Strategies To Help You Meet Your Weight Loss Goal

Of the many people who have made a New Year's resolution to lose weight, an estimated 80% will fail to meet their weight loss goal due to lack of buy in, poor planning and failure to execute the needed lifestyle changes. Which group will you be in?If your goal is to lose weight and keep it off, try thinking of it in the same manner that you would a new project. If you treat your weight loss goal as a project instead of some dreaded 'have to' you will have a much better chance of success.Ask any project manager and you will learn that some of the best ways to ensure a new project is a success are the following:

1) Buy In
If you don't have buy in for a project it will probably never succeed. So take some time to sit down and make a list of all the reasons you have to lose your excess weight and to keep it off. Use this list as a daily reminder of why you have chosen this project and to keep you focused on your weight loss goal.

2) Planning
Very few projects are successful without a plan. When it comes to making changes to your lifestyle, this is doubly important. The changes that you choose to make must fit with who you are as a person and also fit well into your daily life. Small, sustainable changes will have the best chance of success. This is why fad diets and signing up for a one-year gym membership are seldom a good idea.Fad diets rarely provide the ongoing nutrition your body needs to remain healthy and most people find that they gain back more than they lost when the diet is over. Sustainable lifestyle changes such as preparing portion and calorie controlled meals that meet your nutritional needs are a much healthier choice.As far as gym memberships go, many people will argue that putting out the money to purchase a one-year gym membership will be enough to motivate them to use it regularly. However, if the membership does not accommodate your schedule or if you find that exercising in public is just not your thing, it will be a waste of money.
Try a three-month membership to find out if this is something that will work well for you. Three months is enough time to work out the changes you need to make in your schedule and determine if this method of keeping fit is right for you. If after three months you find the membership works well with your lifestyle, then consider signing up for a longer term. If, however, it just doesn't work for you, you can walk away knowing you gave it a try.Take a good look at your overall lifestyle and identify the areas you are able to change. Then make a list of those changes as you develop a plan that fits with your daily life.

3) Execution
As mentioned above, it is better to introduce small changes over time than it is to make one huge sweeping change. Take it one step (one change) at a time. The changes you make to meet your weight loss goal will add up over time. Use your list will keep on track and moving towards your goal weight. There is nothing wrong with starting with the easiest step on your list. Add time frames for when these changes will be introduced, and include rewards for maintaining those changes over several time periods.As an example, if you have made it through your first month of going to the gym on a regular basis, how about rewarding yourself with a new article of clothing for those visits. If you have managed to maintain a desired calorie limit to your daily food intake, that deserves a reward as well. Celebrating your success with small rewards plays an important role in keeping you focused on your goal.Of course, the best reward of all will come when you step on the scale and find that you have reached your weight loss goal. And, you will find that the small changes you have made to lead up to this point will help with your ongoing efforts to maintain your goal weight.

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About the Author:
I am Paulsimmions read mathematics at Stanford and remained there for his MS. From 1998-1999 on researched in Evolution and in Animal Behavior in Camrbidge, UK. I was was then a professor in the departments of Anthropology and Biology, New Jersy College, USA. Now teaches at the department of Zoology. Carried out research in several areas of evolutionary biology, particularly in sexual selection and the comparative method.