All About Your Weight Loss

Before you start to lose weight you need to be in the right frame of mind. You need to have made a conscious decision that you want to lose weight. You need to be committed and motivated. Use the forums and blogs for support, to help inspire you and keep you motivated.

We believe that you shouldn't deny yourself any food and that counting calories is not necessary. We believe that by making some small but significant changes to your lifestyle you will lose weight. If you modify your eating habits and what you eat as well as increasing the amount of exercise you do, you will lose weight. Think about your habits and what you can change.

The following tips will help you start losing weight and maintain your weight loss.

Calculate your body mass index (BMI) this will show you how far you are from a healthy weight and help inspire you.

Set yourself a target / goal (see How to set your target weight). Set yourself mini targets. Reward yourself (not with food or drink!) when you reach a goal. Set yourself a target for each week e.g. lose a pound. If you don't achieve this target think about and understand why you haven't so that you can modify your behaviour.

Select one day of the week when you will weigh yourself. It needs to be a convenient time as you should weight yourself at the same time each week, in the same location, wearing a similar amount of clothing. Print a chart to record your progress.

Sign up and start a blog. By anonymous if you prefer. Blog everything you eat and drink in a day. You may be surprised how it mounts up. Include any exercise you have done and how you are feeling. Rate each day as good, average or bad. Because your blog is a public record, hopefully this will give you an extra incentive to think about what you are eating. They will also gave others ideas about what they can eat and exercise.

Share your progress (good or bad) in the forums. Use the forums if you have a question or have lost motivation post to the forum. Someone will have been the same thing and will be able to help. Our Blogs and Forums can be anonymous if you wish. You can tell people as little or as much about yourself as you like.

Raise your awareness and understanding of the content of what you eat. Learn about your Guideline Daily Amounts (GDAs) and how to read food labelling. Recent changes to food labelling has made this much easier than it used to be.

Think before snacking, are you really hungry? Are you thirsty? Are you bored? Are you eating something just because it is there? Is it just something you do out of habit?

Plan ahead. Think about what you are going to eat in advance. Create a weekly meal planner. 

We think it's important to make a good start to your weight loss so that you don't lose motivation before you get started. Once you have lost a few pounds, it won't seem like such a disaster if you put a pound on one week.