There are a few things that are key to the best way to diet and lose weight, but most of these keys are directed towards the actual acts of either eating or exercising.  Many people overlook one of the most important things surrounding this whole cycle, which is setting realistic goals for yourself while you are trying to lose weight.  Setting goals that are impossible to attain will only lead to frustration and quick breaking of the dieting and losing weight cycle.

Best Beginnings

When you decide that you would ideally like to lose weight, the best thing to do is to set a short-term goal at the same time as you are setting some long-term goals for yourself.  As you think about going from a size 14 to a size 10, you have to think about all the small steps that it will take to meet that goal.  Going from a size 14 to a size 10 is a big physical change even though in numbers it looks like a small enough amount of change.  Going down two dress sizes takes months and in some cases, more than a year to accomplish.  This is a simple fact and not a cause for frustration.

In addition to thinking about your long-term goal of going down two dress sizes, set some smaller goals for yourself that you can benefit from the pleasure of meeting the smaller milestones along the way.  Some small goals can be in terms of numbers (lose one pound this week) or they can be in the form of amounts (eat 1700 calories each day or walk 3 miles each day).  Whether you think in days or in weeks, in time exercised or in pounds lost, it is important to set small goals instead of keeping one lofty, eventual goal on the distant horizon.

Consistently Sticking with It

The key to sticking with a new diet for the long term is to be consistent, but not militaristic with your eating habits and your exercise practices.  Don’t get angry with yourself for giving in to your cravings.  Instead of depriving yourself of chocolate if it is your most beloved sweet, cut yourself back to two Hershey’s kisses a day instead of eating a bowl of chocolate ice cream or a piece of chocolate cake.  Some even find a cup of hot chocolate to be the most satisfying way to indulge one’s sweet tooth without breaking the calories or the fat goal for the day.  Depriving oneself in the short-term will usually lead to big-time backsliding; deprivation has no place in a healthy diet.

Setting intermediary goals will help you along the path to significant and consistent weight loss.  Just as you set small goals for the beginning of your diet, continue to set small goals that can be met and rewarded.  When setting your goals, aim for something that will challenge you a little bit, but that will not require mammoth amounts of self-discipline; it’s the realistic goals and not the mammoth ones that can be met.

Following Through

As you approach the long-term goal that you had set for yourself, you’ll need to keep setting and meeting the short-term goals in order to reach your final goal.  Don’t set goals that are too lofty.  Falling off the bandwagon can happen as you approach your goal and realize that you are getting there.  The key to continued and real weight loss is to make permanent modifications to your diet that are lower fat and calories, but that you enjoy almost as much as what you used to eat.  Substituting fruit for chips and hot chocolate for a chocolate bar are two changes that can keep you on course to your goal and keep your taste buds happy in the meantime.