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[#1]6 Week Weight Loss Plan

by Donovan Baldwin, Don

The first step for healthy weight loss is to create some sort of weight loss plan.YOUR weight loss plan should include such simple things as what activities (exercise) you are going to indulge in, when, where, and so on. You will want to outline your weight loss goals, long term goals as well as short term goals. You will need to outline what your strategy will be for nutrition...notice I DID NOT say "diet"!Why have a formal, or at least semi-formal, weight loss plan'It has long been known to those who are successful in business, sports, entertainment, motivation, and other areas, that one way to improve your chances of success is to sit down and write out where you are, where you want to be, and how you are going to get there.

It is easier to plan for weight loss or any other goal related activity if there exists a clear picture of starting points, ending points, and how you intend to move from one point to the other. It is very easy to start a weight loss program or any other activity with intense motivation and a flurry of lofty plans only to lose site of the objective or to be led down unproductive paths by daily activities and the blurring effect of time.

Here are a few tips to consider when putting together YOUR personal weight loss plan:

1. Make your weight loss goals realistic:

Wanting to weigh what you weighed in high school is, for most of us at least, unrealistic. Using some movie star's weight or a relative's weight as your goal is also possibly detrimental to actually accomplishing effective weight loss. Each of those people arrived at THEIR weight by a combination of genetics, diet, and exercise which may not apply to you at all!Most people do not realize that a healthy weight loss program should, for most people, result in a weight loss of only a pound or so a week. To many who have been striving for years to lose weight, this may seem a depressing statement. However, let me put it in perspective.

I have a close friend who was so desperate to lose weight that she opted for gastric bypass surgery. She weighed 340 lbs at the time of the surgery. When the doctor was briefing her on what to expect, she learned that even with surgical intervention, she would probably only lose about 70 lbs in her first year. That works out to 1.35 lbs a week, which would be a healthy weight loss that most people could achieve through a combination of physical activity and proper nutrition. The doctor also informed my friend that she would continue to lose weight over the following years until she reached some new level which would be determined by genetics, nutrition, and activity. This is the same expectation that anyone bypassing the bypass and opting for a healthy weight loss program could expect.

Finally, unrealistic weight loss goals insure failure, while an average of a pound a week over a period of a year is relatively easy to attain with motivation and effort.

2. Do not focus on weight loss:

I know that sounds strange since your goal IS weight loss, but it is easy to see failure if you are only looking for weight loss. For example, people's weight fluctuates from day to day and even within the day itself. A temporary setback where weight is regained becomes inflated if viewed against the background of only weight loss. However, if your goal is to do the things which are going to make you healthy, for example, then those few days of overeating at Thanksgiving may be more excusable in your own heart if you know that you have been taking your walks, or have cut your use of sugar, or are still taking action in some other form.

This is something that should be considered in your weight loss plan. How are you going to make your life better overall? How many ways can you approach "weight loss"? Do not make it your goal to lose so many pounds this week. Rather, set a goal to walk so many minutes, lift so many pounds, garden for so many minutes. That way, even if your weight does not change that much in that period or even goes in the wrong direction, you still know that your body is benefiting from the parts of your weight loss plan that you are still in touch with.

NOTE: People who begin exercising as part of their weight loss program often experience a weight GAIN somewhere in the first few weeks of their new exercise experience. THIS IS PERFECTLY NATURAL! If you have just begun exercising to lose weight and experience a weight gain, this should be only temporary, and is most commonly caused by your body adding muscle mass faster than it loses fat.

3. Plan to go slow:

I don't know if there is a statistic somewhere that demonstrates how many people drop out of their weight loss program due to stress, strain, pain, or just plain burnout. However, I have experienced it myself, I have read about it, and I know people it has happened to. Sometimes the simplest statements are most true. One that you will often hear is, "It took years for your body to get this way, and you cannot change it overnight." This is so true. Also, take into consideration that, even though you might not be SEEING significant changes, if you are taking the steps that you have outlined in your weight loss plan, your body is adapting inside, in places you cannot see, but it is repairing and preparing to move to higher levels of fitness and health.

4. Plan to measure your progress:

I know I said not to stress so much about the weight loss, but you do need to see what is going on. You don't have to concentrate exclusively on pounds lost, however. If you can walk farther this week than you could two or three weeks ago, you are progressing. Hopefully, in another two weeks, you will be walking farther, or faster. If, at the start of your weight loss program you could only exercise for five minutes at a time, and now you can exercise for 15 minutes, that is progress, isn't it? That's an accomplishment and is something you should be proud of.

