Look around the internet, magazines, daily papers and check out the advertisements for dieting. You will be bombarded with a multitude of weight-loss programs, clubs, plans, methods and more. If you can imagine a plan you can bet someone has an advertisement for it.
Dieting can be and often is very difficult. We can all easily recognise the fact that we are putting on some extra pounds or that we are already overweight. We can all readily agree that we need to do something about it. When we start to look at solutions we are often overwhelmed by the choices available. Surely they can't all be right.
Funnily enough they can all be right, different diets, low carb, high carb, low fat, high fat and on it goes. When you follow the advice you can usually succeed, often it is not sustainable. So what can we do?
First you need to determine what style of weight-loss program is best for you. We are not all alike, our personality traits influence the things we do and how we do them. Some of us work best alone, some are great team players, others need a bit of both. Some of us need external motivation to egg us along and others can set milestones and reach them by egging ourselves on.
So if you work best by yourself and are self motivated then a slimming group is probably not going to work for you. You will resent the action of attending meetings and sharing your weight-loss data with others.
On the other hand if you are a team player and / or someone who needs external motivation then the group approach is often ideal. You have the backup of others to share the journey with and to give you a nudge along the journey when you feel like giving up.
This is probably the first step you need to take, determine your individual style. Take a personality test, there are online options or books you can get from the library, you can even go to see a professional if that is the way you want to approach it. The results of this will give you a good indication of whether you are best served by joining a group like Weight Watchers or Jenny Craig or starting on an independent self directed program.
Next you need to determine what sort of diet you prefer. No point starting on a high protein diet if you don't like meat very much, there is no way you are going to be able to stick at it. The same applies if you hate vegetables, no point in starting a plan that is almost all vegetables and little else. So take a look at the diet options that the plan is offering, choose one that you can feel good about eating. Make sure you enjoy most of the foods in the diet.
If you are the kind of cook who measures out everything precisely and follows recipes to the letter then a highly structured diet is going to suit you. On the other hand if you like to throw a bit of this and that together they you need a diet that is along the lines of 'a handful of pasta', 'a palm sized steak', something a little less precise but still gives you a good indication of what is an appropriate serving.
Exercise. Like it or not, this needs to be part of your plan. Once again you need to be truthful with yourself. What type of activities do you enjoy doing? Are you a walker, runner, team player, bowler, golfer, the list goes on. Perhaps you haven't taken part in much active recreation for a very long time. Think back to what you did enjoy. Give that another go. Failing that, try something new. Do a little research on recreational activities and if there is something that you think you will enjoy find out if there is anywhere you can get a 'taster' of the activity.
Tracking progress is a must. Is this a daily or weekly activity? Is it weight based or inch / centimeter based. Perhaps it is both. What is essential is that you need to give yourself some feedback. If you are the group person then you will get this at your meetings and you will also set your goals with the group and get encouragement from them. As an individual, private, dieter you need to record your goals and progress and put in place a method of encouraging yourself, giving yourself a pat on the back or kick up the butt.
Remember that a weight-loss program is not in itself the only goal, but the need to maintain the desired weight is. So you need to be happy that this is a lifestyle change you can always live with. The last thing you want to do is lose the weight, give up the diet and pile the weight back on again.
Losing weight is not the goal, maintaining your desired weight is.
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