Two key ingredients to successful weight loss is one, to know thyself, and two, have realistic expectations.
Is it realistic to expect to loose 10 pounds per week? what about 5? Or even 2? Is it realistic to expect consistent weight loss every week? Is it realistic to expect that one can live with a restrictive, rigid diet plan indefinitely? Maybe not.
Most of us don’t even give pause to these concepts. We jump right in on a popular diet plan and race toward the finish line without having made any mental preparation or giving consideration to the wisdom of the plan. When we hit the wall we have no idea why.
Commercial diet plans are the product of businesses whose goal is to make a profit, and as large a profit as possible. They know that dieters will only stay with them for a limited time, and then only if the dieter looses a satisfactory, to him, amount of weight and the quicker the better.
For the commercial plan to meet the consumer criteria of “adequate” weight loss per week, the caloric daily allowance must be quite low. And only very determined people will stick with it and then only if they feel they are successful.
I’ve learned that a much better approach is to eat a higher number of calories per day. While weight loss will be slow, this method is much easier to stick with. It limits failure because most of us can live with reducing our caloric intake by 20% much more easily than reducing it by almost 50%. And it is quicker in the long run. Better to take a year to lose 20 pounds and keep it off for life, than to lose and regain that same poundage repeatedly .
The other concept, know thyself, is key. With it you'll have the ability to strategise and prevent failure without feeling deprived. For example, I know I would never eat more than one regular size candy bar in a day. But give me a bag of the snack size mini's and I will scarf down at least a dozen, one at a time, and feel very guilty in the process all the while doing a lot of damage to the bottom line of my caloric intake . So I eat a candy bar when I want one…most are around 230 calories…a lot of pleasure for a fairly small number of calories. But I avoid the mini's like the plague.
Or consider my weakness when it comes to ice cream. I’ve learned I can eat ice cream, I just shouldn’t keep it in the house. If there is a half gallon in the freezer I will consume it in about 24 hours. But if it’s not there, I don’t miss it. So, I get my ice cream when I’m out…where I can buy a scoop or two of premium ice cream and really enjoy it. And I find it’s all the more pleasurable because it becomes a real treat instead of a daily habit.
Knowing yourself allows you to box in your problem foods. You’ll still be able to have them, but under specifically designed conditions that will help you control your intake.
And realizing that it is unrealistic to lose weight overnight or to stick with a very low intake of food for any length of time, without lapsing or throwing in the towel, is a step in the right direction of choosing a course that will result in lasting weight loss and weight management.
Is it realistic to expect to loose 10 pounds per week? what about 5? Or even 2? Is it realistic to expect consistent weight loss every week? Is it realistic to expect that one can live with a restrictive, rigid diet plan indefinitely? Maybe not.
Most of us don’t even give pause to these concepts. We jump right in on a popular diet plan and race toward the finish line without having made any mental preparation or giving consideration to the wisdom of the plan. When we hit the wall we have no idea why.
Commercial diet plans are the product of businesses whose goal is to make a profit, and as large a profit as possible. They know that dieters will only stay with them for a limited time, and then only if the dieter looses a satisfactory, to him, amount of weight and the quicker the better.
For the commercial plan to meet the consumer criteria of “adequate” weight loss per week, the caloric daily allowance must be quite low. And only very determined people will stick with it and then only if they feel they are successful.
I’ve learned that a much better approach is to eat a higher number of calories per day. While weight loss will be slow, this method is much easier to stick with. It limits failure because most of us can live with reducing our caloric intake by 20% much more easily than reducing it by almost 50%. And it is quicker in the long run. Better to take a year to lose 20 pounds and keep it off for life, than to lose and regain that same poundage repeatedly .
The other concept, know thyself, is key. With it you'll have the ability to strategise and prevent failure without feeling deprived. For example, I know I would never eat more than one regular size candy bar in a day. But give me a bag of the snack size mini's and I will scarf down at least a dozen, one at a time, and feel very guilty in the process all the while doing a lot of damage to the bottom line of my caloric intake . So I eat a candy bar when I want one…most are around 230 calories…a lot of pleasure for a fairly small number of calories. But I avoid the mini's like the plague.
Or consider my weakness when it comes to ice cream. I’ve learned I can eat ice cream, I just shouldn’t keep it in the house. If there is a half gallon in the freezer I will consume it in about 24 hours. But if it’s not there, I don’t miss it. So, I get my ice cream when I’m out…where I can buy a scoop or two of premium ice cream and really enjoy it. And I find it’s all the more pleasurable because it becomes a real treat instead of a daily habit.
Knowing yourself allows you to box in your problem foods. You’ll still be able to have them, but under specifically designed conditions that will help you control your intake.
And realizing that it is unrealistic to lose weight overnight or to stick with a very low intake of food for any length of time, without lapsing or throwing in the towel, is a step in the right direction of choosing a course that will result in lasting weight loss and weight management.