Weight Loss Tips and Information.

Moderation: A key to successful weight loss

All diets work if you stay on one of them long enough. So often weight loss experts say that moderation is the key to successful weight loss. This is true if applied consistently.

The difficulty that many people have is the “all-or-nothing” syndrome. When I first start a diet or a weight loss program, the loss of the first few pounds is so rewarding that I often go overboard, putting more restrictions on myself than needed or wise.

The result is a significant weight loss that is short lived. Why? Because eventually I grow tired of depriving myself, and too soon I can’t take it any more. Consequently, the pounds come flooding back.

Moderation, however, is a key to successful weight loss. That gnawing, chew-on-the-edge-of-the-table feeling is missing.

Here are some ways to incorporate moderation as a key to successful weight loss:

1. Internalize your own definition of moderation. For example, to me moderation does not mean extreme. Therefore, when I begin to truly feel deprived, I know that I’ve taken my weight loss plan too far.

2. Don’t skip anything. Many times, once you’ve lost a couple of pounds, you get energized to cut more and more out of your diet. This will defeat your purpose. Eventually, one of two things or both will happen: (a) your deprivation technique will signal your body that you are starving, and it will slow down your metabolism; and/or (b) your deprivation technique will make you feel so depleted that one day your tightly held control will snap and you’ll eat everything in sight.

3. Eat like a normal person. One way to visualize your way to a normal weight is to carefully consider what you are about to eat. For example, decide what weight or size is reasonable for you. Say you’ve determined you want to be 130 pounds. Then, when you are about to choose what you are going to eat, ask yourself what a level-headed person who has no trouble maintaining her weight at 130 pounds would choose as a meal of moderation. Then, choose the same. By eating like a normal 130-pound person, you will slowly gravitate to being that 130-pound person.

4. Exercise in moderation. I have a friend who is very competitive. We started a walking regime one time. On the first day, she wanted to walk as fast as she could. I held back and didn’t try to keep up with her. I’m glad I did, because even with my moderate approach, I felt a little sore the next day. If I had tried to compete with her, I wouldn’t have been able to walk the next day. I have continued my moderate walking program because it serves me well.

Moderation, therefore, is definitely the key to successful weight loss. Choose a food plan and an exercise plan that you can live with over the long haul and you will increase your chances of success.