Weight Loss #3: Making goals and choosing your diet (fad diets versus calorie counting)

You've done these diet rounds before. No, this isn't deja vu. This time, it's for keeps.

There is a reason why there shouldn’t be any quick fixes. Weight loss should be a lifestyle change of healthy eating and activity, otherwise, don’t bother at all. Looking good and feeling good is such a cliché but it’s true. When your weight goes on a yo-yo, not only will you contend with methods that don’t seem to work, you’ll also be dealing with the baggage of going through hope and depression all over and over again, and how long can you keep that up? Nobody wants to live that way!

For starters, there are online sources you can visit to find out what your ideal weight should be based on your height. Get your BMI and you’ll even be able to calculate how many calories you should be taking in every day to maintain your current weight. From there, you’ll be able to find out how many you should subtract in order to lose weight.

Stand in front of the mirror and give yourself a good, long look. If you don’t like what you see, imagine how you’d want yourself to look like in months to come. Be realistic and don’t let what society dictates pressure you. Not everyone has the built and bone structure to be a model. At some point in time, those of us who’ve been overweight would simply just be overjoyed at never having to wear spandex and sweatpants ever again! Not everyone can be built to ever fit into small-sized tops. Believe me, fitting into medium ones is an achievement, as well.

And since we are on the topic of honesty, anyway, we might as well discuss finding the right diet for you. Now, here’s one path where there are so many choices, and medically approved, too. From calorie-counting to no-carb, low-carb, veggie and fruit-only diets, there’s bound to be one that will fit your needs.

Speaking from experience, however, I’ve found that I’m a bit more partial to the classic, old-school calorie counting diet. Often, referred to as the “numbers game” diet, it stands with logic that you shouldn’t eat more than you can burn. And you know what? If managed well, you’ll be surprised by how much food (tasty, filling, REAL food) you can eat with this method.

With calorie counting, you can find out how many calories you should consume to maintain your weight. A fast tip is to deduct five hundred calories from that and you’re set to lose one to two pounds per week. That’s a minimum of four pounds and a maximum of eight pounds a month!

While there’s no contest here that fad diets do work (and work extremely well), what I’ve found is that it’s pretty much a standalone weight loss lifestyle change in itself. You had better be prepared to be able to maintain it for a long, long time or contend with all those pounds creeping back in. For example, losing a lot weight via a vegetarian diet is all well and good. It’s healthy and it works fast. But – can you really do it for the long term (think years)? Because if at some point you find out that you just love meat and carbs too much to every give it up, you’re going to have a real problem there.

As fast as you’ve lost the weight, you’ll gain it back, too – complete with the spandex and sweatpants in the process.

Again, honesty and consistency is key.