Stick to a Routine and Lose Weight Smoothly

     Eventually, almost everyone is going to be inclined to try and lose some weight. Losing weight will not only make you feel and look better, but it will increase your self esteem and confidence. A good initial target for most people is to lose 10 pounds. By creating a routine of activity and diet, most people will be able to lose 10 pounds with little trouble.

As anyone who has tried it knows, one of the hardest things about a weight loss regimen is just that: the regimen. The reasons most diets and exercise routines fail is simply because they are difficult to stick to. One of the best things you can do to avoid this pitfall is to come up with a realistic plan before you attempt to lose 10 pounds, and to incorporate that plan into your daily routine.

It's important that you do your own research to come up with a plan that works for you, but as an example let's consider the following: let's say to lose 10 pounds your plan calls for 30 minutes of exercise 5 days a week, and to cook 3 new and healthy meals a week. None of these things should be particularly cumbersome, but if you fail to plan and organize them into your routine it will be easy for them to fall by the wayside.

Let's start with the exercise. If you want to exercise 30 minutes a day, when are you going to do it? Don't just say to yourself "whenever I can squeeze it in" as that is a guarantee that it will get squeezed out. Depending on your job and family responsibilities, it's going to be best for you to either exercise before work, at work, or after work. Exercising before or after work could entail using a stationary bike while watching TV, while exercise at work could be taking a brisk walk during your lunch hour. Whatever choice you make, make sure you stick to it. In order to lose 10 pounds you have to think of this exercise as part of your daily routine, as regular as anything else you do throughout an average day. If you don't do this, the exercise will become an "extra" thing you do, and will be the first thing dropped from your agenda when you get busy.

Now let's look at the diet in this example. You're going to lose 10 pounds by making 3 new meals a week. Again, this has to be planned and part of your routine. Decide what days you're going to cook them, decide what (earlier) days you're going to plan them and shop for them. If you fail to do this you'll find that you simply don't have the time for 3 new meals a week. And the problem, of course, is that most of us really don't "have time" for anything, so unless we make the time, it's not going to happen.

To lose 10 pounds is not as difficult as many people may think, and be careful to not get completely wrapped up in the ideas of diet and exercise. While these things are the fundamental tools to losing weight, they won't work if not properly incorporated into your daily routine.

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