It doesn’t matter how you got to this point in your life’s journey. Whether it was an emotional trauma, an aging body, a medication, physical limitations or an out of control sweet tooth - we all have chosen the same thing. To start our weight loss now. Why now? Because the Doctor said you have to or just plain vanity - we all face the challenge of the dreaded scale. I am going to discuss the best approach to starting your healthy weight loss. 

Let’s get started! You can start just by getting off of the couch and walking. Yes, exercise. Get yourself a decent pair of walking shoes - you don’t have to spend a bundle, you can buy them anywhere. Walk around the block early in the morning, walk to the park with the kids or a walk after dinner with your spouse or a friend. When it feels too easy you’ll know to increase the distance and your tempo. Get friends and family involved; it makes it more fun and motivating. You need the support and you’ll be surprised at how many others do too.

Want to be a little more aggressive or you already belong to a gym? Talk to a personal trainer. I mean, really talk to a personal trainer. Interview them to find out if they understand and can work with your issues and limitations. If you are just starting out, you need to take it slow. I recently saw an episode of “Roseanne’s Nuts” where her Doctor told her she needed to exercise and sent over a personal trainer. There was no way this was going to work. The trainer - who was about 25 years old - was bouncing around doing all kinds of intermediate aerobics and Roseanne responded by sneaking off to her car and leaving. I can’t say as I blame her. The trainer didn’t do a comprehensive interview with Roseanne or the trainer would have understood the (sedentary) lifestyle she had been leading and started Roseanne off much more slowly.

Belonging to a gym does not mean you have to “pump iron” all the time. There are other options are available at the gym. There are Yoga, Pilates, spinning, dance and aerobic and low impact aerobics classes for all levels. There are all ages and abilities at the gym; not just a bunch of muscle bound, grunting apes. There’s no excuse not to join a gym or studio; I don’t think you can live anywhere anymore without one within 10 miles. You can’t get away from them!

It’s time to talk about the “D” word. Diet. Healthy weight loss plans are not 500 calories a day. That is not sustainable and not nutritionally sound. Extreme diets and fad diets result in one thing - a 95 to 98% failure rate in successful long term weight loss. Fast fixes are seldom lasting ones. You need to address your eating habits in order to succeed in taking off the weight and keeping it off in the long term. You cannot do this by depriving yourself and you cannot do this alone. A study done by the U. K. Medical Research Council found in a group of 772 overweight adults of which half went to Weight WatchersÔ and half were just under a Doctor’s care. After one year, the Weight WatchersÔ group lost an average of 15 pounds more than the group only supervised by a Doctor. Why? Regular weighing, advice of diet and exercise, motivation and group support.

Successful and sustained weight loss has to include incorporating exercise and a healthy diet plan into your daily life. There is help for your weight loss at my site. The website, help for your weight loss is about safe and healthy weight loss, support, motivation, your journey, current health information, recipes for good tasting healthy foods and maybe a few laughs along the way.