At age 42, after losing (and gaining) nearly 1000 pounds in my life, I realized I needed to learn how to lose weight the right way.  As a registered nurse who received training in nutrition and weight  loss,  I  thought I knew everything there was to know on how to lose weight.  Obviously at 280 pounds I was wrong!

Learning how to lose weight is fairly simply.  After all, how hard is it to acquire new  information?  Learning something new is a passive experience and rather easy!  However, applying the information on how to lose weight made all the difference in the world to achieving and maintaining my weight loss goal.

The Weight Loss Experience

 

 Step 1:  The Decision

Once the decision to lose weight is made, there is no turning back.  When you venture out to lose a significant amount of weight, the journey begins simply with the decision.  Making this all important decision is never an instant thing.  The decision to lose weight once and for all takes serious thought and consideration.  While you may have dieted many times in your life, if you remain overweight, you probably decided to lose weight temporarily without long-term consideration.  Step one in learning how to lose weight begins with making the decision to lose your weight once and for all.

Step 2:  The Food Journal

The next step in the weight loss experience was to unlearn and relearn how to lose weight.  At the time, my thoughts were all over the place.  There was so much information on how to lose weight on the Internet; it was difficult to know  where to start.  A significant change of anything begins with knowing where you are today.  In weight loss, knowing where you are depends on knowing the amount of calories you consume daily.  Knowing the amount of calories you consume daily begins with a simple food diary.  Step two in learning how to lose weight begins with recording everything you eat and drink and totaling the amount of calories you consume in a day.

Step 3:  Diets

A diet is a tricky thing.  We use the term diet as though it is negative.  Using the term diet in this way may indicate that it is something to start and stop.  However, in nursing training, a diet is an important part of the plan of care for patients.  The purpose of a diet is to provide the body with the nutrition needed to function.  To learn how to lose weight, it is important to know the nutritional value of your diet.  A balanced diet provides the right amount of nutrition and energy to keep your body healthy.  Once you record your intake for at least 24 hours using your food journal, you will want to analyze your diet for its nutritional value.  There are many software programs available to analyze your diet including MyPyramid.  Once you enter your dietary intake into the MyPyramid tracker, you can run reports on your diet.  Knowing your nutritional value of your diet can help you focus on where you should make changes.  Step three in learning how to lose weight is to analyze your current diet for nutrition and calorie levels.

Step 4:  The Weight Loss Plan

Every destination needs a plan.  This philosophy is just as important when losing weight.  Ideally, you will want to base your weight loss plan on your dietary analysis from the MyPyramid tracker.  Your goal for your weight loss plan should meet the important items.  First, your weight loss meal plan should allow you with enough calories to give you the daily energy you need.  Secondly, your weight loss plan should meet your nutritional needs such as providing you with the right balance of protein, carbohydrates, fat, vitamins, minerals and fiber.  A nutritionally balanced diet ensures your body can function properly.  Thirdly, your weight loss plan should tickle your taste buds and include pleasure foods you enjoy.  Finally, your weight loss plan should include exercise.  Similar to reducing calories, exercise and weight loss are an essential part of your long-term plan.  Step four in learning how to lose weight is to develop your weight loss plan that fits your lifestyle.

 

 

 

Weight Loss Tips

Now that you have the step-by-step lessons on how to lose weight, you’ll need some strategies to help you arrive at your goal.  Here are several weight loss tips that were discovered along my journey to lose and maintain my 140 pounds.

#1:  Think Permanent

Change your mind from how to lose weight temporarily to how to keep your weight off permanently.  Focusing only on weight loss is like procrastinating on a project you have to get done for work.  You tolerate the diet, exercise plan, or nasty tasting food for a short time knowing the end is in the near future.  However, permanent weight management is all about balancing your life while improving your eating habits.  By focusing on permanent weight management from the beginning, you better prepare for the ultimate goal to keep the weight off because your efforts are focused on making long-lasting healthy changes.  This line of thinking encourages patience and flexibility; two key ingredients to achieve any B-HAG (Big Hairy Audacious Goal)!

#2:  Small Changes Lead to Big Results

Let’s face it, most people hear the word change and want to run away.  The funny thing is that everything in nature changes daily just from the aging process.  The truth about change is that we want to control it.  Controlling change is easily done by choosing the habit you want to change and then taking small steps to achieve your results.  For example, if you identified you need to reduce your fat intake, it is better to designate one high fat food or one day of the week to work on this goal.  Avoid the “all or nothing” thinking that leads to failure by vowing to eliminate fat entirely from your diet.  This approach is impossible.  While you may be able to eliminate all high fat foods from your diet for a day or even a week, doing so long-term may be difficult and could lead to failure.  A better approach is to take action on one goal at a time and make small changes to your daily habits.  If your diet analysis showed too many calories, for example, start by reducing your daily intake by 100 and see how you feel.  Once you get used to the small reduction of 100 calories, try cutting your diet by another 100.  Continue this process until you are losing 1 to 2 pounds per week but no more than 10 pounds per month.

