Weight loss, specifically fat loss, is a process that requires patience, perseverance, self-efficacy, and determination. It's more than exercise and nutrition programming; it's also behavioral and mental. Sometimes there are other changes outside of the gym that you have to make. It could be your attitudes and perceptions of exercise and nutrition or of your ability to lose weight. It could be triggers in your environment that is causing you to veer off course too often. Maybe it's that you don't know the quality of the calories or ingredients that you're consuming and how it is affecting your weight loss goals. The following tips are tools to help you reach your weight loss destination.
1. Keep track of your calories; not only how many calories you're consuming, but also the quality of the calories that you're consuming. A candy bar that's 250 calories is not as nutritious as a 250 calorie chicken wrap.
2. Keep a food journal. Record what foods you eat, calories consumed, time the meal was eaten, and how you felt before and after eating. This gives you a visual about what you're consuming day-to-day. Also, record your exercise activities and caloric expenditure. Weight loss occurs when calories expended are greater than calories consumed per day so this helps you to see if you're doing just that. Record how you felt or what you were thinking before and after exercise as well. Seeing this helps you to realize if you perceive exercise and nutrition in a negative or positive light. If you view them as negative, it may help to check why or talk to a personal trainer who is skilled in lifestyle management counseling.
3. Make exercise a priority. We are all busy, but yet we make time for things that we really want to do. You have to do the same thing for exercise sessions. Plan to exercise by making time for it in your schedule. If you still feel you don't have enough time, check your daily activities. Are there times when you're sitting on the couch for an hour watching television? Do you have at least 3-10 minute breaks throughout the day? These are both opportunities to get in thirty minutes of exercise!
4. Set short-term and long-term goals. You have to have a road map to success. You have to have a purpose of going to the gym or participating in boot camps. You can't just say, "I want to lose weight." How many pounds do you want to lose? By what month and day? How much body fat do you want to lose in a year? You must be specific and realistic. Write your goals down, repeat them every day, sign your name to them and put them in a place you frequent the most (i.e., your cubicle at work, refrigerator door).