Starting your journey

You may be asking yourself, where will I even begin?? Maybe you have started a New Years resolution, maybe you have a class reunion, or maybe even a wedding that you are trying to drop a few pounds for? (or kilos for the rest of my readers outside of the U.S.! :) )

Here's the thing. This hub is not for fab diets. It is not for people trying to lose a couple of vanity pounds to squeeze into that pair of skinny jeans. I want the focus on these hubs to be helping people make healthier decisions. There is no such thing as a one size fits all approach. What will work for some of us may not work for our friends and family members.

With all of that out of the way, I want you to ask yourself, are you ready to make decisions now for a healthier tomorrow? If your answer is yes, then please continue reading.

Where should you begin?

First and foremost, begin with establishing a realistic goal. The key word in that sentence is realistic. Average gradual safe weight loss as a general rule is 1-2 lbs a week. This is a realistic number with slightly reducing your calorie consumption throughout the week. If you are losing much more than this, there is a high likelihood that it is water weight though this isn't always the case.

Next you need to ask yourself why are you losing weight? Is it a short term vs long term goal? For example, if you are trying to reduce your weight to reduce your chances of becoming diabetic due to family history, this is a long term goal. If you are just trying to lose weight for a one time event such as a reunion, this is short term. Long term goals are always going to be healthier and easier to sustain. Short term solutions usually fall in the category of fad diets. A short term fix will never fix a long term problem! I always tell myself, it took me a long time to gain weight, it will also take me time to safely lose it.

Speaking of safety, these pages should never be used as a substitute for your doctors advice. These articles are written from an informational standpoint about what has worked for me over time. In fact, the next thing I recommend to my readers to do after establishing realistic goals is to talk to their general practitioner. Why you ask? Any time you are going to be attempting a lifestyle change (Notice I said lifestyle change, not diet) it is important to get your doctors input. Your doctor may decide to run test to check your cholesterol levels, your blood sugar, things of that nature. In fact, if you are working to lose a significant amount of weight I would highly suggest working with your doctor to possibly run those test. The reason? In short it gives you a benchmark to compare in a few months based on your doctors advice. The reason I titled my pages the way I did is that our focus shouldn't just be on weight loss, it should be on better overall health. If for example, after seeing your doctor you realize you have high cholesterol, your goal should be to improve those numbers while getting to a healthier weight.

Remember, you should always be working on a journey to better health. You should never attempt to lose weight to get an ideal body type, to impress a special someone, or for a one off occasion. You should always be doing this to improve YOUR health. Always make sure you are making your decisions as if it was a lifestyle choice, never a diet. :)

Together we can all do this. In my following articles I will be going into detail about different types of eating plans, certain pitfalls as well as advantages to each. If you have any questions or comments on something you guys would love covered in the future by all means, feel free to comment below!

Thanks for reading and remember, sharing this page is always appreciated! :)