4 Keys to Weight Loss Success
Eat a Low-Fat, High-Carbohydrate Diet
Eat a Low-Fat, High-Carbohydrate Diet
Although a lot of people may think of only pasta and bread when they hear the word "carbohydrates," complex carbohydrates are in many foods, not only grains but also in beans and many vegetables. People in the Registry say they get about 56% of their calories from such carbohydrates, and only about 19% of calories from protein. Fat makes up about 25% of their diet. People in the Registry also say they consume 1,300 to 1,400 calories a day on average, but that number is probably lower than what they actually eat.
Remember that a good diet probably isn't one that makes you outlaw certain types of food. Being too strict can make it hard to stick to a healthy eating plan. The problem for most people is not so much that they're eating the wrong things, but that they're eating too much. Moderation is important.
But what about protein diets? People using protein diets can and often do lose weight. The fact is that you can probably lose weight on any of the major diet plans, and Registry members slimmed down employing all sorts of different approaches.
However, what we've found is that people who are successful at maintaining their weight loss eat a low-fat and high-carbohydrate diet. So while a protein diet may be good for losing weight, it may not be the best for long-term weight maintenance.
Exercise Every Day
Exercise is key to maintaining your weight loss and it's probably more important than diet. On average, people in the Registry exercise between an hour and an hour and a half a day. Yes, that's a lot. But before you despair, it's not as bad as it sounds.
First, many of the people break up their exercise throughout the day instead of doing a single, marathon work-out session. Second, one of the most common methods of exercise is walking, which is easy to incorporate into your day.
If you're just starting out, it's important to begin slowly. Starting too fast can cause pulled muscles and discouragement. Instead, gradually work up to a full hour. Alternatively, you can increase your number of steps. Get a pedometer, or step counter, and record the number of steps you take in an average day. Then slowly increase them.
An hour or an hour and a half every day is a lot of time. But look at it this way: if you could lose weight and keep it off for the rest of your life with just an hour or so of exercise a day, would it be worth it? A lot of people say yes.
Eat Breakfast Every Day
Although some people try to lose weight by cutting down on the number of meals they eat, that really isn't a good strategy. Skipping meals often just means that you'll be starving later and wind up overeating. Starting the day with breakfast can help prevent that, and on average, members of the Registry eat breakfast every day. A daily breakfast may also be a sign of the discipline that Registry members bring to how they eat. Being careful about when you eat may also help make you conscious of what you eat.
Keep Track of Your Weight and Eating
This is a behavior shared by weight maintainers that runs against common wisdom. Many people have argued that weighing yourself regularly can put too much emphasis on weight rather than fitness.
We don't know exactly why regular weighing is a common characteristic of people who've been successful at maintaining their weight, but we speculate that people use their scales as an early warning system. People who weigh themselves regularly will notice quickly if they have gained a few pounds and can then implement some strategies to prevent gaining more.
Checking your weight less often can mean that you might wake up one morning and discover that you gained 10 pounds. That can be pretty discouraging, and it might cause you to just give up.
The Myth of Painless Weight Loss
One thing that people in the Registry tell us again and again is that weight loss and weight maintenance is not easy: it's hard work. Diet programs that advertise easy or painless weight loss and weight maintenance tend to fail in the long run. A lot of the people in the Registry tell us that they only lost their weight after they gave up on the "painless" methods.
The problem for many people is that they work hard at losing weight but then don't have the skills to maintain that weight loss. We've found that the best way to do that is to exercise and eat carefully for the rest of your life.
That may sound tough, and it is. But when we ask people on the Registry, they say losing the weight was worth it, and that it actually got easier over time. Getting to a lower weight has made their lives better, and it can make yours better, too.
People are always asking me, "How do I get motivated to start exercising and stick with it?" My answer is usually the same: You already are motivated. You know it's good for you and you believe it works. All you need is some organization and sensible goals.
Still not sure what to do? Check with your doctor before starting a new fitness plan and get going with these five tips:
Write it down. Buy a weekly calendar, or use what's already handy and turn it into your own personal fitness coach. On Monday, set goals for the entire week. Write down the activity you'll do, the time of day you'll do it, how many minutes it will take, and where you'll work out.
Keep it simple. Pick only one or two activities and save variety for later. Worried you'll get bored? If you need a little inspiration, listen to music or books on tape, or pick a movie and allow yourself to watch it only while you're on the treadmill or stationary bike.
Do it first. Exercise in the morning. That way, it won't hang over you all day. Morning typically has fewer distractions. But don't trust your groggy self to decide if you'll exercise when the alarm goes off. Prepare the night before by laying out your exercise clothes next to your bed-or, if you must, sleep in them. Then all you need to do is roll out of bed, put on your exercise shoes, and go.
Take the pressure off. Don't think too much about exercising-just do it, and let the details take care of themselves. One woman I know routinely did 20 minutes on her stationary bike, which she timed with an egg timer, but was nervous about setting it for 30. Her solution? She bought another timer, set the first one for 20 minutes, the second for 30, and let herself decide whether she'd keep going after the first timer went off. No kidding-the first time out she did the full 30 minutes, and after that it just got easier.
Do it for three months. Set your weekly goals every week for three months. After that, exercise (or any new activity) will start to feel like a habit-and that's exactly what you've done: established a new fitness habit.
Remember: It's always your decision to exercise. Decide to do it, list your weekly goals, and stick to your workout plan. Get set. Go! (WebMD)
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