What's your goal?

First off, happy New Year to you all and I hope you had a wonderful holiday season.

Now I'm sure there are quite a few of you out there who have set your New Year's resolutions and many will have "lose weight" included on the list.  So, if you are one of those, here is something worth thinking about.

For years many doctors, health services and even nutritionists have advised people not to get too ambitious about their weight loss goals out of fear of failure and people feeling frustrated and giving up.

However, new information from a study on 24,000 dieters says different.

According to this new study, those that set the toughest goals shed almost a fifth of their body weight - approximately double that of the dieters who set lower goals.

Public health guidelines suggest that dieters set a "realistic" goal of losing around 5-10% of their body weight at the beginning of their diet.  However, obesity experts are asking for these guidelines to be changed.

The study was reported in the Journal of Human Nutrition and Dietetics, and was based on 24,000 members of Slimming World with a Body Mass Index (BMI) of at least 30 - meaning they were in the obese category and were all attending weekly group support sessions while on the diet.

The realistic target participants (less than 10% of their body weight) did achieve their goals and on

average lost 11% that's about 11.3 kilos for a person who weighs about 101.6 kilos.

But, the participants who set the highest goals lost almost twice as much overall - an average of 19% over a year, or 19.5 kilos.

With the obesity epidemic threatening to not only ruin people's health but also bankrupt our health services, maybe a revision of the guidelines is in order.  This new research suggests that instead of protecting obese people from disappointment, health workers should be encouraging them to go all the way and achieve their life long goal - whatever that may be instead of going half way.

My advice is to set a high goal and then pin point smaller goals along the way that will help you achieve your ultimate target.  A long the way when you reach a smaller goal you can give yourself a reward to motivate yourself to keep going.  Try not to make these rewards food orientated, but something pampering that will keep you focused.  For example, a new item of clothing or a manicure or a spa day... I'm sure you can think of something you would appreciate for having achieved one of your goals.

Another good idea is to lose weight with a partner.  If you have a friend, partner, spouse who also needs to lose weight then team up!  You can give each other support and help when willpower is flagging.

I don't believe in cheat days as you can get seriously lead astray and end up doing more damage than good but,  remember, if you give-in and cheat because you just can't resist it; don't worry, just get right back up again.  Don't blow a whole day on one donut.  Don't think that just because you caved and had a biscuit with your coffee at the office, doesn't mean you can then forget the diet for the rest of the day.  So, you had a biscuit... ok, fine, now have a salad for lunch and a light meal in the evening.  Just get right back up again and keep going.

Visualize your target all the time and enjoy your rewards along the way - you will get there!

You may also be very surprised at how far you go.

I can help you improve your health.  If you would like to make an appointment with me either in person or via Skype, just send me an email to lucycarr@socialnutrition.com