5-Steps to Permanent Weight Loss

It's easier to reach your destination with a map so consider this your roadmap to permanent weight loss. Follow these five steps, every day for one week. At the end of the week (Sunday evening perhaps) take a five minute inventory. How has the week gone? Did you first plan then follow through with that plan or did you take a lot of side trips? The idea isn't to chastize or berate yourself if you didn't follow through but to figure out what worked and what didn't so you can fine-tune the plan for the next week. Make adjustments where necessary and revise until you have a plan that works for you, for your lifestyle.

Each week decide if you'd like to follow the steps for another week. It takes discipline but even the lottery requires buying a ticket. Without some effort you are stuck.

STEP 1: State What You Want to Achieve in the Next Month

"I want to lose 25 pounds."

Is that achievable in the next month? If not, break it down into smaller mini-goals. "I want to lose 5 pounds this month."

What other ways can you describe what you want? Try using other senses such as what you'll see, what you might hear (compliments, etc.) and what you will feel:

"I want to step on the scale and see (a certain number) of pounds (remember keep it reasonable for something you can achieve in one month).

"I want to feel my pants getting looser."

"I want other people to notice I'm looking better and tell me I look good."

"I want to easily bend over and touch my toes."

"I want to get up from a seated position, easily and gracefully."

Those are positive goals. Focus on what you want. How you want to feel, what you want to experience. Imagine hearing these things, feeling these things.

STEP 2: Decide Which Habit to Change First

You'll likely have more than one habit to change so choose one (what you choose is not as important as simply choosing something). Get out your weekly calendar and start with eating less (portion control), eating more (healthier foods), or eating differently.

Do you eat pizza every Friday night? What if you ate it only three Fridays a month? What if you stopped at one slice less than usual? I've noticed that Friday nights I easily eat four slices yet with leftover pizza one slice seems to be plenty. What's different is that Saturdays don't have the "indulgence" mindset that accompanies Friday nights. That's my perspective, what's yours? What do you notice yourself doing and what can you change in your regular eating habits?

Do you mindlessly snack on a bag of chips until they're gone? Try portion control: take a small bowlful to your chair instead of the whole bag. Decide in advance how many bowls you'll eat, and stick to your plan. Take your time. Taste the chips for a change. Pay attention and be reasonable. If you know it's going to take three bowls of chips before you're satisfied, that's fine. It's less than eating the whole bag, and later you can cut it back to two bowls. One day you may find a handful or two is enough.

Gradually cutting back on quantity, slowly introducing other new foods such as an apple when you want a crunchy food, and modifying what you prefer to eat is a far better approach than eliminating all your favorite foods. The former is a way to develop an eating style that works for you and that you can live with. The latter (fad diet approach) is fine for short-term weight loss but that weight inevitably comes back simply because you'll eventually go back to the eating style you prefer.

STEP 3: Move it to Lose it

Adding regular exercise helps enormously because the more active you are the more calories you burn. Muscle tissue requires calories, fat does not. The more muscle you have the more calories you burn just sitting there. Decide what you might do, when you'll do it, and how often? Do you need equipment, books, tapes, shoes, or can you just get started and walk out your front door and around the block?

Write it down. It should include which days of the week and what time of day. Don't make the mistake of saying you'll exercise every single day. Build in rest days and make it ultra easy at first. You can always add more later.

Hate to exercise? Think outside the box. Exercise does not have to mean getting sweaty to the oldies. It can be gardening, bike riding, enjoying nature. All activity counts so household chores, washing the car, up and down stairs and even watching TV if you are playing with games such as DDR (Dance, Dance, Revolution) or the Yourself! Fitness program for X-box, PC and PlayStation. Dance, play, go fishing. Whatever floats your boat, just get out and get busy.

STEP 4: Create a Weight Loss Plan

Start by listing each individual goal or milestone you want to achieve, and then answer the question of how you will achieve it? This is a brainstorming session so be creative and think it through.

Examples of Brainstorming Ideas:

1. I want to eat less food. I'd achieve this by having half or three-quarters of the amount I usually have then see if that works. I'll keep a food diary for a week, religiously writing down everything that goes in my mouth.

2. I want to eat more, healthier foods. I'll add more fruits and vegetables for snacks, so when I'm hungry, or think I'm hungry, I'll have an apple or some mini carrots. This has the added benefit of more nutrition.

3. I want to slow down my eating. I'll achieve this by paying more attention while eating. I'm going to turn off distractions like the TV and not read while I eat (just for a meal or two first). I'll see each bite as a separate event and take notes. I'm going to write down what I'm tasting and see what I notice that I never noticed before. If I practice getting intune to the different smells, sights, textures, and subtle tastes I may realize there's much more to some of the foods I love than I knew before. I'll make an effort to really chew each bite at least 10 times.

4. I want to add exercise but don't know what to do. I'll go to the library and look on the Internet for ideas. I may get a free pass to the gym down the road, perhaps check into local dance classes, talk to friends, borrow exercise tapes. I may go hiking. I'll also try to find exercises I can do in front of the TV or on the floor in my bedroom when I first get up. I'm going to experiment at first to find something I enjoy doing. I'll start slowly, then add more after the first few weeks, when I'm ready.

Choose one of the above then close your eyes and imagine carrying out that one thing. If you chose getting up an hour earlier, see yourself actually doing it. The alarm is going off and it's darker and colder than usual. Can you see yourself getting up or are you pulling the covers back over your head? Does it fit, does it feel like something you can do? If you're a night person an early morning workout probably won't work so think of midday or evening workouts. Find what would work for you.

If you can't see yourself following through when imagining it, it won't likely happen, so adjust and tinker until you find something you can imagine doing. It's consistency that gets the results, even if you start with just five minutes. You may need to push yourself a bit to get started but once you do you'll find how much better you feel having done it, and that leads to wanting to do it again the next time. Better to leave yourself wanting more. In other words, don't keep going just because you feel like you can. Stick to your plan. If you decided on 10 minutes, stop at 10 minutes. There's always tomorrow.

STEP 5: Determine What You Need Then Get Started

1) Small notebook to carry for tracking eating (needed short-term to get an idea of what I'm eating and where I might make small changes).

2) Monthly calendar to track exercise minutes, even if it's only 10 minutes this month and 20 next, that's progress. (You are after progress, not perfection).

3) Visit library or order book online for exercise ideas. Pushups, crunches, etc., can be done without any extra equipment.

4) Buy healthy foods to have on hand such as fruits, cut up vegetables. Visit different grocery stores and markets to see what's there I hadn't noticed. Make dinner at least twice a week and freeze leftovers into ready-to-eat frozen meals.

5) Purchase or order supplements, protein powders, videos, etc., if wanted.

Finally, start working your plan. Don't wait for the next full-moon or some other arbitrary starting date. Just get started. The sooner you start, the sooner you begin to see results.