Live In Fitness – Weight Loss

How to Meet Your Weight Loss Goals

Every year at the beginning of January, Americans flood the gyms to take on the most popular New Year’s resolution: get healthy. Before long, however, the crowds waiting to use the squat rack thin out and its back to normal. 

Sticking to weight loss goals is difficult and there are plenty of pitfalls along the way. Here are some ways to help you stay on the path to you weight loss goals:

Set Goals and Make a Plan

The number one most important step in successfully meeting your weight loss goals is to set realistic benchmarks and put in a plan to reach them. Many people set very general goals like, “I want to lose 20 pounds” without creating a plan. 

When they don’t see quick progress toward that goal they give up. Instead, give yourself benchmarks you can reach to build momentum. Commit to losing 5 pounds in two weeks and create a plan to do it.

Create a workout schedule and a nutrition plan and stick to it. That will give you something concrete to focus on as you move toward your goal.

Plan Your Meals

Meal planning is a great tactic for more than just weight loss. Knowing what you are going to eat throughout the week helps save money and time. When you are going through your week without preplanning meals, you may be inclined to follow the whims of your appetite rather than stick to your nutrition plan. 

Plus, when the busy activities of your week start to catch up to you, you might be tempted to make the cheap and quick fast food option rather than preparing a healthy meal.

It also helps you keep track of the types of foods you eat to give you optimized nutrition to help you shed the pounds while giving you enough energy to take on the day and get you through your workout.

Preparing your meals every week may sound like a lot of work but most of the time, it can be done once or twice through the week. Say you want to have chicken and rice this week. 

On a Saturday, you can buy five chicken breasts, a box of rice, and five small plastic containers. You can place the chicken on a baking pan, sprinkle some seasoning on each (switch up the spices to change the flavor throughout the week), and bake it for 45 minutes. Then cook the rice while you wait. In about an hour you have a hearty and healthy lunch for the whole week.

Change Up Your Routine

If you’ve faithfully kept your meal plan and your workout routine for a few months but you feel yourself starting to get bored, you might be more likely to fall off the wagon. Plus, there are more benefits to shaking things up than simply spicing up your week. 

Of course, experiencing new healthy foods is more enjoyable than eating the same old same old. However, it can help you find new healthy food options that you enjoy which will help your nutrition plan feel more like a lifestyle than a diet.

As for your workout routine, changing up the way you work out can help keep your body from adapting. When you first start a weight loss program, you may see immediate results but when after a while your body starts to get used to the added work you are doing. 

As your body adapts to be more efficient in your workout, it burns less fat and you hit a plateau. Changing up your routine can help break through that plateau.

Live in Fitness!