It’s not just losing the weight that is difficult; it’s keeping that weight off. Analyzing why a weight loss program is working for us means looking at why we first decided to lose weight. Many medical weight loss programs have us look at ourselves and discover if we are doing it because we want to lose the weight or we think we should lose the weight.
Taking part in a weight loss program because we want to lose that weight is the first step in reforming ourselves into who we would like to be. If we are choosing to take part because we think we should, the road may be a little more difficult because we may be choosing based on guilt or what society deems appropriate.
To be successful in losing weight, we must consider the deciding factors that prevent lapsing into old habits and ensure a lifestyle change we can live with. Knowing the situations that cause us to eat inappropriately will assure the changes we make will be effective toward a long term goal.
Positive reinforcement is a good way to ensure new behaviors will continue. If we work out for an hour in the gym, we are entitled to enjoy time for ourselves such as an hour playing on the computer. Rewards will motivate us to continue with our new lifestyle.
Monitoring our progress is another essential habit to continued success. Keeping a log or journal of daily activities, food intake, and emotional disposition will help us reinforce our new lifestyle change. Once a week, adding our weight to the journal may help identify habits that helped us lose weight and even some that worked against our weight loss goals.
Monitoring and reinforcing positive decisions can reduce temporary lapses into old habits and prevent permanent relapse into unhealthy behaviors that caused us to gain weight .