With the new year upon us, many will have the resolution to get into better shape. People like to crush dreams and say resolutions don't work. I applaud the effort. At the very least, it's a step in the right direction. The problem often lies with the follow through portion of the plan.
I have lost well over 100 lbs and have kept it off. It took me eight years, purposefully, and I learned a lot along the way. There was a time when I lost 40 lbs in three months only to gain it back and then some. I have had the same struggles as most others do. Losing the weight was tough, but well worth it.
In all this time the most important thing I have learned is "Don't start any plan unless you can see yourself doing it for at least a year." So if your program consists of drastically cutting your calories and exercising seven days a week, plan on doing that for at least a year. The point is, most people set very unrealistic expectations on themselves.
Everyone wants immediate gratification nowadays. My favorite question to ask people is "Did you get fat overnight?" Inevitably the answer is "No." At which point I tell them "Then don't expect to get into shape overnight either."
Start with your minimum commitment. If you know you can commit to exercising 30 minutes a day, three times a week, then start with that. Don't start by cutting out a 1,000 plus calories a day. That's really not going to be sustainable for the long haul. Start with a couple hundred calories and then go from there. Between that and the exercise even if you just lost half a pound a week, that adds up to 26 lbs in a year.
Of course there will come a time when progress stalls. At that point you either have to increase your exercise or lower your calories to lose more weight. You will be glad you didn't try to do everything all at once when you started because it will have left you nowhere to go. In other words, leave some tricks in your bag for when you'll really need them.
Here comes the b!tch of it all, when you finally reach your goal, everything just doesn't go back to the way it was. If that was the case I'd be eating cookies and McDonald's all day like I used to. Yep, doesn't work that way. At this point, hopefully you have learned from your experience so you can embrace your new lifestyle. I know the lifestyle thing sounds cliche, but it's true, and it's the only way your story will have a happy ending.