Start Losing Weight 

You should start losing weight now,not next week or next month.The first step towards losing weight is to see your doctor. Explain to your doctor what you want to do. Your doctor will be able to assess what state your health is in and what levels of fitness you have at the present time. This will give you a chance to see where you stand and how you should begin.

This next step is also very important but many people fail to do this when they go on a weight loss program. You will need to get a book or notepad to write in. This will allow you to keep a record of where you began. Over the coming months you will be able to see how far you have come, what progress you have made,and how your weight loss program is progressing.

You will need to write down your present weight and also take tape measurements of your waist, chest, thighs, arms, and calves. Underneath this you need to write with complete honesty how you feel about yourself at the present time. Write down all the reasons you can think of about why you want to lose weight.

Write out your goals; write how much weight you want to lose. Don't write how much you hope to lose but how much you WANT to lose. For example if you want to lose 60 pounds in 6 months, it may seem like a lot to aim for. But if you break it up into 10 pounds a month, it equates to just over 2 pounds a week. This makes it a smaller and easier target and much more achievable. If you lose a bit more than this a week then it's even better.

Don't get caught up in checking your weight and measurements every week. Try to wait and do it once a fortnight. Remember it's not a race, lose weight fast and it will in all likelihood come back just as fast. Losing weight in small amounts over a period of time will get you better and far longer lasting results.

It is extremely important that you write everything down. Once something is written down it becomes something real and not just vague thoughts floating around in your mind. Remember to be brutally honest with yourself, lying to yourself will not spur you on to do what you need to.

It can be difficult to be completely honest about your situation, its bad enough thinking about it never mind writing it down. You must keep in mind that this is for your eyes only and you never have to show anyone what you have written. Also that you can look back on what you have written a few months down the line and see how much change has occurred in your life and the way that you feel.

Now you need to start thinking about your eating habits. Think about what sort of food you are going to give up and what sort of food you are going to start eating more of. Have a separate notepad for this. Write down what you eat on a daily basis and as time goes on you will be able to make comparisons to how much your diet has changed.

Try to have a diet that is varied and made up of many different foods. This stops you getting bored with eating the same things day in day out. If you feel like eating something that you know you shouldn't, just eat it. But do it once or twice a week, this will still be a marked improvement on what your diet may consist of at the moment. When losing weight there is no need to live like a monk. If you have stuck to your guns in regards to your diet and exercise it's only right that you have the odd treat.

The next step is to sort out an exercise program for yourself. You may need to spend a little time researching what types of exercises you will be doing and how you are going to fit things into your life. Don't just jump into anything; it's important that you spend some time planning what you are going to do and how you are going to do it. Without a plan you have no objective, so spend time doing this and it will save you time in the long run.

You will have to think of where you will exercise. You will have a choice of a gym or training at home. This will all depend on your situation or preference at this time. Both methods will have pro's and cons; you will need to see what is best suited to you.

A gym will provide you with good instruction, all the equipment that you will need, better atmosphere to train in, more motivation, and like minded people. The negative aspects could include: gyms can have expensive memberships, not having the time to go regularly, overcrowding, or you may feel that you don't want to exercise in public at this time.

The advantages of training at home are: no gym fees, training whenever you like, more comfortable in your own surroundings, and no travel time. The disadvantages may include: purchasing equipment, lack of space, limited equipment, harder to motivate yourself, and other distractions.

You will need to make a decision as to what is going to be more suitable for you. However this decision does not have to be set in stone. You could begin exercising at home and join a gym after a few months when you feel a little more comfortable. Or you could join a gym first and learn all the exercises so you can at a later date start training at home.

Whatever decision you take, remember that the point is that you do exercise. You can exercise to a fairly high level without the need for lots of equipment. In your home you have stairs to walk up and down, there are hundreds of exercises that you can do without any equipment.

There are so many people that buy exercise equipment only to stop using it after a short time. Take a look in your local paper and you will see lots of second hand equipment that can be purchased at a fraction of the original cost. Only buy something that you will use on a regular basis otherwise you will have wasted your money. A second hand stationary bike will go just as fast as a brand new one, and a set of second hand dumbbells will weigh the same as a set of new ones.

If you can't afford to buy any equipment, then buy an exercise dvd, there are hundreds on the market. No matter where you are or what your situation is, if you want to exercise, you will be able to do it.

Never make excuses or try to think of reasons why you can't exercise. We can come up with hundreds of excuses as to why we shouldn't do something. We are all blessed with this ability. Always think of ways that you can exercise, and remember that if you do nothing, you get nothing.

Once you have decided where and how, set yourself a date to start your exercise program. For the first few weeks take it easy. Get a feel for what you are doing so that you become familiar with it. This gives you time to allow your body to begin making adjustments and to get it used to what you are asking of it.

You will probably get a few aches and pains initially. This is your body's response to you using muscles that haven't been used in a long time. Your body will adapt by getting a little stronger each time you exercise, and it will continue doing this as long as you continue pushing it. The one thing that you must do before beginning an exercise program is to see a doctor so that you know of any problems or any potential problems hat may arise.

After a few weeks when you have began getting used to exercising, you will then have to step up things a little bit. Never overdo things; any increases that you make must be done slowly over time. However increases must be made if you want to make improvements.

Exercise must be progressive. Meaning that you must continue to improve in what you do. If you get to the stage where you can ride an exercise bike for 20 minutes, then your body and fitness levels would have seen changes to get you to that level. If you continue to do the same amount of time on the bike then there will be no more improvements.

Simply because your body is comfortable with spending 20 minutes on the bike, so it has no reason to make any more improvements. If on the other hand you keep adding 4 or 5 minutes a week onto your time, your body and your fitness will have to keep improving because you are making it work a little harder.

Again you need to keep a notebook on what you are doing in regards to your exercise program. This too will give you a record on what you were doing in the beginning and what you are doing now. Write down what you do, when you do it, and how much you do of it.

Just by looking at a record of how you are improving on a weekly basis will keep you motivated. Never try to add too much in one go to what you are doing. It took time for your body to get to where it is now and it stands to reason that it will take time to get to a different level. One step at a time will get you there; any deviation from this will probably result in being too much for you and your body to cope with, resulting in you giving up.

Follow all of the steps and weight loss will happen, make your plan, start acting on it, and finally Start Losing Weight .

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