Make Your Weight Loss Permanent - By Avoiding Common Mistakes

     There are many diets available that can help you lose weight, some of them can do it very quickly. However, if you want to make your weight loss permanent, you will need to avoid common mistakes.

Your new diet needs to be a one that you can continue with. Diets that eliminate certain food groups are not sustainable. This means that fat free, protein free or carbohydrate free diets are out!

There are good reasons for this. Our bodies need fat, protein and carbohydrates to function properly. A sustained period without one or more of these, could lead to side effects, and at the very least a lack of energy.

Additionally, you would be significantly reducing the choice of foods available to you. Lack of choice and boredom are probably the main reason most people are unable to stick with their diets in the long term.

Many of us are fixated by the speed at which we lose weight. If we only lost a couple of pounds, this is often seen as a failure and the program gets dropped. While those of us who are significantly overweight might expect to lose more weight than this in the earlier weeks, it is not necessary to lose weight any quicker.

Ask your self this question - Is the diet varied enough that I can stick with it in the long term? If it is, you are on to a winner. Don't forget, a diet program should be a long term thing, not something you do for a couple of weeks. If you lose 2 pounds a week, that would be 104 pounds a year!

A new diet, with a good nutritional balance, in combination with a little regular exercise, will not only help you lose weight, it will make you feel much healthier and happier. The fact that you can enjoy these diets enables you to feel totally confidant that this time - it's permanent.

Make sure you find some forms of exercise that you enjoy too. This could be as simple as walking the kids to school or you could enroll in a fitness program. You will find that the more you exercise and the fitter you become, the more you are able to push yourself and the more you will enjoy yourself.

There is nothing better than a good workout for making you feel great about yourself. You will find that this will reduce any temptation that you might have had to cheat your diet too.

When it comes to exercising avoid the biggest mistake. If you are extremely unfit, don't try to do too much too soon. It is no good trying to go on a 5 mile run if you haven't exercised in years. Apart form the harm you could do yourself, you will only put yourself off trying again.

Start gently. You need to try and make yourself slightly out of breath and get your heart working a little more. If you are walking along and not breathing harder or reaching a sweat, then clearly you need to speed up.

If you are struggling for breath and you can feel your heart pounding, then slow right down for a while and find a more comfortable pace. You will find that after a few weeks, you have to work much harder to feel that you are pushing yourself.

Aim for 20 minutes a day if you can. When you feel fit enough, try a few different activities like swimming, or one of the ball sports. Ball sports are good, because you will need to play with friends or join a club. You will get more motivation when you are exercising with friends.

Finally, think positive! You can do it if you give yourself time. A new diet is a lifestyle change that can take time to adjust to, but the rewards are beyond measure.

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