10 Permanent Weight Loss Tips

We can come up with many reasons for losing weight and often feel pressure to do it to please other people. No matter how much we care about someone else this is something we should only ever choose to do for ourselves.

If you decide to lose weight for our partner, chances are you will reach for the cream cakes at the first sign of a row with them. On difficult days we can end up resenting the "reason" we began on this path, if we choose to do it for someone else. Whether you want to lose weight to improve your health or so that you can fit into your favorite dress you need to do to it because you want to.

Do it for you! You deserve it!

I have often looked at the scales and felt I had a huge mountain to climb, an impossible mountain. I have looked at the amount of weight that I wanted to lose and felt that it would take forever (and a day!) to achieve it.

I suggest that you write down your target (a safe healthy weight for your height) and then break this down into smaller achievable goals. I take it 7lbs at a time. Remember that many authorities agree that a weight loss rate of 1-2lbs per week is the safest rate to lose weight. People who lose weight slowly tend to maintain their weight loss for longer.

If you lose a pound a week that's 52 pounds in a year!

To help you to stay motivated, reward yourself along the way. Try to make sure that your rewards are not food related. Maybe treat yourself to your favorite perfume, a manicure, a trip to the movies or a visit to a friend that you don't see often - something that makes you happy! You could put some money in a jar for each pound or inch you lose and spend it on something nice that is just for you.



Peanuts: Celebrate the Li...

How often have we started a diet and viewed it as a short term goal. Ever tried the Cabbage Soup Diet, The South Beach Diet or any of the hundreds out there only to think I can't wait to be able to eat this or that as soon as I'm finished?

Permanent weight loss can most effectively be achieved with a permanent attitude. Make the decision to change your eating and excercise habits for the better for life - for your life. Make changes that you can live with. It may be easier and more sustainable to start one step at a time insead of making a radical change.

Maybe replace the junk food with more fruit, vegetables and lean meats this month and start exercising next month or start eating breakfast to give your metabolism a kick start in the morning. Everbody has different limits so decide what is best for you, while making sure you are doing enough to achieve your goals!

Remember it is easier to lose the weight once than trying to do it over and over!

We all know that excercise is good for our health and for weight loss but sometimes it is hard to get up and move! I'm not suggesting that you start training for a marathon, spend hours in the gym or spend lots of money on memberships or equipment.

You can dance like a lunatic in your living room, walk the dog regularly, jump about on a trampoline - have fun with it! If you haven't excercised for a long time walking is a great start and whatever you choose you will feel the improvement and see the results quickly. Maybe try what I call the 20 plan - 20 minutes walking, 20 press-ups, 20 sit-ups, 20 squats and 20 lunges each day. You can add 5 to each item every week as you feel yourself getting fitter and stronger.

Remember a moving ass is getting smaller!!



One Mile at a Time

This is something that I discovered on my weigth loss journey - hunger is the enemy! Finding my rhythm with food meant that for me I needed to eat every two to three hours. I had breakfast, a small snack, lunch, a small snack, dinner and another small snack. That might seem like an awful lot and if you choose to eat healthy foods you can eat a lot! My snacks, for example, were pieces of fruit or small handfuls of nuts. I kept a box of raisins on my desk at work for emergencies!

By eating that way, it meant that I didn't ever have that "I would eat the table as well" kind of hunger that can drive us for the nearest candy bar or fast food take-away. Making sure that I was never starving helped me continue to make healthy choices.

Again, everybody is different - you may prefer to eat three larger meals with no snacks. You may prefer to have a large meal in the middle of the day and a lighter one in the evening. Pay attention to your body's signals - maybe write down what you eat, when and how it makes you feel.

If you find your rhythm with food, you'll be dancing all the way to permanent weight loss.

We need to eat to nourish and fuel our bodies. Ideally the foods we eat should excite our sense of taste, smell and sight - think of all the great colors for example!

So often however, we find ourselves eating when we are not hungry or eating something we are not really interested in for the sake of it. Ever eaten something because you were having a bad day, just because you though it would make you feel better, only to feel guilty about it? Most people call this comfort eating. I call it punishment beating.

Do you "comfort eat" because life is not going as well as you think it should? Do you over eat when life is going great, because somewhere inside you feel you don't deserve it? Stop it right now! Food will not solve our problems. If we are over eating it only adds to them and our waistlines.

