Chuck Osuagwu, MD, understands the drive to make resolutions as we enter a new year. After all, what better time to reflect on the months past and look for ways to make our lives better in the coming year?
Weight loss is a common focus of New Year’s resolutions and for good reason. Being overweight or obese takes an enormous toll on your body, affecting virtually every organ and system that keeps you alive.
But losing weight isn’t always easy, and maintaining your results is arguably even harder to accomplish. Today, the team at Centerville Medical Center would like to share some of the most common pitfalls that people encounter when trying to lose weight and provide tips on how you can avoid those mistakes.
The best New Year’s resolutions (or any goal for that matter) are those that are highly specific and targeted. Simply stating that you’d like to get healthier or happier this year is not a targeted goal.
When it comes to weight loss, the best way to set specific goals is by working with an outstanding medical professional like Dr. Chuck to assess your current health and determine a reasonable and attainable goal.
When your goal is attainable, you can track your progress and stay motivated as you see the results of your hard work develop.
The urge to improve your diet is understandable. The foods and beverages we choose to consume each day have a direct affect on our weight and overall health. Trying to completely overhaul your nutrition, however, is setting yourself up for almost certain failure.
Your body and brain have grown accustomed to your current dietary habits. If you try to make sweeping changes, you are going to encounter some uncomfortable side effects. For example, you might develop headaches if you quit consuming caffeine all at once.
You could also struggle with severe cravings if you attempt to cut out all the unhealthy foods you’ve grown accustomed to consuming. Too much change can feel overwhelming and leads many people to quit before they even get too far along their weight loss path.
Strive to make meaningful changes in your diet, but don’t change too much, too fast. Look for ways to replace junk food with healthier options, and try to find joy in planning, preparing, and eating healthful meals.
Here again, the problem lies in the need to make sustainable change. If you dive headfirst into an extreme exercise program, you’ll likely see some initial results. Anyone can drop pounds when they push their body to the limit.
But taking on too much activity after a period of being sedentary puts you at risk of sustaining a sports injury. That can put an immediate end to your workout plans, and even prevent you from less intense exercise like walking or swimming.
The best approach is to set attainable goals that get you moving more than usual. That can be striving for a specific number of steps each day or a number of sessions at the gym with a personal trainer.
As we mentioned earlier, anyone can lose weight in the early days of calorie restriction or a significant increase in daily physical activity. Weight loss, though, is not a linear experience; it tends to happen in cycles with periods of stasis in between.
Don’t feel discouraged if you lose a substantial amount of weight one week and almost nothing the next. Healthy weight loss takes time, and it doesn’t happen on a schedule. Think of the experience as a process, not a distinct goal.
After all, maintaining your weight loss results will be an ongoing process that can last the rest of your life, so be patient during these early days.
When it comes to losing weight, you have a multitude of options. You can try specific diets, weight loss support programs, or weight loss medication. But any time you make a significant change in your health, you also change other aspects of how your body feels and functions.
For people living with one or more forms of chronic disease, weight loss must be part of a larger health management process. You can’t simply ignore other areas of health while you focus on shedding excess weight.
Doing so can increase your risk of sprains, strains, and other sports injuries. It can make it more difficult to get high-quality sleep or manage stress. And if you’re on medication, weight loss needs to be done under the supervision of a medical professional, especially if you’re relying on weight loss drugs to help you reach your goals.
If you’re excited to change your health for the better in the coming year, the team at Centerville Medical Center is ready to help. Just give us a call at 972-807-6016 to book an initial consultation, or spend a few moments on our convenient online booking page to check appointment availability.
When you’re ready to come in for your initial health assessment, simply contact our office by phone during normal business hours, or spend a few moments on our simple online scheduling page.
