetes.niddk.nih.gov/dm/pubs/insulinresistance/