With so many people taking a resolution to lose weight every New Year, one would think that our world is getting healthier. Reality however, is exactly the opposite. Out of the countless number of people who take the weight loss resolution, only a few are able to stick to it throughout the rest of the year!

Come to think of it, taking a weight loss resolution has become more of a fad than anything else, as most people hardly take their resolutions seriously, or even if they do, they are not prepared to make the extra effort it takes to keep those resolutions! If you really want to make your weight loss resolution iron-clad solid, just follow the two easy steps below.

1: Make your resolution realistic: How far you would be successful in weight loss would be determined on the viability of your resolution. Is it realistic? If not, it is unlikely that you would achieve your weight loss goal ever! The very first thing you need to do is to make sure that you make a very realistic resolution.

Examples of unrealistic resolutions are:

“I want a body like Jessica Alba by next Christmas’.

‘I want to lose all weight before the next Thanksgiving day;

As you can see, these goals lack specifics of any kind, so there is no doubt that they are unrealistic. When your weight loss goal lacks specifics of any kind, your mind would wander aimlessly and you would jump from one diet to another with little or no success.

What happens when you are asked to go on a shopping spree without a list of items you are going to buy? You wander aimlessly and waste money on buying useless stuff. The exact thing would happen if you don’t make your weight loss resolution specific and realistic. Examples of good weight loss resolutions are:

“I want to lose 20 pounds by next year”

“I want my weight to be reduced by 30 pounds at the end of 2009″

Okay these look like ‘baby resolutions’, but I really suggest that you make ‘little’ resolutions like these so that your mind thinks it is ‘easy’ to lose weight. Keep in mind that if you intimidate your mind with a formidable resolution, chances are that you would soon lose the motivation to lose weight!

It is possible that you will outgrow your weight loss resolution and lose more weight than what you promised yourself, but the opposite may also happen! Either way, you WILL lose some weight, that is for sure!

2. Get plenty of support: I would be honest with you: I don’t know anyone who has been able to reach their weight loss goals all by themselves without any kind of external support or guidance! Very often your family would support you, but that is just not enough! You also need to secure the support of your peers – people who are in the same boat as you, struggling to lose weight!

You can find such people at weight loss forums. Most of them are free to join, so make sure you sign up with at least one of them and get involved! Remember that you will also find several experts in these forums who are more than eager to offer free help and advice to wannabe weight loss aspirants!

It is also important that you surround yourself with positive-minded people at all times. Positivity begets positivity and encourages you to lose weight, while negative people would only frustrate and discourage you!

Looking to make a change and lose some weight? I have reviewed the top diet on the internet and you can go and read over 200 comments people have made about why this diet has worked well for them, as well as some of the problems.

So your doctor has told you that you are too overweight to live long, unless you take time to do some exercises. You panic on hearing the very name of exercises, let alone doing them. In fact, you are not alone. Lots of people feel that exercises have to be long, hard and boring; such people fail even before trying anything.

Of the few who actually take the time to workout, most waste time and energy in the wrong types of workouts because they don’t have the right knowledge and goals; as such, these people also fail to lose weight. However if you take the time to read this entire article, I can guarantee that you would never fail to lose weight.

Imagine driving across a highway with no clear cut goals of where to go. What would you do? You would drive and drive aimlessly, until you or your car becomes too tired to move an inch. In the process, you have merely wasted your time (and gas as well), since you didn’t take the time to set a clear-cut goal of your journey as well as take a map of the destination along with you.

The same applies to weight loss. If you don’t know what you want from your exercise regimen, how would you know when you achieve the results? Setting a clear-cut goal of what you aim to achieve from your workout routine would not only give you a clear path to the destination you wish to reach, but also motivate you whenever you feel frustrated or fatigued with your weight loss efforts.

Setting a goal is as important as setting a realistic and attainable goal. If your goal is to have a body like Jessica Alba or Jennifer Lopez, you are not going to succeed because your goal is just too vague. If you have a goal of ‘losing all the extra weight within a month from now’, you won’t succeed either because it is not a very realistic goal. On the other hand, if you set a goal of ‘losing twenty pounds within the next six months’, you should definitely achieve it because your goal is not only clear but also realistic.

Once you have setup a clear-cut weight loss goal for yourself, you need to plan your workout routine as well. In order to keep yourself away from the ‘exercise-related boredom’, your workout regimen should consist of a variety of workouts.
You should not focus on doing only cardios or only intense workouts; rather, you should be doing BOTH of them. When your workout regimen consists of a variety of interesting and exciting exercises, you would be doing a different workout each day. With such a “loaded” workout routine, you are unlikely to become bored, ever.

Sometimes, in order to break away from the routine, you may want to engage in some forms of outdoor sports such as cricket, baseball, tennis, etc., depending on your preferences. You may also want to participate in swimming, dancing, yoga, etc. Just like the conventional workouts, these activities would also help you burn fat and lose weight.

Lastly, here are a few extra tips for you:

1. Always track your progress with your workout regimen to make sure that you are really going where you want to go. If you feel that your current workout routine is not working as expected, choose something else.

2. If necessary, hire a professional trainer. In fact, there would come a point when you would need professional help and guidance. Don’t be mean with your expenditure at this point of time. Keep in mind that your health is more precious than your entire wealth and riches. If your health goes haywire, would you be able to enjoy your wealth?

3. Start with short workouts. If you have never worked out in life, it is best to start with a 15-minute workout, then increase it to 30-minutes, then one hour, and so on. If you start off with long, boring workouts, you would become bored and fatigued at the outset and quit your workout routine.