Whether you want to have six-pack abs, to lose your muffin top or you want simply to improve your health, losing fat requires more than a dream. However, you can achieve your fat loss goals if you take the proper steps.
With correct action, you can finish just as strong as you start and be happy with the amount of fat you lose when you see the results of your plan. Just as much as health is about your physical appearance and your internal functions, it is mental process.
Before I achieved long-term fat loss, I first had to set things right in my mind.
Often we have big ideas and our imaginations run wild with all sorts of fabulous thoughts of what we want to have, where we want to go and who we want to be. These thoughts bring smiles to our faces. However, those happy thoughts usually do not come with well-prepared plans for us to achieve all of the wonderful things that we imagine. As a result, when we do not achieve our dreams we frequently tumble head first into a mental funk because we have an idea of what we want, however we do not know how to get there.
The mantra mentioned just about everywhere you look these days for information to help you achieve whatever personal objective you have is to set goals. However, with such big dreams and ideas the goals often appear impossible, especially when it comes to something as life changing as fat loss.
One of the secrets to burning fat, or any goal for that matter is not just the goal itself, but how you set it.
Just about everyone who wants to be healthier wants to lose some amount of fat, but how you go about it, is just as important. The key here is manageability.
When you set your fat loss goal you can dream big, but you also have to be practical in your approach to achieving it and making it a reality. This means breaking the goal down into smaller pieces. This will allow you to keep optimistic, see progress and stay commited.
Presenting your goals in a manageable form helps you to see the big picture regarding your objective and mentally this helps to ease the pressure of moving from merely dreaming to the task of accomplishment. Losing 10 percent body fat without a target date is vague and is not a clear enough goal to help motivate you to move forward. However, a goal of losing 10 percent body fat in six months makes it a more realistic and manageable health goal.
Breaking your fat loss goal into smaller manageable pieces includes asking questions that make your idea seem much more real and possible for you to accomplish. Here are a few examples of questions you would ask yourself.
- How much fat do I want to lose?
- How many months do I think it will take me to reach my goal?
- What changes do I need to make in order for me to lose fat?
- Where can I get support or information to help?
If we merely look at your objective of burning fat technically, you can accomplish this health goal by lowering your fat intake and by creating an environment within your body where fat burning exceeds fat consumption. However, just about everything personal requires more than simple technical analysis. Fat loss is no exception. Your setting a fat loss goal much likes setting other goals is something where you need to consider certain factors to help you attain success.
Two factors include practical applications and the emotional considerations.
Practical Applications
Losing fat in the current era with the all of the available products you can buy is relatively easy. However, achieving your fat loss goal through the quickest means possible does not help to ensure long-term success. Although fat burning pills, prescription products and over the counter solutions offer quick fixes, it is usually best not to rely solely on such products.
It is understandable for you to want fast results or to burn fat as soon as you can. There is a lot of pressure from the media and other sources to look a certain way and it would be dishonest to present this information as if quick fixes do not work. Quite often, they do, but if you do not change your lifestyle, eating habits or other behaviors, you may find yourself in an unhealthy cycle and completely dependent on whatever thermogenic, diet or weight loss product you choose.
That is an expensive and unhealthy way to lost fat.
Additionally, many of the products lose their effect after continual use or simply are not meant for long-term usage. Supplementing your efforts with fat burning pills, thermogenics or other fat loss products can however serve to your benefit.
Something else for you to consider is that more than likely (unless due to some medical condition) you did not gain the fat you want to lose overnight. So do not expect to lose the fat so fast. Additionally, sending your body through such traumatic shock has the potential to create adverse side effects that may negatively affect your health both immediately and long term.
Instead of setting an intense and short goal, you should look to attain your fat loss over time. Perhaps start with one month as a goal before you begin to see results and extend your fat loss goals to several months. This approach is much more practical and something you are more likely to achieve, instead of targeting an extreme goal over a short period. This way you can allow for growth spurts and slow periods as your body adjusts to the progress you will make.
Emotional Considerations
After making sure that you set attainable goals for yourself, it would be wise to consider in addition to the physical transformation taking place the emotional commitment and changes that you will go through to obtain your goal. Whether you are excited and full of energy or somewhat nonchalant about changing your physical appearance your emotions play a big part in the process. Make an effort not to place too much of a burden on yourself to achieve faster than possible.
Additionally, give yourself room to grow regarding the process, especially if you are undertaking a radical change in diet or exercise habits. Some adjustments take time to get used to and you must allow yourself to get comfortable with the progress and process physically and emotionally. During your fat loss, you may experience joy and happiness because of rapid success and when things go slow, you may feel a bit down. It is okay, just continue forward.
Understand that the process will not necessarily be a straight line, but a natural progression that will ebb and flow with peaks and valleys until you meet your goal. You having knowledge of this process ahead of time can help better prepare you for the challenges ahead and should help to keep you from going too far into any negative emotions that may pop up along the way.
Potential Outcomes
After setting a measurable and achievable goal with a realistic time frame and deciding to go with practical applications and considering the emotional process, another thing to address is the outcome of your effort. Consider the various outcomes but make the best to achieve the goal you have made for yourself.
Doing your best is more than merely saying such, but actually applying consistently the steps required to be your best.
Use affirmative language when you write your fat loss goal down. You will give yourself a motivational tool to help you throughout the process. Your written down goals help remind you of any steps you need to take but may forget. Refer to your goal sheet routinely or as needed and use it to stay on track.
