Millions of people struggle with being overweight and obese. Whether it’s your first time attempting to lose weight or your hundredth crash diet, the stress of trying to change your lifestyle for the better can be incredibly taxing. Some of this anguish can be directly linked to the physical discomfort when starting an exercise regime or hunger pains that start with changing your eating habits. The majority of the struggle can also be associated with the mental torment one feels when facing the daunting reality of a healthy diet coupled with regular exercise. Some of this is inevitable, and must be taken in stride if one wishes to see long-term results. Some of it can also be completely avoided if the proper mental planning takes place beforehand.
Be Clear-Eyed in Your Goals
Creating the right frame of mind starts with attitude. Knowing precisely why you want to lose weight whether it be for health reasons like high cholesterol or diabetes, or maybe you simply want to look and feel better overall. Lugging around extra weight is tiring. Your back and knees suffer from prolonged standing or walking and your stamina is greatly diminished. Whatever your reasons, get excited to start the journey. Buy a calendar, mark your exercise days, and set a realistic goal for the end of each month to manage expectations.
Prepare a Shopping List
Once you’re mentally committed, it’s time to put that commitment to test with a diet plan. Everyone knows the cornerstone of any healthy lifestyle is eating the right food with the right portion size. Different diets work for different people, so regardless of which one you choose it needs to meet your base nutritional requirements and be something you can stick to long term. Fundamentally if you cut down carbs, and sugars, and increase your fruit and vegetable intake, you are taking an important step in the right direction.
Motivate Yourself With Rewards
Once you have a diet planned and exercise regime in place don’t forget to incentivize your effort. For every hard-earned goal you reach, give yourself a reward, it should be something small and no, not a slice of cake from your favorite bakery. If you’ve made it this far don’t muck it up with a lapse in diet discipline and fall into old patterns. Go to a movie, get a massage, buy some new clothes, and write it down afterwards with the rest of your plan.
Conclusion
The first step in planning a weight loss regime is preparing yourself mentally. With the right planning and goal setting, your dieting and exercise will pay off in the long run!
