ommediate weight loss

One of the first things that you'll do when you decide to lose weight is to set a goal
weight. For most, that goal will be their 'ideal weight', but for many, that 'ideal weight' may
be exactly the wrong weight for them to be aiming for.
Years of dieting or being overweight have the physiological effect of moving the body's
concept of the 'ideal weight' from what is truly considered ideal. The 'set point' is the
weight at which your body naturally feels most comfortable. If you've been overweight for
a very long time, or if you've consistently 'yo-yoed', your body may respond to your initial
weight loss by lowering its metabolism because it believes that you are starving to death.
This slowing leads to discouraging plateaus that often knock people off their diets entirely,
and lead to regaining all or part of the lost weight.
Instead of aiming for an 'ideal weight' that calls for you to lose weight steadily for months
or even years, many experts recommend aiming for shorter-term attainable goals. Since
the bulk of diet research shows that most dieters lose weight steadily for about 12 weeks,
then hit a plateau, that's the number that they suggest you aim for. The strategy that
many have found works best for them is one of alternating periods of weight loss and
maintenance, each lasting 8-12 weeks.
Choose a realistic amount of weight that you can lose in 8-12 weeks. Figuring that the
most reasonable and healthiest weight loss rate is 1-2 pounds per week, 30 pounds in
three months is not unreasonable. Diet until you reach that goal, or for 12 weeks,
whichever comes first, and then switch to a maintenance diet.
Why switch to a maintenance diet at that point? In part, you're giving yourself a 'breather',
a break from more restrictive eating. The other part, though, is that you're re-educating
your body and letting it establish a new 'set point'. Once you've maintained your new
weight for 8-12 weeks, set another weight loss goal, and move back into weight loss
mode. By giving your body a break from 'starvation', you'll have overcome its resistance
to losing more weight, and be back to dieting for 'the first two weeks' - the weeks that
most people lose weight more rapidly.
You'll also be giving yourself a chance to 'practice' maintaining your new, healthier
weight. Researchers have found that more than half of the dieters who take off significant
amounts of weight do not maintain that weight loss once they go 'off' their diet. By
practicing weight maintenance in stages, you'll be proving to yourself that you CAN do it,
and removing a powerful negative psychological block.
This will work with any long-term weight loss diet, no matter the focus. You'll find it much
easier to do if you choose a diet that has concrete 'phases', like the South Beach or the
Atkins, since the weight loss and maintenance phases are clearly laid out for you to
follow. Regardless of the diet you choose, though, by alternating between weight loss
phases and maintenance phases, you'll teach yourself and your body how to maintain a
healthy weight.