Don’t Be Your Own Worst Critic

Now that you’ve made your New Year’s resolution, try breaking down your actual goal into specific steps. That will let you track your progress and adjust your weight loss plan if you encounter obstacles along the way. Specific goals can be helpful for weight loss as they focus on changing behaviors and habits that are necessary for achieving a desired outcome. Process goals include details of how you intend to reach your outcome goals for a successful resolution. Even if you don’t lose the number of pounds selected for your New Year’s resolution, eating healthier and being more physically active is good for your health and will likely lead to attaining a realistic weight at some point. If you focus your attention on making healthy choices every day and give your efforts enough time, you should see progress on the scale and in how your clothes fit. Being mindful of what you eat and why you need to exercise is key to success.

• Recruit Healthy Support - Most often, people are their own worst critic. Recruiting a workout buddy or having a family member participate in your journey can help you stay on track and be less stressed.
• Hold Yourself Accountable - Believing you can accomplish your goals is more than just maintain a positive mindset. It is your path to successful weight loss.
• Plan on Keeping Your Resolution - When setbacks occur, focus on what went wrong and learn from your mistakes. Giving yourself the leeway to make adjustments means you are less likely to completely give up on your resolution.
• Set a Realistic Resolution - Never make a resolution where the goals are next to impossible to achieve. That’s a sneaky way of planning to fail. If you’re not really invested, don’t set a resolution.
• Stay Persistent but Be Patient - Set goals that are doable and meaningful for you. Plus, be clear about your intentions and avoid setting resolutions that have a vague time interval.
• Track Your Progression - Understand that it is important to make adjustments as you get further along in your weight loss journey. Measuring your progress, helps ensure an accurate path.

Setting a goal to lose unwanted weight over the next year is a simple resolve but shedding pounds and keeping them off requires setting small attainable goals. Moreover, it is important to celebrate milestones to boost your efforts. If you tend to get stuck in a rut, changing up your menus can be the spice of life. Eating at home more often can help you manage consumption and will allow your creativity in the kitchen to take center stage. Avoid gimmicks, fad diets, and over-the-counter weight loss products. There is very little evidence any of these result in permanent weight loss. Plan your journey and celebrate your successes along the way. If you avoid the fad diets and fitness trends that end in self-sabotaging behaviors, you can set realistic goals to lose weight and improve your health in 2021. Nonetheless, consider seeking professional weight loss guidance to jump start your resolution.