Wednesday, February 6, 2008

Meeting Weight Loss Challenges Head On

Food can be like an addiction. It is all around you and you know that over eating will never do you any good. Yet, you eat one hamburger, then the second one and before you know, you’ve eaten 3 or 4 and you still feel like having more. Have you ever felt like that? Weight loss challenges and temptations are many, starting from a simple urge to eat through to the lack of motivation. Are you ready to tackle those?

However, before we take weight loss challenges head on, let us consider the following questions:

• Do you gain weight fast after you lose weight?
• Is your friend/family obese too?
• Are you a fast-food junkie?
• Do you find diet food tasteless?
• Do your parents always deny that you are overweight?
• Do you lack patience and feel bogged down by the pressure of losing weight?
• Do you lead a stressful life?

If your answer is ‘Yes’ to any of the above questions, then you are facing a weight loss challenge.

You may be addicted to food or you may have morbid obesity as a genetic condition, but to live a healthy long life, you need to lose the extra pounds. To be a better family member, a good friend or professionally successful, you need to shed off that extra baggage that you are carrying around.

Obesity is a worldwide problem and many are tackling weight loss challenges successfully. There are various reasons that make fighting obesity a challenge. You may be depressed, may not have a support system around you, confused which method to adopt or may not be realizing that it has gone out of your control. But never forget that we have immense power to build or break ourselves.

Following these tips will help you face weight loss challenges in a more routine manner:

• Make an emotional commitment.
• Don’t be a member of the ‘finish-the plate’ group. You do not need to finish your plate if you are not hungry anymore.
• Follow a healthy diet. Healthy diet does not mean tasteless food.
• Give yourself a free reign one day every week and eat in moderation for the rest of the week.
• Be active and stay active. Force yourself to be active in the beginning; soon you will start enjoying being active.
• Weigh yourself regularly but don’t get obsessed with it.
• Adopt some form of pleasurable activity like music, painting or dancing.
• It is alright to seek help and try to lose weight with a group of people. One can motivate the other.
• Access websites that help people tackle weight loss challenges in a scientific and systematic way.
• Consult your physician for surgical procedures, if needed.

Note: As a beginner in losing weight you must face these challenges in a positive way and set small realistic goals for yourself to achieve.