Keeping Your Weight Loss Expectations Real

If you are “eating your anger” it is important to keep your expectations realistic. “ Either the person sets weight loss goals that are not reasonable for them or they choose a diet or exercise plan that is too extreme or based too much on self-denial and deprivation.

Doctors say that the most reasonable and healthy expectation that you can have from any kind of weight loss plan is to lose two pounds a week. Set a sensible goal that can be measured and met.

A sensible weight loss plan also builds in a contingency for self-forgiveness if you slip up. Many people set extreme goals and then give up when they can meet them.  Then they get angry at themselves. There is no room for drama if you are trying to stick controlling anger-motivated eating disorders. This is because creating an emotional crisis give you a reason to fall off their diet and binge!

The best way to figure out what you should weigh is to get professional assessed by a professional trainer (like the ones at the Y) or your family doctor. This is because figuring out what you are supposed to weigh involves all kinds of different considerations including how much food you eat, your religious requirements, your medical requirements (such as allergies to certain foods, interactions of food and exercise with certain medications, whether you are a couch potato or a bit athletic, whether you are stressed out, what your family’s background of physical and psychological health is, your age, your gender, whether or not you have kids, how many jobs you have, cultural factors and your financial status.

To be successful, a weight loss program should take all of the limitations of your life into consideration. For instance if you are already working a 70 hour work week don’t count on adding in the thirty hours of exercise that you will need to get fit!

There is only one way to lose weight and that is to take in fewer calories then you are expending. There are no miracle products or short cuts. To stay healthy your body won’t allow you to lose any more than two pounds a week (about 1200 calories.)

The most realistic thing that you can do is to concentrate on changing your lifestyle – trading fatty calorie ridden foods for nutrient -rich low calorie ones. Upping your daily amount of physical activity will also go a long way towards helping you achieve your weight management goals.