Healthy Weight Loss - How Small Changes Can Make a Big Difference
The key to healthy weight loss is to make sure you take things slowly and lose weight, as well as implement changes to your activity level gradually. If you implement your changes over a longer period of time you are more likely to stick to them and over time they will become habits (research has shown after around six weeks of continuously doing an action it becomes a habit) and actions you will automatically do. This is true whether it is changes to your diet or changes to your amount of exercise.
Many people often fall at the first hurdle because they set themselves unrealistic targets from the start. If you want to lose weight then dropping your calorie intake from 3000/ 4000 down to 500/1000 straight away is unrealistic and you are bound to fail. If you were to make the same calorie drop over around six months and gradually lower your intake a little at a time then you give yourself a far higher chance of succeeding. The reason is that over a longer period of time your body will adapt to the changes. If it is done suddenly then there is a chance your body will switch into starvation mode. This is the last thing you want for weight loss.
Increasing the amount and or intensity of exercise you participate in dramatically can have the same negative effects. Unfortunately around 80% of people who decide they are going get more active give up before four weeks. This can be attributed to one simple reason. They try to do too much too soon. This can lead to injuries and more importantly it can ruin your motivation.
The best way to achieve healthy weight loss is to approach it by taking small manageable changes. By implementing these changes one at a time you will see far greater results and far higher motivation. By setting small goals and attaining them generally gives people higher motivation to achieve the next goal set.
So although you probably already know you should be eating a far healthier menu that includes more fresh fruit and vegetables and lean meats. It is a huge task to change your entire diet in one go from takeaways and sugary, fatty snacks. A much better way would be to say for example right this week instead of eating the packet of crisps I eat on my tea break I will have an apple instead. Then once you have conquered that, change something else. Before you know it you will have revitalized a large part of your diet and will be reaping the rewards.
When taking up a new exercise regime you should be thinking about it the same way as your diet. One small step at a time. Set yourself one small goal and then once you have achieved that, set yourself a new goal e.g. if you haven't done any exercise for a while maybe walk for ten minutes 3 times a week. Then if you can manage that maybe try fifteen minutes 3 times a week and so on until you reach whatever your ultimate goal is. It is important to set goals that precise and achievable for this to work. If you work at this gradually at a reasonable rate of progress you will be amazed at the results you can achieve.
Many people often fall at the first hurdle because they set themselves unrealistic targets from the start. If you want to lose weight then dropping your calorie intake from 3000/ 4000 down to 500/1000 straight away is unrealistic and you are bound to fail. If you were to make the same calorie drop over around six months and gradually lower your intake a little at a time then you give yourself a far higher chance of succeeding. The reason is that over a longer period of time your body will adapt to the changes. If it is done suddenly then there is a chance your body will switch into starvation mode. This is the last thing you want for weight loss.
Increasing the amount and or intensity of exercise you participate in dramatically can have the same negative effects. Unfortunately around 80% of people who decide they are going get more active give up before four weeks. This can be attributed to one simple reason. They try to do too much too soon. This can lead to injuries and more importantly it can ruin your motivation.
The best way to achieve healthy weight loss is to approach it by taking small manageable changes. By implementing these changes one at a time you will see far greater results and far higher motivation. By setting small goals and attaining them generally gives people higher motivation to achieve the next goal set.
So although you probably already know you should be eating a far healthier menu that includes more fresh fruit and vegetables and lean meats. It is a huge task to change your entire diet in one go from takeaways and sugary, fatty snacks. A much better way would be to say for example right this week instead of eating the packet of crisps I eat on my tea break I will have an apple instead. Then once you have conquered that, change something else. Before you know it you will have revitalized a large part of your diet and will be reaping the rewards.
When taking up a new exercise regime you should be thinking about it the same way as your diet. One small step at a time. Set yourself one small goal and then once you have achieved that, set yourself a new goal e.g. if you haven't done any exercise for a while maybe walk for ten minutes 3 times a week. Then if you can manage that maybe try fifteen minutes 3 times a week and so on until you reach whatever your ultimate goal is. It is important to set goals that precise and achievable for this to work. If you work at this gradually at a reasonable rate of progress you will be amazed at the results you can achieve.
