Secrets to Successful Weight Loss

  1. Listen to your Heart - You are much more likely to succeed if your motivation comes from within.

  2. Plan Ahead to Beat Temptation - If you are going away for the weekend pack nutritious foods and eat smaller portions of high fat foods. For the first 30 days of a new eating plan say no to an invitation that spells temptation such as coffee at your favorite dessert hangout or a cookie exchange.

  3. Focus on Progress - Long-term success is much more likely if you focus on your new eating and exercise plan rather than the bathroom scale. In fact get rid of the scale all together. Setbacks plague people who are trying to change. The key to staying on track in the face of these setbacks is to make a daily commitment to your new behaviors, regardless of what happened yesterday.

  4. Take it Slowly - No more than 2 lbs. per week and no fewer than 1200 calories per day. Extreme self-denial doesn’t work...it usually leads to over indulging. Another problem with extreme calorie deprivation is your basal metabolic rate drops temporarily putting your body into energy-conserving mode. The result: you will not burn as many calories for fuel as you would if you were on a more moderate diet.

  5. Honour Your Preferences - When in maintenance you need to allow yourself those favourite foods; it’s important. The key here is how much and how often.

  6. Trade Fat for Protein - Calorie for calorie protein is more satisfying than fat, so people on higher protein diets feel fuller on fewer calories, therefore you’re less likely to go over on your daily calorie requirements. Fibre rich foods also promote a feeling of fullness so eating more fibre will help you to eat less.

  7. Shake it Up - Successful weight loss clients - people who have lost 30 lbs. or more and kept it off for 5 years, say the behaviour that most constantly distinguishes the successor from the wannabes was regular physical activity. People who had embarked on an exercise program involving at least 2,500 extra calories a week in energy output (= to about 5 hours or vigorous activity) fared especially well. Physical activity balances out your hunger mechanism and leads to greater muscle mass, which uses extra calories to maintain itself. With less activity, your brain tells you that your comfortable at a heavier weight. Successful weight managers tend to incorporate physical activity into their everyday lifestyles, so you might want to take those stairs at work.

  8. Share the Load - Share your new behaviour with a friend. Enlist your friends and family to help. We all need social support. Support is the key to long term weight maintenance. Just make sure that the friend or family member is not an ‘enabler’ who lets you off the hook easily.


Track Your Food
Tammy Coles
Certified Personal Trainer - CFP
Certified Nutrition Consultant - CFP
Certified Group Fitness Instructor - CFP

DE Coaching Team

Krista Schaus PICP CPT
Ontario CANADA krista@definingedge.ca

Kate Kline PICP CFT
Arizona USA
kate@definingedge.ca

DE Client Services

info@definingedge.ca

 

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Where you can find the Defining Edge team or athletes

  • Janary 2010 - Strength & Beauty "Next Level" (Milton, ON)
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