Avoid Free-for-Alls Where Anything Goes

When it's time to shed pounds, you may be the type to dive headfirst into a new diet plan. However, buying into the latest fad diet and setting unrealistic exercise goals are the shortcuts to weight loss failure. The correct way to achieve sustainable weight loss is to make methodical changes to your existing lifestyle. While there is not an easy fix to shedding pounds, there are steps you can take to develop a healthier relationship with food. Ultimately, any menu plan is only good for you if it is something you can stick with over time. Typical components of a healthy lifestyle include maintaining a healthy weight, not smoking, eating healthy, and routine exercise. Always avoid sudden free-for-alls where anything and everything goes.

Use These Tips to Cultivate New Habits

For permanent weight loss, you need to cultivate new habits that are healthier over time. Remember, your new habits need to be ones you can stick to over long term, such as:

• Eat Right - People often mistake calories as some scary thing to avoid. That’s because burning less energy than you consume will lead to weight gain. Making good choices when it comes to meal selection will eliminate the need of determining how many calories are in a particular dish. Instead, eat lots of produce and whole grains along with low-fat proteins.
• Practical Exercise Routine - All it takes is an hour of walking each day to lose weight. In terms of exercise, that is all you need to do. No expensive gym equipment or working out until you're sore. Moderate exercise does the job, as long as you do it on a regular basis.
• Build a Support System - A positive influence by those around you can increase your chances of losing weight and keeping it off. Identify those people who are committed to making healthy, lasting lifestyle changes and work together to offer each other encouragement to lose weight.
• Sleep Well - When you lack sleep, your body does not produce the right hormones to keep your appetite in control. Even more detrimental is a lack of sleep can increase hormone imbalance as well creating a cycle of frustration. This means that when you get the rest you need, you'll have more energy every day.
• Document Your Success - What you will want to do is write down what you are eating, how much you exercise, and monitor your success as you move toward your weight-loss goals. Documenting what you do shows which methods work and don't work for you.

Before you eat something or allow someone else to influence your food decisions, think about the goals you'll be missing out on if you give in to the indulgence. Eating healthy is your new positive way of living your life.

Life Would Be Miserable Without Food

Life would be pretty miserable without food, so quit treating food as your enemy. Changing your attitude as to what is healthy means learning to accept your body. If you attitude about losing weight is to stick your head in the sand, you are going to be disappointed by the lack of results. To effectively lose weight and keep it off, you have to be stronger than your excuses. Nourishing your body and eating food provides the fuel for you to get things done and boosts your mental health as well. If you view eating healthy as your punishment for gaining weight, it is time to adjust your attitude. It is this kind of thinking that causes most weight loss stories to end with the person gaining all the weight back. Adopting a positive attitude can keep culprits from popping up and derailing your strategies.