Set a Weekly Weight Loss Goal
Many people are anxious to lose weight as quickly as possible, for obvious reasons. This article discusses the steps to determining a safe, effective, and realistic weight loss goal for each week.
Instructions
1. First, note that according to the latest research, the prevailing consensus among weight loss specialists is that overweight individuals should strive to lose 1% of their body weight each week. Certainly discuss the matter with your doctor, but for most people, this percent will be safe and realistic. Understand that you will read and hear a great deal of advice that is contrary to this suggestion. If you are not comfortable with this advice, or do not agree with it, do whatever you and your doctor feel is best.
2. Next, understand that for the first two weeks of any diet and exercise program you will likely lose a great deal of water weight. If you lose this weight, it shows that you are on the right track. However, don't mistake this drop in scale weight as a loss of actual fat. Also, don't expect your weight loss to continue at this rate. In fact it would be unsafe to do so.
3. To compute 1%, take your current weight, and move the decimal point two places to the left. Then round to the nearest quarter pound. For example, a 329-pound person should aim to lose about 3.25 pounds per week. A 193-pound person should aim to lose about 2 pounds per week. A person who is only slightly overweight, and only needs to lose 10 pounds may need 6 to 10 weeks to safely and effectively accomplish this, even though they would probably prefer to lose it in 2 or 3 weeks.
4. Weigh in every week under the same conditions (same time of day, same day of the week, etc.), but don't make yourself crazy. You may have a week where you overeat, and yet still lose weight. You might have a week where you were really good, and yet actually gain weight. Compare your weight month to month to look for overall trends, just like you might do with your stock portfolio.
5. Recalculate your weekly weight loss goal once per month. Keep in mind that if you are quite heavy, you might start out by losing 3-4 pounds per week, but as you lose weight, that figure will drop to 1-2 pounds per week.
6. Understand that the most important part of weight loss is keeping the weight off. The slower you lose weight, the less likely it will be that you will put it back on. An analogy might be that the slower and more systematically you study for a test, the less likely you will be to forget the material.
7. Try to think of the bigger picture. If you average 2 pounds of weight loss per week, that's 100 pounds in a year. Think about how you will look in a bathing suit this July, compared to 100 pounds less next July. Also keep in mind that it's not like you are in jail for that year. You are still living your life, systematically working toward your goal. If you stay focused on your goal, you will certainly lose the weight that you need to. It may take a bit more time than you'd like it to, but you will reach your goal. I speak with firsthand experience.
