How to Keep Your Weight Loss New Year’s Resolution
December 17, 2018 at 1:43 PM
Every year we make resolutions to start the New Year off on the right foot. Taking steps to set yourself up for a successful New Year and stick to your goals is something that everyone can achieve with preparation. In this article, we will provide you with easy steps to help you stick to your nutritional and health goals for the coming year.
Setting Your Weight Loss Goals
It is important to be realistic when setting your weight loss goals. We encourage you to set both long term and short term goals to measure your success. This is helpful in continuing to stay focused on your long term goal, but also show progress to yourself by hitting smaller goals that you should be proud of. For instance, if you have a goal to lose 50 pounds, this may seem very daunting. By breaking this into smaller, more achievable goals throughout the year, this will help you not only achieve those goals but continue on your weight loss journey.
Set Yourself Up for Success
Setting yourself up for success is an extremely important step to take when planning your New Year weight loss resolution. Setting daily goals for both food/nutrition and activity is great place to start. Perhaps you want to incorporate more vegetables to your diet, or cut out sugar. Whatever the goal, defining that for yourself will help set the tone in your journey to meet your goals and resolutions.
Incorporating more physical activity to your daily routine is something that is another imperative piece to this journey. Signing up for a gym membership may be something that will hold you responsible to be active each day. If a gym membership is not something that you can do, setting a goal to be active for at least 30 minutes each day is a wonderful short term goal to begin with. Down the road, you can adjust these goals as you continue your progress. Some great examples to start you out would be a 30 minute brisk walk outside. If it is too cold outside or weather conditions are not favorable, you could do a 30 minute walk through an indoor mall, or a 30 minute exercise video. In addition to a walk, other exercises that are wonderful (and convenient) additions would be 10 minutes a day of modified push ups, 15 minutes of walking lunges, abdominal crunches and VOILA you have yourself a full body workout that can be accomplished in the convenience of your own home!
Another way to set yourself up for success would be to find a physical activity that you find fun. Maybe this is the new Zumba or yoga class being offered at a nearby center. Trying new classes or activities is also a fantastic way to find something you really enjoy and work into your daily routine.
VLCD Diet
If you are not familiar with VLCD diets, please visit this page to learn more about this program. A VLCD diet is an acronym for a Very Low Calorie Diet. This is typically a diet that is medically supervised and something that we offer here at our Medical Weight Loss Solutions office. Our program combines education on nutrition as well as modifying day-to-day unhealthy behaviors which result in rapid weight loss. Signing up with a nutritionist + health coach to embark this journey of achieving your weight loss New Year’s resolution is very valuable. Reach out to us today to learn more on how to get started!
Weight Loss Motivation
It can be hard to find weight loss motivation at times, or sometimes it is hard to keep motivation present in your daily life. There are so many great tools and resources for you to explore to find out which you like best to aid in this journey. Many people enjoy using a pedometer or Fitbit to help keep track of their physical activity each day. A Fitbit shows users how many steps have been take, calories have been burner, flights of stairs stepped as well as active minutes. A food diary is a complimentary step you could take to help keep track of your dietary needs. Both of these items help to keep individuals accountable for reaching daily activity goals.
Other resources that are very helpful, especially for people who are in the car a lot, is nutrition podcasts. There is a huge base of nutritional and health podcasts which is a great way to learn more and arm yourself with interesting information to help you reach your weight loss goals for 2019!