If life is going well - you deserve it, enjoy it! If life is not going to plan, re-evaluate. Are you being too hard on yourself? Set a goal and make a plan. Be positive and confident in your own abilities.

Think about all of your positive attributes. Do you make the people in your life smile? Do you have great kids? Do you do a great job?

If you are eating too much or eating foods that are contributing to weight gain, stop beating yourself up and set your goals for permanent weight loss now!






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I'm lucky, I love drinking water but I know a lot of people don't. It hydrates us, helps keep our skin healthy and eliminates toxins - it really is multifunctional! It is recommended that we drink two litres a day - do you?

There are 2 reasons why drinking enough water contributes to permanent weight loss:

1)If we don't drink enough water, our bodies retain some of the water we drink and we feel bloated. We will weigh in a little heavier too. Don't worry though this weight gain is temporary and as soon as you are drinking enough water you will lose this weight.

2)We often confuse the signals of dehyration in our body for hunger and eat when actually our bodies need water.

If you don't like water or find it boring jazz it up a little- add a squeeze of lemon juice or some sugar free cordial. You can also count fresh fruit juices and flavoured teas. If I feel like a soda, I add add fruit juice or sugar free cordial to sparkling water. I keep a bottle at my desk and drink small amounts regularly - you'd be surprised how easy it is to get enough.

You'll be floating your way to a permanently slimmer you before long!



Peanuts: Make a Splash

Ever weighed yourself every day? Several times a day? Been disappointed when you were up a pound on yesterday and you don't understand why? You're obsessing and creating an obstacle on your road to permanent weight loss.

Our weight fluctuates over the course of a day and even over the course of a week. If you want to weigh yourself to keep track of your weight loss you should only do so once per week (maximum!). You should make sure it is at the same time of the day on the same day of the week.

Measuring inch loss can often be a more accurate way of measuring your progress especially if you are excerising. Muscle weighs more than fat and as you gain muscle it can sometimes seem like you are not losing weight but you will find that you are losing inches. Those jeans feeling looser yet? If you measure your body (arms, thighs, waist and hips for example), record your measurements and then measure again in a months time you will see your progress in inches!

As you make progress you will feel the difference and notice your achievements, so you don't need to obsess!

Are your clothes feeling looser yet? Getting too big even? Congratulations - it's a great feeling and it is all down to you!

This is permanent weight loss so you will never need the clothes that now are too big ever again! Get rid of them - give them to a friend, to charity, recycle them or have them altered to fit the new you. Do whatever you need to do but don't keep clothes that you will grow back into!

I know it can be expensive to buy a new wardrobe all at once, especially when you have lot of weight to lose. I tended to buy clothes for every two sizes I dropped - it was nice wearing loose clothes for a while but they had to go. Shopping is also much more pleasurable when it becomes easier to find clothes to fit. It is all ahead of you!

Be ruthless and remove all the items that are too big and don't look back.

Downsize your wardrobe to match the new downsized you!

Ten Marilyns, c.1967

I know that we don't always want to have our picture taken when we're not confident about how we look, but I promise that this photo will give you lots of pleasure in the future.

I want you to have a photograph of yourself taken to-day. This will be your before picture. I have mine on a keyring and I carry it always. Why??

There are two main reasons:

1) In moments of temptation I remind myself of what I have achieved and also that I don't want to go back to the bottom of the hill again!

2) When I show people my before picture, which includes a couple of friends I usually get a puzzled look, followed by disbelief and lots of compliments when I point myself out!

Great buzz! Great motivation to ensure that your weight loss is permanent!

Take that photo - you can even create your own Honey I Shrunk Me gallery!!

Spend 10 minutes each week planning your meals and exercise time for the next week.

When you decide what you are going to eat, write your shopping list and stick to it. Please do not go shopping when you are hungry - you might be shocked when you unpack all the things you vowed you wouldn't buy!

If you have decided in advance what you are going to eat and have the ingredients in your cupboard, you are less likely to be tempted by unhealthy options.

Also, if you plan when you are going to exercise you are more likely to stick to your schedule. Try to make it a routine as this will be easier to maintain in the long term than a random programme.

Make your game plan and achieve your goal of permanent weight loss!

The tips to permanent weight loss above are a list of some on the things that have helped me to make the changes I needed to make to achieve my weight loss goals. I intend to create more lenses to help with further information. I will also add some bonus tips - so watch this space!

I hope these tips are helpful to you! If you need a program (not a diet!) or more information to help you start to-day Click Here!