Good eating, exercise, stress management, and sleep support a healthy weight. People who drop 1 to 2 pounds a week are more likely to keep it off than those who lose faster.
Medicines, medical disorders, stress, genes, hormones, environment, and age might affect weight management.
Talk to your doctor about weight or drugs. Try these five steps to lose weight when you're ready.
Step 1: Learn your “why”
Consider your motivation to lose weight, such as family history of heart disease or a desire to exercise. Writing down your reasons helps you stay focused. To remember why you want to change, post your reasons daily.
Step 2: Track your whereabouts
Your current health status helps you determine how to improve. Track your diet, exercise, and sleep. Write or use an app to track:
- Nutrition: Record everything you eat and drink for a few days. This will help you track your food and drink and make tiny improvements.
- Physical exercise: Record time, activity, and duration in a diary.
- Include sleep hours. How much you need fluctuates with age.
- Include good stress-reduction methods.
- You can also note how you feel after eating, drinking, and exercising, and lifestyle problems. See the table below for questions to track lifestyle problems. If yes, examine solutions to overcome those obstacles.
Step 3: Set achievable goals.
Work toward short-term goals and reward yourself. Short-term goals include drinking water instead of sugary drinks, walking 15 minutes at night, or eating vegetables for dinner.
Concentrate on two or three goals. Specific, achievable goals work. Example: “exercise more” is vague. However, “I will walk 15 minutes, 3 days a week for the first week,” may be more achievable.
Losing 20 pounds in two weeks is unachievable and might leave you feeling dejected and dissatisfied.
Sometimes setbacks happen. We expected this. Get back on track soon when they happen. Consider ways to avoid similar setbacks in the future.
Everyone's different. What works for someone may not work for you. Try walking, swimming, tennis, or group fitness courses to get more active. Discover what you love and can fit into your life. These activities will be easy to maintain.
Step 4: Get help
Find family or friends to help you lose weight. Coworkers or neighbors with similar goals might share healthy recipes and plan exercise.
Joining a weight-loss program or seeing a nutritionist or other health expert may assist. Make a follow-up appointment to track weight and health changes.
A healthy weight can be supported by asking your doctor for resources. A licensed dietician, clinical or community programs, federally approved medicines or gadgets, or bariatric surgery may be recommended.
When healthy options are few, good habits are hard to form. Search your community for food pantries, farmers markets, parks, and trails.
Step 5: Track progress.
Monitor your progress by reviewing your goals. Determine which aspects of your plan function and which require improvement. Use this data to adjust your goals and plan.
To sustain your success, set a new objective if you consistently meet one.
Reward yourself for success! Applaud your success as you reach your goals. Rewards stimulate health improvement.