NOTE: One measurement of progress in a weight loss program is quite simply "size". Two weeks into a weight loss program, you might actually have gained weight, for example, as I pointed out a few paragraphs ago. However, if your clothes are looser, or you need to buy smaller clothes, or friends are coming up and asking, "Have you lost weight?" these are good signs that your program is working even if your scales haven't gotten the news yet.

5. Plan to stay motivated:

One of the most common obstacles that knock people off their weight loss program is loss of motivation. The drive and excitement that gets you started is very seldom still around when you lace up your walking shoes for what seems like the millionth time and have only lost two lbs.

Including your reasons for losing weight, the emotional and perhaps physical triggers that got you started in the first place, as part of your written weight loss plan gives you a means of reinvigorating your desire to achieve your goals. We often forget how we felt and what we believed at the start of such a journey, and being able to pull out the paper and review the dreams and expectations can bring us back up to that original level, or at least remind us of what we are enduring this for.

I used to be an instructor for a major national corporation, and one thing that I and other instructors would tell our students was, to achieve their goals, they had to, "plan their work, and work their plan."

You will need a long-term goal. But since those are hard to stick to, create short-term goals to help you get there. You have a better chance of reaching your goals if you make sure that the weight loss plan that you use is reasonable right from the start.

The following are steps used by the experts to form weight loss plans and set personal goals.

Step 1 - Be realistic. Most people's long-term weight loss plans are more extreme than they have to be.

For example, if you are 45 years old and weigh 170 pounds and your long-term plan is to weigh 120, this may not be a realistic weight loss goal. Especially if you haven't weighed 120 since you were 16.

One way to find your reasonable weight is to go by your body mass index or BMI. This can be a good indicator of whether you need to shed pounds or not. According to the National Institutes of Health, the ideal BMI range is between 19 and 24.9. You are considered overweight if your BMI is between 25 and 29.9. Any numbers over 30 are in the obesity range.

You can use the BMI to measure how much weight you should lose and then set goals that work for you and your body type.

Step 2 - Make objectives that will keep you motivated. Find your reason to lose weight.

For some, using a weight loss plan just to look better is psychologically less effective than losing weight to improve your health. For example, avoiding stroke or heart attack can be a great motivator.

Other people may find that looking better means to feel better and more self confident. It may be that excess weight is keeping you from applying for that great job or stopping you from socializing.

In either case, you have made a big step forward if you are using a weight loss plan that includes exercise and eating right in order to feel better and have more energy to do something positive in your life. Now write out and post your objectives where you can see them each day. This is one way to help you stay on track.

Step 3 - Use measurable measures. Saying that you are going to get more serious this week or be more positive this week is not a goal that you can measure. This will not benefit any weight loss plan.

Using exercise in your weight loss plan will help you make a solid, measurable goal and stick to it. You can count up the minutes of exercise and keep track.

Step 4 - Focus on doing, not losing. Instead of saying that you are going to lose a pound this week, say how much you are going to exercise this week. This is something that is in your control so you can follow it.

Step 5 - Take smaller steps. Short-term weight loss plans should not be too extreme. For example, if you have never exercised at all, your best weight loss plan for this week should be to schedule three exercise days. Try finding three different one-mile routes that you can walk next week. If you have an exercise bike or treadmill, plan the time you will work out, for how long, and what music you will listen to while you are doing it.

And, again, be reasonable. If you don't exercise because the next hour of heavy breathing and movement is too much to bear, then set a goal of 10 minutes. Pretty soon 10 minutes will easily flow into 20 and so on. Work up to at least 30 minutes three times a week. This is an excellent start.

Step 6 - Use self-encouragement to motivate yourself. We have been told for many years to lose weight we must have an all-or-nothing attitude. However, this can set you up to fail. Learn to evaluate your efforts fairly and objectively. If you don't reach some of your goals, don't worry, instead look ahead to the next week. You did not "blow it." Just get back on track and move forward from there. And remember it's what you do most of the time, not some of the time.

The bottom line is, people should make weight loss plans that will only remain as it is, just a plan. They have to put it into action by incorporating goals that will motivate them to succeed.

Article Source : Weight Loss Stories

About Author

Both Donovan Baldwin & Cindy Papp are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.

Donovan Baldwin has sinced written about articles on various topics from Women, Health and Bodybuilding Supplements. Donovan Baldwin is a Dallas area writer. He is a graduate of the University of West Florida, a member of Mensa, and retired from the U. S. Army. Find more weight loss information at:. Donovan Baldwin's top article generates over 1220000 views. to your Favourites.

Cindy Papp has sinced written about articles on various topics from Lose Weight, Fitness and Metabolism. Want a real weight loss program that works? Find what really works for and or learn more about. Cindy Papp's top article generates over 6120000 views. to your Favourites.