Article: Is Your Goal To Lose Weight?

[Sara Noel]

If you want to lose weight I suggest you make your Number 1 goal ‘eating for health’.

When you make your health your priority, you’re likely to lose weight anyway. The process occurs more naturally. You focus on what you want to achieve - health, rather than what you don’t want in your life which is excess weight. Many people need to lose weight due to a medical condition and often the emphasis is on losing weight rather than eating healthily. When you diet and restrict your food intake, it doesn’t necessarily bring about good health. In fact, it can even cause health problems. Focus on your general health and as that improves, you’ll find that you’ve started making the changes needed to lose weight. Most of us ignore the need to eat for the sake of our health until a problem occurs. I really encourage you to be someone who eats for health, before you’re forced to by illness. Prevention is better than cure.

Many people set their goal to lose a certain amount of weight. This they may achieve. However, they may not be aware of what could have happened to their general health. Consider the people who deprive themselves of food, take diet pills or drink diet shakes. I’m sure most of us can relate to taking this route to weight loss at some time; I certainly can. The goal is to lose weight and in the short term there’s a good chance this will be achieved. But in the long term what potential harmful effect have they had on their health? Unfortunately, they may not know this until it’s too late. Yo-yo dieting in itself can cause problems with your metabolism, which in turn makes it harder to lose weight.

Setting a goal of ‘eating for health’ gives you a clearer picture of where you’re going. You’ll be more organised, make better decisions and know what motivates you to do it. Set the goal which you want, not what other people think you should choose.

Look at it as a lifetime goal and not something you’ll start next week and probably stop a few weeks later. You may say that health is important to you but do you really know why? Saying it isn’t enough. Let’s take this opportunity to explore what it really means to you and get you to commit to doing it. Your journal is an ideal place to explore your goal further.

When setting your goal, ask yourself "What is it I really want to achieve?" If your response is ‘health’ – great. I now encourage you to be specific about what this means to you. Ask yourself "What is it about health that’s important to me? Explore this fully by asking the question again and again "What’s important about it?" What are your reasons for wanting to achieve this goal? What will reaching this goal give to you? What has prevented you from having health as your Number 1 goal previously? It tends be ourselves who keep us from achieving our goals. What holds you back?

Write your goal down on a small card and carry it with you all the time. Use it as a reminder of where you’re going. There’s more of a commitment when you put pen to paper. Describe your goal using positive affirmations as if you’ve achieved them. "I eat food that is healthy for me."

Setting the goal is the first part and then you need to take action. Keep the actions achievable for you. These will vary from person to person and that’s okay. Maintain your own standards which support ‘eating for health’. Create an action plan to achieve your goal of eating for health. When you’ve set your goal, decide on the daily habits you’ll incorporate into your life to support it. What information do you need to eat for health? Who can support you in this? What changes do you need to make? What do you need to do differently?

Grab a pen and paper, and challenge yourself to come up with 100 reasons for making eating for health your Number 1 goal. Make sure these reasons are stated positively, and how they will be of benefit to you? For example,. I will have peace of mind knowing that my body is receiving the best nutrition.

What I want for you is healthy eating habits which support your weight loss.


Wendy Hearn Weight Loss Success Coach Author of "The Top 10 Things That Stop YOU From Losing Weight"

I work with people who want to lose weight and have a great life. I offer individual and group coaching, via the telephone or email.

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http://www.PositiveWeightLoss.com

email: wendycoach@btinternet.com

UK 01908 522114

Copyright 2000, Wendy Hearn. All rights reserved

[aylasmommy]

I like this one