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Weight loss: 6 strategies for success
Make your weight-loss goals a reality. Follow these proven strategies.
By Mayo Clinic staffYou probably know that hundreds of different fad diets, weight-loss programs and outright scams promise quick and easy weight loss. But the foundation of every successful weight-loss program still remains a healthy, low-calorie diet combined with exercise. You must make permanent changes in your lifestyle and health habits to lose significant weight and keep it off.
How do you make those permanent changes? Follow these six strategies.
1. Make a commitment
Permanent weight loss takes time and effort. It requires focus and a lifelong commitment. Make sure that you're ready to make permanent changes and that you do so for the right reasons. No one else can make you lose weight. In fact, external pressure — often from people closest to you — may make matters worse. You must undertake diet and exercise changes to please yourself.
As you're planning new weight-related lifestyle changes, try to resolve any other problems in your life. It takes a lot of mental and physical energy to change your habits. So make sure you aren't distracted by other major life issues, such as marital or financial problems. Timing is key to success. Ask yourself if you're ready to take on the challenges of serious weight loss.
2. Get emotional support
To succeed in losing weight, you have to take responsibility for your own behavior. But that doesn't mean that you have to do everything alone. Seek support when needed from your partner, family and friends.
Pick people who you know want the best for you and who will encourage you. Ideally, find people who will listen to your concerns and feelings, spend time exercising with you, and share the priority you've placed on developing a healthier lifestyle.
3. Set a realistic goal
When you're considering what to expect from your new eating and exercise plan, be realistic. Over the long term, it's best to aim for losing 1 to 2 pounds (0.5 to 1 kilogram) a week, although initially you might lose weight more quickly if you make significant changes — just be sure the changes are health supporting. To lose 1 to 2 pounds a week, you need to burn 500 to 1,000 calories more than you consume each day, through a low-calorie diet and regular exercise.
When you're setting goals, think about process and outcome. "Exercise regularly" is an example of a process goal, while "Lose 30 pounds" is an example of an outcome goal. It isn't essential that you have an outcome goal, but you should establish process goals because changing your process — your habits — is the key to weight loss. Make sure that your goals are SMART: specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and trackable. An example of a SMART goal is aiming to walk for 30 minutes a day, five days a week, and logging your results.
Next page(1 of 2)
- Do you know your health risks for being overweight? National Institute of Digestive and Diabetes & Kidney Diseases. http://win.niddk.nih.gov/publications/health_risks.htm. Accessed Oct. 30, 2008.
- Clinical guidelines on the identification, evaluation, and treatment of overweight and obesity in adults: The evidence report. Bethesda, Md.: National Institutes of Health. http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/guidelines/obesity/ob_gdlns.htm. Accessed Oct. 30, 2008.
- Hensrud DD, ed. Healthy Weight for Everybody. Rochester, Minn.: Mayo Foundation for Medication Education and Research; 2005:24.
- Hensrud DD, et al. The Mayo Clinic Diet. Intercourse, Pa.: Good Books; 2010.
- Hensrud DD (expert opinion). Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minn. Nov. 3, 2009.
- Ainsworth BE, et al. Compendium of physical activities: An update of activity codes and MET intensities. Medicine and Sciences in Sports and Exercise. 2000;32:S498.
- Duyff RL. American Dietetic Association: Complete Food and Nutrition Guide. 3rd ed. Hoboken, N.J.: John Wiley & Sons; 2006:29.