#3:  Eat More (At First)

If you are used to large volumes of food, then eat more when you begin working on your weight loss goal.  Shocking?  Read on!  The trick is to eat more of the low density foods.  Low density foods are water-based and naturally low in calories.  In general, low density foods are in their natural state such as raw fruits and vegetables.  Low density foods are typically higher in fiber also, which helps keep you full and satisfied longer.  In time, you will naturally adjust your portion sizes as you lose weight.  In the beginning, however, eat large volumes of low density foods to help you transition to weight management.

#4:  Mind Your Business

Now that I have your attention, please allow me to explain.  One secret to permanent weight management is to focus on YOU first!  Contrary to popular belief, focusing on your needs is healthy and not selfish.  When you focus on your needs, you actually strengthen your bonds with others.  Why?  Because when your needs are taken care of, especially your health needs, you feel better and have more capacity to care for others in your life.  Also when you work to meet your own needs, you likely will be less dependable on others.  When you strive to become independent by caring for your needs first, you are more likely to experience true companionship and mutual bonds with others.

#5:  Make Change Last

Do you know one of the secrets to lasting change?  It’s Focus.  Do you know the secret to Focus?  It’s Monitoring.  Making a change that lasts is all about monitoring.  Think about it.  Is your weight loss target different than any other goal you seek?  Most would agree that goals in any area of life are similar.  Typically, a goal has a target, a plan, and strategies.  But how do you know if your strategies are working and when you arrive at your target?  Yes, you’re right, through monitoring!

Let’s take an example we can all relate to in this tough economy—money!  You probably have a certain amount of money right now in your savings or checking account.  What happens when you go on a spending frenzy and forget to record the amounts of your checks or withdrawals?  You probably become overdrawn quickly and end up paying the price in overdraft fees.  What would have happened if you recorded the amounts of your purchases as they occurred?  You probably would have considered the consequences of your overspending and modified your behavior by spending less.

Monitoring your progress, also known as journaling, leads to behavior modification and better choices.  Monitoring applies to any goal, including weight loss.  Through constant monitoring you modify your behavior and this leads to changes that last a lifetime.  Lifetime changes begin with journaling.

#6:  Analyze Your Challenges

You’re a unique individual.  You have a unique circumstance that led to your current weight.  While people share commonalities, no one is exactly like you.  Before you can achieve long-term results of any goal, you need to analyze your current daily challenges that contribute to your weight.  Typically, there are 6 main causes that interfere with weight loss goals.  Click here to learn the big 6.

#7:  Develop Your Own Plan

As in weight loss tip #6 which identified your uniqueness, your plan must follow suit.  Trying to use someone else’s weight loss plan is like trying to wear size 6 shoes with size 8 feet; it simply won’t work.  Even if the shoes are the latest fad, eventually you’ll stop wearing them due to sheer pain!

A better choice is to take the best of many plans to develop one as unique as you.  Remember you’re going for permanent weight management.  Permanent weight management is life-long and must fit your lifestyle and personality. 

#8:  Know the Weight Loss Rule

The one rule of weight loss which never changes for your body is 3500 calories equals one pound.  Regardless of how the latest fad diet touts easy, quick weight loss, the truth is the weight loss rule is constant for everyone:  To lose one pound, we must reduce our calories by 3500.

#9:  Use the Weight Loss Rule to Your Advantage

Once you accept the weight loss rule of: one-pound-equals-3500 calories, you are ready to move on to using the rule in your favor.  Eliminating 3500 calories to lose one pound can be done in 3 different ways.  First, you can cut 3500 calories from your dietary intake.  Second, you increase your activity level to burn 3500 calories.  And third, you can do a combination of both calorie reduction and increased activity.  A healthy eating tip is  never to drop your daily calories below 1300 without the supervision of a medical professional.  To do so may leave you tired and malnourished.

#10:  Practice Weight Management 101

Were you surprised by what these weight loss tips?  While the tips may not be new to you, they are valuable for to reach your weight loss goal.  What happens when you reach your weight loss goal?  You simply rinse and repeat!  That’s correct; you use the same strategies from your weight loss plan during your weight management program with a few minor changes.  Simply stated, the steps you use to reach your weight loss goal will be the same you will use to manage your weight.  These steps include keeping and analyzing your food journal, setting your weight management goal, developing your plan, monitoring your progress by journaling, and making small changes when you are off your weight management plan.  While the enormous amount of information available on weight loss may overwhelm you, learning how to lose weight and keep it off is as simple as following these steps for life.

Want to learn how to lose weight and keep it off?  Try this free weight loss course.

Georgene Dana
Collins, RN,MBA,CPHQ
Master Hypnotist, Certified Weight Loss Specialist, & Life Coach
Wellness, Nutrition & Weight Management Certified
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The information on this site is intended for educational
purposes only.  Consult your doctor before making changes to your health.