A New Year and a New You: Easy Weight Loss Tips

By Marina Gafanovich, MD

How many of us resolve to lose weight and then give up mid-way? Here are some easy tips to ensure you are able to achieve your weight-loss goals:

•    Make your goal realistic and specific– Just don’t resolve to lose weight. Be specific and say to yourself, “I will lose 20 pounds” or however much you need to lose. This makes it more real and as long as you keep it realistic, it makes it achievable.

•    Have an action plan– Once you have a goal (for e.g. a 20 pound weight loss), then outline your strategies. How will you lose it? Will you go on a diet? If yes, which one? Which type? Will you take on a new exercise regime? Will you simply replace your bad eating habits (for e.g. junk food, chocolate etc.) with healthy ones? Make sure you know what you want to do. Start with a complete health check-up to find out if there are any underlying reasons for your extra pounds.

•    Break it down– You won’t lose 20 pounds just by saying so. You have to create targets for yourself. Set weekly and monthly targets. Don’t weigh yourself every day. Realistically speaking, you will not lose a pound each day. That just does not happen unless you starve. Weigh yourself once a week and monitor your progress. Don’t panic if a certain week’s weight loss is less than the other weeks. As long as you are losing weight, you are on the right track.

•    Partner up with a friend – This might not be possible for all of us but if you do have a friend who has the same resolution or a friend who exercises regularly or is more on the path of eating healthy, partner up with them. Having a buddy makes things easier and the support helps you adopt a healthier lifestyle more easily.

•    Be prepared for obstacles– You will have cheat days. Live with it. As long as you’re not eating pizzas every day, one night of pizza is not a DISASTER. Just be sure you are able to control your cravings. If its chips and soda you crave, ensure there is no supply in your house. If it’s chocolate that breaks you, treat yourself once in a while, replace it with a low-calorie bar and make sure there are no more around you for you to be tempted.

•    Don’t adopt an “all-or-nothing” attitude– This is because it simply won’t happen. If you think you will achieve 100 percent of your goal, think again. It does not happen for most people. If you are on track 80 percent of the time, give yourself a pat on the back and carry on. Nobody is perfect. Not even you.

•    Make healthier choices– Incorporate minor changes in your lifestyle and obtain major results. Don’t skip breakfast because if you do, you will overeat later on in the day. Skip driving wherever you can walk. Take the stairs whenever you can. It helps. Make sure you eat one piece of fruit a day. You save calories, get the health benefits and become tune to eating more fruit. Don’t eat out too frequently. Home-cooked meal is healthier and better for you. Increase the amount of greens in your diet. If you have a tendency to snack, cut off supply for high-calories ones and replace them with healthy snacks such as almonds, nutrition bars, individual portion cheeses etc.

As a top New York Primary Care Doctor, Dr. Marina Gafanovich, MD offers Internal Medicine services in her private office. Our facility has expanded to provide full and robust urgent and chronic care diagnosis and treatments. We have an in-house lab and diagnostic facility that enables us to provide same day blood tests and electrocardiogram diagnostics, so that our patients do not have to leave the facility to complete a physical examinationor medical clearance. Please visit http://www.mynycdoctor.com/dr-gafanovich/.