Simple Tips for Setting and Achieving Weight Loss Goals

Searching for the perfect method of getting fit, healthy, and shedding some pounds? There’s no exact formula for seeing results from your weight loss effort.

Your approach can depend on a variety of factors. This includes your personality, current lifestyle, age, amount of weight you’d like to lose, and current level of physical fitness. A weight loss plan with personality... yours! Personality can definitely play a part in how you choose to get fit. Let’s say you’re a person who craves a relaxed and mindful lifestyle. For you, a health and fitness plan could look like adding a yoga routine into your day... increasing plant-based meals, and doing activities like gardening which is not only a stress reliever, but yields fresh produce that you can incorporate into your healthy diet. How does your current lifestyle factor into your weight loss goals? You want a weight loss and fitness plan that accommodates whatever daily activities you already have going on. To make it work, adjust your day to fit exercise in. For example, knowing you have to be at work at 8:30 am means you must figure out a time slot to fit in exercise... either early in the morning, or when you get home after work. Amount of weight you need to lose will definitely affect your approach. If you know that you have a long way to go in your weight loss journey, then begin by assessing how you ended up at your current weight.

Have family attitudes around food and eating impacted you? Do you need to relearn what it feels like to be hungry? What’s a healthy pace to take with weight loss, and what will be safe? If your weight loss goals seem insurmountable, talk with a nutritionist, health coach or dietician to help you jump the mental roadblocks. Together, you can come up with a practical, reasonable, wellpaced weight loss plan that works for you. Age and current fitness level also determine your approach to getting in shape. It’s important to set realistic goals. You’ll want to make slow, steady, sustained progress and you’ll also want to avoid injury. If certain health conditions impact your ability to exercise, talk with your doctor to get safe, reasonable recommendations. Other tips: Don’t stress about hitting exact goals. Just get started and you’re more likely to succeed. A recent study of the AARP showed that when people age 55 and up set a goal for reducing 100 calories a day, that set them on a path to actually reducing 300 calories a day without trying.

Set weight loss goals that make sense for you. Example, if you hear advice for getting in 500 steps a day but you don’t enjoy tracking that kind of activity on your phone, then don’t use your phone. Instead go with whatever works with your own preference and personality.

Activity is anything that gets your body moving. To burn more calories, increase your activity levels. That can mean anything from cleaning your own house instead of hiring a maid, to walking your own dog instead of paying a neighbor to walk your dog for you. “Steps” can be dance steps... stepping out for a hike... anything that get you moving, and you don’t have to track yourself with a device to do it... but if that helps you by all means go for it.

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