Many people in 2010 would have made resolutions about weight loss and vowed to make 2010 a lighter year. Many of these people would have joined the gym and spent the first week of January working hard towards their goal.


After that first week they would have started to flag and the gym visits would have become less and less frequent. Life would have ultimately gotten in the way and the weight loss resolution would be placed on the back burner.

Why is that though? Well when we make new years resolutions, they are usually in the moment. There is no planning involved or real commitment apart from saying you are going to do it. Within this is where the problem lies.

You see weight loss doesn’t just happen by saying out loud that you are going to lose weight this year. Those who want to succeed at losing weight have to plan. They have to plan because when you lose weight you are changing habits and lifestyle behaviors that have become almost automatic and ingrained. Most resolutions are spare of the moment decisions with no real planning or idea of how they are going to do it apart from by joining the gym which they will then end up ultimately leaving by April (I spoke to a gym instructor who told me that the majority of people who sign up in January come a few times then never come again and by April most of them have left!).

So by now, after making your resolutions and joining a gym, you may be wondering how you can make your weight loss goals a reality (having failed over the past month).

Well there are 2 options. You can either discover things about yourself, become more self aware and write your own healthy eating plan or you can find a dieting plan that has already be made so you don’t have to do much thinking in fact no thinking. There are many diet programs that offer a diet generator that even gives you a ready to print shopping list. There are also delivery services that deliver diet food weekly to your door (another way to do it if you don’t have the time to make your own plan or prepare meals).

If you choose to do it your own way then it will take some more effort and preparation. A good starting point is to take a few days to observe your eating habits and write everything down. When you know how you eat and drink on a daily basis in a lot of detail you can then go about changing it. Once you have this information use a service like fitday.com (which is free) and find out how many calories you are getting each day. It might be wise just to work on cutting down your calorie intake before you worry about things such as how much protein, fat or carbohydrates you are getting.

Now look for things in your diet you could quite easily cut out to bring down the calories, for example sodas or juices. Store bought juices aren’t very good for you anyway and it is best to stick to just drinking water. If you love juice then try making your very own home made freshly squeezed juice. This will have the nutrients still in it and also won’t have added refined sugar like store bought ones do – instead it will how natural sugars.

Spend the first month just focusing on small changes you can make. Try to get your head out of the mentality that you can shift all your weight in a matter of days/weeks. Instead focus on changing small things. Small things can have a huge impact on your weight so you may end up losing a lot just from simple changes. Taking a before picture also will let you see exactly what small changes can do a month down the line.
Once you have made these small changes, it is then worth refining your diet and moving it towards a better balanced one. You can start by eating 2-3 pieces of fruit before each meal you eat and also making sure you add in a daily salad. I find the easiest way to get lots of salad in me is to make a soup or sauce and pour over. I also like to fold in my salad with my main dinner as this also helps make me get tons of veggies in.

These are great starting points to losing weight and becoming healthier. Within those months of starting the process and cutting out small things you should be able to learn enough to continue to make refinements in terms of eating more whole foods and cutting down on fat.

Make sure that you start to include in exercise as well. They best way to do this is to start with a few times a week and work up to doing something everyday. Try to pick something you enjoy and change things about a bit. A good idea is to try different classes each week. You could try out yoga one week and ball room dancing the next. This makes exercise more inviting and fun and something you can do with your partner or friends. You don’t have to stick to a stiff regiment of exercise. It should be fun otherwise what is the point!

If you don’t feel that planning is an option for you as you simply do not have the time then finding a suitable healthy weight loss diet might be more appropriate. You can of course try out a diet meal delivery service too. This site has many reviews of different diets and services so check them out.