I run into lots of people that are looking to lose weight and are looking for one magic tip or weight loss secret. Should they eat lots of protein? Should they exercise 5 hours a day? Should they follow the latest crazy diet?
What is the Biggest Weight Loss Secret……?
There is one magic secret that will help you more than anything else and that is to have weight loss goals. I know everyone has a weight loss goal, in fact that is usually how a diet starts for predicting weight loss fail to account for slowing of metabolism as weight is lost and therefore overestimate the degree of weight loss. While this limitation of the 3500 Calorie per pound rule has been known for some time, it was not clear how to dynamically account for the metabolic slowing.
People pick a number out of the air…I want to lose 10 pounds, or I want to lose 50 pounds. The trouble with focusing on a goal that is based on only weight lost is that you do not succeed or win until you have lost all of the weight.
What you need instead is a real goal. Not just one or two goals but a handful of short and long term goals that have nothing to do with weight only.
What would you like to be able to do tomorrow? How about eat six good meals? How about drink 8 glasses of water? How about not eating any candy? How about getting some exercise?
What do you want in one month? How about running three blocks non stop? Eating power meals all day? Exercising for an hour every day for a week? How about having YOUR perfect day as you have written it out today?
The most important goals are your short term ones. Don’t forget some long term vision though
What do you want in a year? A marathon under your belt? Riding an exercise bike, or a real bike 100 miles in one day? Going along the same vein how about riding 1000 miles in the next six months.
I have tried to give a few ideas here of real fitness goals but of course it is up to you to come up with a few of your own.
Last Christmas I did a full blown Goal Setting post but at this time of year it would be good to just get a few goals together to get you through the rest of the year and then you can reset more then.
