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3 Lessons Learned From My Weight Loss Journey

Losing weight is not an easy task, but if you apply these lessons that I learned from my weight loss journey, you’ll see results in not just the number on the scale, but your level of health and vitality too.

Like a lot of people, I went through a period of time where I let my fitness and health take a back seat to the demands of my job and my young family. I convinced myself that it was all a temporary development and that I’d get back to my fitness goals soon. Yeah, right. Years went by and finally one day I woke up, looked in the mirror and made up my mind that I simply could not continue to neglect my health in this way.

I resolved to get fit, but kept running into road blocks, seemingly everywhere I turned. Finally, I decided to write it all down in a journal and see if I could figure why I’d experience success for a week or two at a time and then completely fall of the healthy eating and exercise wagon. Eventually I did succeed in getting back to where I wanted to be, and I’m sharing my story now in hopes that I can inspire a few people and help them avoid the mistakes that I made along the way. Here are some of the lessons I learned:

Key Weight Loss Lessons

Set Realistic Goals.

I set goals in the beginning, but I found they would just discourage me. The problem was that I was setting targets that were way out of reach and I underestimated the amount of work it would take to get there.

I got so frustrated with failing to meet my goals that I decided to set a ridiculously easy goal of exercising for 10 minutes one day, just so that I could finally achieve a goal, any goal. And, wouldn’t you know, I did meet that goal. So I decided to set a goal of getting that 10 minutes of exercise in every other day for a week. And lo and behold, I met that goal, too. Even though I wasn’t setting earth shattering goals, I began to enjoy the feeling of succeeding and gained more confidence that I could meet the challenges I set for myself. This was a whole new mindset for me and turned me from someone who didn’t believe in herself to a stronger, more confident person. Sometimes getting started is the hardest part.

Develop Healthy Habits and Weight Loss Will Follow.

Another part of learning how to set goals was learning that, regardless of the immediate results, sustainable weight loss is the result of establishing healthy habits. I got away from looking at the scale every day and simply resolved to follow my exercise program and do my best to eat healthy foods. This took some of the pressure off and gave me new reasons to feel good about myself and the changes I was making in my life.

Day to day weight loss can be a fickle thing and it’s important not to get caught up in the short-term numbers game. As time went on, I came to the realization that what I was really after with this weight loss program was to be healthier and happier, and that the changes I was making were accomplishing that goal even regardless of the weight loss. It was extremely liberating to let go of the weight loss goal and then after a brief time begin to see progress on the scales even though my main focus remained overall health and fitness.

Exercise is Key.

There are really only two ways you can lose weight. Take in fewer calories or burn more. The two work best in concert. Exercise is particularly helpful because in addition to burning extra calories, it also speeds up your metabolism so that you burn more calories throughout the day, even while you’re reading or watching television.

You should choose a form of cardiovascular exercise that appeals to you, in my case it was walking and then eventually jogging. I even entered a local 5k race to give me a motivational boost. The other thing that really helped in terms of motivation was my Garmin Forerunner 405. The nicest thing about the Forerunner was that it kept track of the calories I burned with each session. This really helped me see tangible progress with my walking and jogging program and made me look forward to getting out there each day and burning more calories. I was able to upload the data to my online training log and chart my progress over time. It’s amazing what you can accomplish by doing just a little bit each day.

Applying these lessons over time helped me get to where I am today. It wasn’t an easy journey, it never is, no matter how many “lose weight overnight” gurus tell you otherwise. By making genuine lifestyle changes and applying them consistently, I was able to lose the weight and feel better than I did 20 years ago.

About Guest Blogger: As a devoted runner, Jacquie is driven to stay healthy through healthy eating and exercise. Jacquie loves writing about healthy living on her blog – OnlineRunningGear.com. Always looking for what’s new in the running community, Jacquie researches and writes detailed, informative reviews on products she recommends such as the P90X Program. Jacquie lives in the Pacific Northwest, British Columbia with her husband and daughter.

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