If you are thinking about losing weight, you may feel discouraged or intimidated. Perhaps you tried to lose weight before and failed. Or you are afraid you don’t have the willpower to see your goal through to the end. Weight loss doesn’t have to be scary, nor does it have to take an iron will to succeed. Here are 5 tips to help make weight loss simple.

Set a Realistic Goal

One of the main reasons why people fail in their weight loss efforts is because they don’t create a realistic goal. Despite what all of the fad diets claim, you can’t safely lose 15 pounds in two weeks. With proper diet and exercise, however, you may be able to lose 6 pounds in that time frame.

If you want to lose a large amount of weight, say 15 or 20 pounds, you may want to break that goal up into several smaller goals. These goals will be easier to achieve and will give you the motivation you need to hit your main weight loss mark.

Sleep Tight

Getting enough sleep is an important part of any weight loss strategy. People who get the sleep they need every night maintain a healthier weight than those who don’t. Aim for 6-8 hours of sleep a night, and you will find that your memory, mood, and health will improve.

Healthy Start

Start with a proven weight loss program that is easy to follow.  We find WeightLossVillage to be an outstanding online weight loss solution. No pills, no fad diets, just healthy meal plans, personalized menus and it works.

You should never skip meals when dieting, especially breakfast. After a long period of time without food, your body needs the kick start that the first meal of the day provides to begin the fat burning process. You will also have more energy and feel confident that you can tackle the day.

Mini-Meals

Having many small meals throughout the day is better than eating three large meals. Eating oatmeal and fruit, then a smoothie a few hours later, followed by a sandwich on whole wheat bread, then a protein shake, and finally a healthy dinner distributes your caloric intake. It will also keep your body ready to process your food when you eat it, because there isn’t a long period between meals.

Stay Active

A body in motion tends to stay in motion, and an active lifestyle is an important part of maintaining a healthy weight. Find ways to stay active during the day, such as exercising while sitting at your desk, walking at lunch, and using the stairs instead of the elevator, to keep your body in motion and burn more calories.

Weight loss can be simple. If you set realistic goals, get enough rest, eat a healthy breakfast, and stay active throughout the day, you will find that you feel better and look better. Try breaking up your large meals into six smaller ones, and you can consume fewer calories and make the most of your food because it won’t be stored as fat.

Researchers at a University of Minnesota, in a study of 1,800 dieting adults, found that those who weighed themselves every day lost an average of 12 pounds over 2 years, while those who only weighed themselves once per week lost an over of 6 pounds

Eating with your non-dominant hand doesn’t feel natural and will in turn have you eating less and less likely to eat mindlessly.  When was the last time you mindlessly consumed a bucket of popcorn (with or without the ‘butter’) at the movies.

NOTE:  A study from the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology found that those who typically ate popcorn at the movies consumed less when eating with their non-dominant hand.    Try it!

Do you go into ‘obsessive’ drive when you start a weight loss program?  As tempting as it may be it is something to avoid.   An important alternative is to learn to relax and approach your weight loss journey in a healthy and reasonable pace.

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The emotional eater thinks when they reach their ideal weight all aspects of their life will change for the better. When this does not happen they revert back to the need for food to make them feel good and the cycle of yo-yo dieting perpetuates.  Emotional eaters need to adjust their expectations and realize the shift needs to occur first and then sustainable weight loss will follow. It is not the reverse.

It is also important to establish a new, healthy relationship with food and not hold on to food as their quick escape when stress, sadness or anger knocks at the door. The emotional eater often sees food as a protector and an escape from everyday life and they want to eat when they want and as as much as they want to mask the real issue they do not want or choose not to deal with.

The good news is that you can stop.  If you practice something it can become perfect.  It’s the same for emotional eating.   Find new ways to distract, calm and sooth yourself.  Rewire your brain, identify new non-eating activities to distract yourself to feed the emotion. Before you know it your new behavior will become second nature.