Weight Loss in 2011 – How To Get Started

Weight loss in 2011 is going to be easy. Read this article for more help.


It is coming to the end of another year and it is nearly time to start many new resolutions for the year ahead. As with every Christmas that goes by, many people gorge and eat lots of delicious Christmas food only to start the New Year resolving the extra weight they have put on from it or from the rest of the year that is now behind them.

Well, most people end up starting the year with good intentions but soon fall off the Wagon and back into their habits from the year before. This is evident from the fact that those who sign up for a Gym membership will drop out by April. It’s sad but true and you may even realise your own attempts faltering off after a week or month last year from your own resolutions. So what gets someone to stick to his or her resolutions? How can you make sure you stick to yours, especially when it comes to weight loss, this year?

Well, first of most Resolutions are made on a whim or spare of the moment and not given much more thought than that. Once the Resolution has been established no planning is put into it and most people think they can just wing it. Unfortunately habits aren’t that easy to change, which is further reinforced by the saying that it takes 21 days to make a habit. Change is difficult and has humans we hate change – we like familiarity. What we eat and what we do in our routine will have to be changed in order for successful weight loss to happen. At first, these changes we make have to be fully and consciously committed to until we have made them a habit or a lifestyle change. Until it comes naturally and becomes part of our normal routine, we are in a very sensitive position. It is very easy to fall back onto the take aways, junk food and the no-exercise lifestyle.

People also mistakenly think that a weight loss Resolution is something easy to resolve, however many people find losing weight extremely difficult and one of those reasons is likely to be because of habits. The notion of weight loss being easy, being able to eat healthy and exercise as a doddle, also prevents people from truly preparing for their weight loss journey. Why do you need to plan for something that is straight forward as making a few dietary changes and getting off your butt? Well it is much easier said than done. As we have established, habits die hard.

So if you want to be successful with losing weight in 2011, you have to make sure you have some sort of plan. If you truly want to lose weight and keep it off, then making sure you make small changes over time is a much better approach and something you will be able to cope with a lot better than forcing yourself to change your entire diet over night. There are simple ways you can do this. Start by making sure you have a good grasp of what you are eating and drinking first. Write down everything you eat and drink, including snacks, over a few days. This is the best way to see what you are really eating instead of relying on your memory. Life is so rushed and busy that acknowledging everything we eat and then remembering it is actually really difficult. We might even miss out things as we go into auto-pilot for snacks etc. So get a good grasp of what you are eating

Once you know your eating and drinking habits you can then make a plan of things you can change. Maybe make month one to cut out all fizzy drinks and soft drinks and just stick to water and herbal tea. This might seem like a very small step to changing your habits but despite how small it may seem, it might be the only thing you can stick to. Also just because it is small doesn’t mean it won’t have a huge impact on your weight. Many people find simply by cutting out soda and sugary drinks they lose a lot of weight. If you drink a lot of soda then you may find this occurs to. Of course though, it is best to focus on obtaining healthy habits as opposed to weight loss initially as you can easily get disheartened or eager to push forward when you aren’t ready to. If you think that drinking just water will be easy, try it for a week then add a new healthy habit in. Again this should be something you can manage without feeling like you make freak out and go back to insanely bad habits.

For some more examples of easy to manage changes, you may want to have fruit for breakfast or eat fruit before every meal. You can also incorporate in a salad every day at some point. The goal should be at first to add in more fruits and vegetables. Fruits will help satiate you and thus you will eat less of your main meal (Having your dessert (fruit) before your main meal will spoil your appetite!). Doing it this way allows you to continue to enjoy those everyday junky foods you love but on the condition you get in your fruit first. You will then know when you are ready to give up a junky meal for something healthier.

This should also be applied to exercise and getting active. Exercise doesn’t have to be just going to the gym or running or a sport. Exercise can be dancing around the house with your kids, or chasing them at the park. It can be checking out a different dance class every week or going for a walk with the family. Use your imagination and make it fun because sticking to something you hate doesn’t work.

It might take you until the end of 2011 to have a radical lifestyle change i.e. for your dietary habits and exercise habits to be completely different to when you started the year, but that is a good thing. Doing things over a period of time ensures that you stick to them. You also won’t be hit with that “wow this is totally different to what I am used to” doing things slowly. On reflection at the end of the year you may be utterly shocked at how different your lifestyle is now compared to when you started. That’s a good thing.

So if you want to lose weight in 2011, take it slow and enjoy every step. Don’t overburden yourself just love the experience of getting fit and healthy without the panic.

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