The 3 Truths of Weight Loss Part 1:

The first truth of weight loss:

Goals & Accountability

One of the first steps I took when I started my weight loss journey was to make sure I was setting realistic goals and finding ways to hold myself accountable. I believe that one of the biggest pitfalls that someone faces when they first begin an effort to lose weight is that of unrealistic expectations.

We see the ads we hear the stories of losing 20 pounds in a week; or “90 days to a better body” and we set our sites on the “quick fix”. How many of us have a room full of old exercise equipment or a shelf full of diet books but yet we look in the mirror and the weight is still there. I believe that is because we set our expectations to high and when we don’t see the results we want to quick enough we give up. I didn’t get FAT overnight and I will not get skinny overnight.

We must set goals or we will never achieve them; but we must set goals that are attainable and that will not cause us to fail before we even get started.

I knew when I started I had a lot of weight to lose, but until this weekend I never mentioned 100 pounds to anyone. I did some research and found that most doctors recommend only losing about one to two pounds per week. 1 Pound per week is NOT a quick fix! 1 Pound a week is makes it seem like it will take forever to achieve your goals.

Take it from me; I started out with one pound a week as my goal in December,

I also set a “short term” goal of 25 pounds. At 1 pound per week I expected to have lost 25 pounds sometime between May and June.

However I am already at 30 Pounds lost and it is not quite April.

It is very rewarding each week to see bigger losses than expected, but as long as I have seen at least one pound each week I have been happy.

As important as it is to set goals it is equally important to hold yourself accountable.

I have found a few little ways to keep myself motivated and hold myself accountable.

1. The first thing I did was to tell someone who would hold me accountable. I didn’t share my goals with many people at first just my wife and my brother 2 people I knew would push me and support me. The support is so important

2.I have committed to weigh-in once per week no matter what I have eaten or how consistent I have been with my exercise I know I have to answer to the scale.

3. I have also done other things. For example I have a $25.00 gift card in my wallet that I told myself I could not spend on myself until I lost 25 pounds.

with the realistic goals and self accountability I am attempting to overcome the first big pitfall.

the next 3 segments will further discuss the pitfall of deprivation and complication as well as focus on the next 2 truths of weight loss. Then we will talk about some of the "tricks" I am using to achieve results.

70 lbs to go... only 2 days until weigh-in Wednesday