The battle for victory over obesity is one that many people are fighting. There are so many books and diets and supposed cure-all pills on the market that those that seriously want or need to shed some weight have a difficult time knowing what to choose.
The fact of the matter is that pills and diets may work for a short period of time,
but is you want to lose weight and keep it off you must alter your lifestyle. Losing weight and reverting back to the same unhealthy way of living and eating will only cause you to regain that weight and likely feel worse about yourself.
Self-Assessment
The first thing that you should do before attempting to overcome obesity is to honestly assess your lifestyle and your previous efforts at weight loss. You should actually put pen to paper and write down what aspects of your current lifestyle are positive toward weight loss and a healthy lifestyle and which are negative. If you can truly be honest in this area you will have taken a huge step toward overcoming obesity.
You should also write down all of the previous diets, weight loss programs, and pills that you have tried. Make special note of whether there was any success, how long it lasted, whether or not exercise was incorporated in, and what you think was missing that could have accelerated the success and promoted positive long-term results.
Diet
Going on a diet plan is usually not the answer for various reasons. First of all, the chances of you sticking to a rigorous diet plan for life are slim to none. In addition, these short-term diets often are not nutritionally balanced and can leave your body depleted of some much needed nutrients. While this may cause you to lose weight, it could create other health problems. The one exception to this is when a medical doctor or professional nutritionist assigns you a diet for specific health reasons.
Instead of a diet plan, do your best to clean up what you eat. This means that you should incorporate as many fresh fruits and vegetables as possible in your meals and snacks. The raw produce will flood your body with nutrients that you are unlikely to get anywhere else. This is because heating any food cooks the nutrients out of it. The longer it is cooked, the fewer nutrients the food will have to supply your body.
Keep a journal of what you eat and when you eat it. This will help you identify emotional eating and recognize the habits you need to break. Eliminate processed sugar, fast foods, soda, and any other processed foods as much as possible. Often, just knowing that you will write down every piece of food that you put in your mouth will deter you from eating out of habit.
Another great idea that can help curb cravings and reduce appetite is to use a cleanse at the beginning of your change in diet. These can be picked up online or at a local nutrition store. There are many varieties to choose from. Some are designed to be performed over a week long period, some over a 24 hour period. You will have to determine which one will work best for you. However, once a cleanse is performed you often find that you do not crave sweets like you did and you may even lose a few pounds during the cleanse.
Exercise
Exercise if very important to a healthy lifestyle. Too many people want a pill to do all the work while they continue sitting in front of the television eating potato chips. For any weight loss regiment to be the most successful, you must incorporate exercise. This can be as simple as going for a daily walk or you can join a gym or exercise class.
Exercise is important to burn calories and melt fat, but it is also important for cardiovascular and pulmonary health. It is also vital to removing toxins from your body. Sweating the toxins out will assist your body in proper functioning. This can dramatically increase your metabolism.
Track Your Progress
You should keep track of the progress that you make along the way. The same journal that you used to do your self-assessment can be used for this purpose as well. There are a number of factors that you should track along the way.
• Weight – While you should keep track of how much you weigh when you begin and once a week until you reach your goal; do not focus too much on this area alone. There may be times that weight drops quickly and other times that it seems stagnant, but do not give up.
• Measurements – You should measure yourself each time that you weigh yourself. This means measure your bust, waist, hips, buttocks, and thighs. Sometimes when your weight has reached a plateau you will see that you are still dropping inches.
• Feeling – This should actually be recorded before you take your weight and measurements as to not be influenced by the results of the other measurements. This is an important factor that many trying to overcome obesity neglect. As your body becomes healthier you will most likely find that your energy level increases, battles that you may have had with depression will become less, and food cravings may become less.
These simple steps can help you to achieve victory as you overcome obesity. Here are a few more tips:
• Healthy snacks – Keep healthy snacks with you to help you avoid picking up junk on the spur of the moment.
• Eat frequently – By having a little healthy snack every two to three hours you will avoid overeating because you are overly hungry.
• Make good choices – It can be very difficult to choose healthy when you are around friends that are eating unhealthy. If you can make good choices, such as a salad instead of fries at lunch, you will dramatically reduce your caloric intake.
As you work toward overcoming obesity you will have days that you do not make the right choices or give into temptation. Do not allow yourself to come under condemnation. You must simply start again, knowing that you are making progress.
