Healthy Eating Guide Kick-start Your Weight-Loss Journey Today

Realistic goals can help you succeed in losing weight and maintaining it.

Unfortunately, there is no quick fix to weight loss. It's a time-consuming process and only works if you also adopt a healthier lifestyle.

Before setting out to lose weight, it is important to be realistic and have a weight loss goal that you can actually work towards. Setting a realistic and achievable goal is the first step towards healthy weight loss. Aiming for a dramatic weight loss quickly might have harmful effects on the body. Many “quick fix” plans also make it highly likely that you’ll gain back the weight as soon as you discontinue the diet.

A well-planned weight loss plan should take into factor the following considerations:

• Age

• Level of physical activity

• Presence of medical conditions

A weight loss goal is created to understand how much weight you need to lose and how long it will take you to achieve it. Without a goal, people often get discouraged because they don’t see any noticeable differences quickly enough.

Your BMI is a good indicator of how much weight you need to lose. A realistic goal would be to lose weight at a safe rate, that is, between 0.5kg to 1kg (1lb to 2lb) per week.

If you have unrealistic expectations - for example, you’re hoping to see a dramatic weight change after just a few days – it will have adverse effects on both your motivation and focus. Resist the temptation to check your weight every day; keep a check on your weight on a weekly basis and you’re more likely to find the results rewarding. It’s important to understand that weight loss is a result of lifestyle changes – that means introducing physical activity as well as adopting a healthier diet.

If you’re following a realistic weight management plan, you should be able to detect a noticeable difference in weight after the first few weeks. Other changes will help you ascertain that you’re on the right track (for example, you may find you have increasing stamina and flexibility when it comes to exercise).

Healthy eating and calorie counting will reduce excess fat and, if you’re exercising as well, this excess fat will often be turned into muscle. So just because you don’t see any huge changes on the weighing scale doesn’t mean your plan isn’t succeeding! Look out for other changes too – how your clothes are fitting you for example, or a reduced craving for junk food.