Seven Essential Steps to Long-Term Weight Loss Success

Seven Essential Steps to Long-Term Weight Loss Success

"Seven Keys to Permanent Weight Loss Success" is a 4-part series, and this is the fourth part.
Number six: Manage your incentives.

This is nothing new.
"Enjoy your day off. Consume cheat meals.
Do you think it's exciting? You dedicate a few days to practicing total self-control. Everything you consume is absolutely "clean" and you never, ever stray from your diet plan. Why? Because you have a fantastic incentive: the prospect of a "no-holds barred" day or supper when you can eat whatever you want!
If you find yourself feeling a pang of shame about indulging in the local buffet, just grab your favorite book and read it aloud to convince yourself that this meal is essential for a faster metabolism. That's well. Enjoy it all. Munch away. Fill up on food. It won't matter because you earned it, will it?
Well, it's debatable; some say yes, while others say no.
You can call them what you want: cheat meals, free meals, reward meals, or whatever else you like; they all work. If I hadn't known I could binge once a week, I doubt I would have gone all out on my initial body makeover. And it was effective... for a time. Consistently following the regimen resulted in my weight loss.
Still, I did see certain worrying tendencies as time went on.
For me, Monday was just another day till I could eat whatever I wanted. It completely captivated me. I managed to eat healthily all week, but I was so worried that I might go insane that I hardly paid attention to anything else. On that particular day, I would meticulously plan my route through the city in order to visit every single fast food and doughnut shop. We hit up the buffets and then went grocery shopping for pounds of junk stuff to devour before the clock strikes midnight.
That wasn't control, I thought. The payment was insufficient. Dependency set in. It brought back memories of when I gave up smoking. What gave me the idea? Were there six days in which I abstained from smoking, followed by one day when I smoked to the limit?
There were also cues from my body. After a day of freedom, I would frequently fall ill with a cold or sinus infection and experience bloating, nausea, and an unpleasant odour. It seemed like I had to spend most of the week catching my breath after the previous day of indulgence, and then I barely managed to get through to the following extravagance festival.
That's when I realized I needed to make a difference. I refused to let myself be enslaved by food. I thought this was going to be a long-term adjustment, but I can't see myself continuing on that path forever. As a result, I stood firm.
At first, I limited myself to no more than two incentive dinners every week. I referred to them as incentive lunches because my actions were not dishonest... They were mine to arrange and deserve. Several weeks into the program, I saw a marked improvement: I no longer craved those meals as much, I took more pleasure in eating healthily, and when my reward meal came around, I didn't "waste" it on unhealthy options like fast food or junk food. A romantic dinner at a fine restaurant would be my idea of a perfect evening.
My attention shifted to portion control after that. For the remainder of the night, I would feel hungover from overindulging in that one meal. I promised myself that no matter how much I ate for a reward meal, I would always keep my portion sizes in check so that I could still eat again within a few hours. This included all of my meals that day.
My life took a dramatic turn when I found myself suddenly behind the wheel. It was me, not the food, who had taken charge. Ice cream, pizza, and a host of other sweets are still favorites of mine. But now I get to decide how much I earn. I can keep it modest. This weekend, I won't have to let myself get into a binge eating rut because of just one meal. In this way, I can control my portion sizes and avoid psychological overeating by planning ahead of time when and what I will eat as a reward. A day of wild excess, like lighting up a pack of smokes, gave way to more measured pleasure, like savoring a fine cigar.
Finally, think on these things...
When people consume too much, their risk of heart attack increases by a quarter.
Those who have lost weight and kept it off are usually the ones who are strict with themselves when it comes to rewards and never treat themselves to a cheat meal.
A week of deliberately increasing your caloric intake from nutritious sources will kickstart your metabolism more effectively than a single day of bingeing.
Seventhly, constantly refocus your aims.
This final key could be the most crucial.
The initial list of my objectives popped up as I was going through some old files. I started my fitness journey in 1999.
I made a brief note and asked, "if possible?" because my primary objective was to achieve 40.
Think about it. I had no faith that I could trim four inches off my 44-inch waist!
I lost the 40-inch waist measurement after the first twelve weeks. I wore a size 38 waist. I far exceeded my target. Because I was "big-boned," my new waist measurement of 36 inches became my objective. I lost over a foot and thirty centimeters from my waistline—36" to 32" and, with 6% body fat, I could fit into 30" jeans.
It is OK for goals to alter. Keep shifting your objectives. Maybe you can do more than you give yourself credit for right now. After discovering the capacity to transform, I set many objectives for myself, including finishing a half marathon and launching my own business—both of which I achieved, even though I would not have imagined they were feasible in 1999.
Rededicating yourself to your ambitions requires self-discovery. Imagine if, after three months of dieting, you only managed to shed twenty pounds of fat instead of the forty you had hoped for. It's acceptable. Get a fresh objective: drop 20 additional pounds in the following three months. You may have thought bench pressing 100 pounds was impossible, but you managed 110 last week. Very well! Pursue the new objective of bench pressing 150 pounds. When you discover your limitations, or more accurately, how to overcome them, don't be scared to aim higher.
On the other hand, you should not make the error of becoming aimless. Many people do this... "When I reach 150 pounds, I'm going into maintenance." This is just a pretext to give in and settle, which is the same as doing nothing and reverting to your previous habits. To stay in shape, you have to keep pushing yourself to new limits. Achieving fitness requires constant motion and effort, not rest and "settling."
You must understand that your goal is not to lose weight or run faster if you wish to lead a healthy and fit lifestyle. In the end, you want to be the best.
In summary
These arguments put out by regular individuals have shown that losing weight and keeping it off for good is a process, not a destination. It has to do with the company you keep, the frame of mind you choose, and your fundamental beliefs (and your openness to changing them). It is insufficient to merely study these issues. You need to absorb them and do something. You won't be able to embark on the path to greatness until then.

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