Once you have evaluated your timing and motivation, the next step toward a personalized and permanent weight-loss plan is No-Time-to-Lose Customized for You to define (1) a realistic goal weight and (2) a sensible rate of weight loss. I know you want to get back to your college weight yesterday, but if you don’t put a little thought into these two questions, you may be setting yourself up to fail. Understanding your reality is an important part of successful weight loss. I see so many people who begin a weight loss program with completely unrealistic expectations. This quickly leads to disappointment and a sense of failure if they are not losing weight as quickly as they would like to or if they hit a plateau, pounds away from their goal.
Setting Realistic Expectations for Your Rate of Weight Loss
Let’s discuss the rate of weight loss first. One of the biggest issues I regularly face with my patients is convincing them of what is a realistic and appropriate weight-loss rate. Are you hoping that, if you work very hard, you will lose twenty pounds in the next month, before your trip to Mexico? If so, stop now. This is not a reality TV show, where you can exercise six hours a day and not focus on anything but weight loss. Under most circumstances, you simply cannot lose weight that quickly, and if you do, you are probably losing a significant amount of muscle, water, and even bone.
Setting a Realistic Goal Weight
Now let’s move on to your goal weight. Are you hoping to get down to the weight that you were in college, before the three kids, mortgage, and full-time job? If so, you may want to reevaluate. What did it take to get and stay there back then? Do you really have the time or energy at this point in your life? Is it worth the sacrifices? For some people, particularly younger men, weight loss may not be that challenging, and you may easily lose several pounds a week and get down to your high-school-wrestling weight. For most others, the realities of life, such as travel, children, demanding jobs, sick parents or spouses, and even genetics, require more realistic goals.
Speaking of genetics, let me briefly explain the role it plays in weight loss. Research suggests that genetics plays a major role in obesity, but this does not mean that you are destined to be overweight if one (or both) of your parents has a weight problem. It does mean that you are probably more susceptible to environmental factors, such as increased food availability, larger portions, and better-tasting cuisine, which lead to weight gain. You may feel hungrier more frequently than someone who does not struggle with weight. Or perhaps you don’t feel full as easily, so you eat slightly more when you are served the same amount of food as a thinner person. Or your body may not handle carbohydrates as efficiently as it could, causing you to more easily store excess carbs as fat. The bottom line is, whatever role genetics plays, you still have some control. You may have to eat a little less or a little differently and exercise a little bit more, but permanent weight loss is possible for the great majority of overweight people. I am not saying that you can have the figure of a supermodel or pro athlete if you work hard enough, but you can have a strong, fit, healthy body—if you are committed.
It is also important to remember that metabolism does slow as we age. A significant cause of this drop in metabolism is a decrease in muscle mass, some of which is preventable through strength training. Some muscle loss, though, is simply the consequence of aging and physiological changes in the body, both of which are beyond your control. So factor age into your goal setting too!
