Positive Health Steps

Being consistent when trying to lose weight is a great tool on the path to success. Weight Loss, like many other things in life, will become easier if you become consistent in your approach and stick to the plan you have mapped out for yourself.

If you are saving money for a special event, consistently putting aside a certain amount each week or each month, builds the kitty steadily and before long you have reached your goal saving amount. Applying that principle to weight loss can also lead to success.

Here are a few areas where you need to become consistent.

• Eat to a calorie controlled plan


• Exercise regularly


• Stay away from fatty food


• Believe you can do it

Being consistent in life reaps many rewards. Being consistent when losing weight brings certain success.

Remember the good old Elvis song Stuck On You? I seem to be singing that to the 81 kilos mark, I have been stuck on this weight since before Christmas.

Now this isn't necessarily a bad thing. Remembering that Christmas and the New Year period is a time of cheer and good food, plus I have a birthday thrown in for extra good times.

The positive news is that I didn't put any weight on over that period. Why is that positive? Because it means I have learned strategies to live and eat normally and maintain that current weight. This is great news for when I reach my ultimate goal.

Now that all the festivities are over it's back to normality and watching those calories, exercise and chasing my goal. Just another 6 kilos to go and I am there. It's exciting times and man I feel so good.

Finally "The Scale" is showing a downward trend again and I am happy to say, no estatic is the right word, I have lost .75 of a kilo this week which is close to 2 pounds.

I still consider holding the weight where I was before Christmas as a good sign that I can enjoy good times now and not put on weight. For me, counting calories is not just a good tool for weight loss, it will be my best friend once I have achieved my goal to maintain an even weight for the rest of my life.

I am pretty excited right now because I can see that next week I can be under 80 kilos. I haven't been under 80 kilos in a long, long time. Then I am just 5 kilos from my ultimate goal that I set in August of being 75 kilos.

The light at the end of the tunnel is getting brighter each week.

Today weight is 80.5 kilos or 177.10 pounds
Total weight loss to date is 16.7 kilos or 36.7 pounds

It was time for a visit to the doctor yesterday for a prescription for cholesterol medication. I was looking forward to the visit as I always get a mini checkup and wanted to know how I was progressing.

Firstlly, my blood pressure has improved and was 125/70. Excellent! Reflexes are good, weight is down from 88 kilos at last visit to 80 kilos. Eyes, ears and throat all okay.

The doctor said that I am coming along fine and while I am not scheduled for another blood test for a couple of months yet to see what the cholesterol levels are at, he feels sure that they will be good because all the body signs are great.

Looks like I will be around on this earth for awhile yet. I like counting calories. I feel so good and am starting to like what I see in the mirror also, which has been a ghastly sight for so long.

Today's weigh-in was a very pleasing result. I hit 80 kilos and now have just 5 kilos to go to reach that goal I made when starting on the weight loss program. As you can see on the scale image, I could be just a tick under that 80 kilo mark, but won't claim it as such yet and will wait until next week to ensure I am not jumping the gun.

Whatever weight I choose to select, 80 kilos or below, it doesn't matter really because the main thing it is going in the right direction. down.

I can't wait to take that after photo because there is such a difference in body shape. My clothes feel so good, in fact some are now just too big to wear anymore. I am exercising and enjoying it and doing things, such as pushups, that I couldn't do just 6 months ago.

Some of the biggest differences I have noticed is the ease that I can now tie up my show laces and cutting my toe nails. Both of those things were a real problem to do as my belly got in the way and I couldn't bend over far enough. Now it's easy to get down and reach them.

Another 5 kilos. It's not a lot and it's so close I can feel it.

We have talked about control and how you need to control your eating habits and control your total food intake in order to lose weight, but you do need to throw the word "Determination" into the arena also.

If you think of the word determination, it conjures to your mind someone who will never give in. Like a British Bulldog, once they grab something they will never let go. You need that type of determination when deciding to start a weight loss program.

There is no shortcut to weight loss, it is a battle and there are more than enough temptations along the way for you to stray from your goal, but if you set your mind strongly and apply a good dose of determination, the outcome is guaranteed to be in your favor. Just as it was easy to put the weight on in the first place, with control and determination, it is just as easy to take it off again.

Become determined to reach your goal weight, you can do it, just like many others before. It is easy to give in, but if you have the determination to succeed in losing weight, you can move mountains of fat from your body and look and feel like that person who is inside you, screaming to be released.

Another milestone was passed today with the scales showing clearly under 80 kilos. It's more than satisfying to reach this mark, a weight that I have not been near for quite a few years.

Today’s weight = 79.5 kilos or 175 pounds
Weight loss for week = .5 kilo or 1 pound
Weight loss to date = 17.7 kilos or 39 pounds

Somebody asked me the other day if losing weight is hard. I thought about it for a little while and the answer is no, it isn't really hard to lose weight, all you need to do is the opposite to what put the weight on in the first place, and putting it on wasn't hard at all.

Once you start good things begin to happen. Counting calories is not hard but you do need a determination to succeed and will power to stay away from junk food. Walking is good for your health and becomes very enjoyable after awhile. These 2 things together, keeping calorie intake under 1500 a day and moderate exercise, will ensure you lose weight consistently.

I put on weight by not exercising and eating too much of the wrong foods. Now I am doing the reverse, exercising and eating good food and a lot less food that before. Easy isn't it, as long as I keep doing that I will never have a problem with my weight again. When are you going to start?

Medical studies have shown that exercising for less than 15 minutes will not burn any more calories than normal everyday activities. In other words, if you want to lose weight, how long you should exercise for is very important. Exercising for less than 15 minutes is next to useless, but you still get some advantage in that you have at least used your muscles and moved, which is better than watching television.

To get the most out of exercise you should carry out the activity for at least 30 minutes each day. This then burns more calories for the second 15 minutes.

Couple a walking program with muscle toning and you can eventually burn more calories per exercise session. For every gram of muscle that you build you will burn 90 calories per hour more, that's a great way to lose more weight in the long term.

So it's beneficial to introduce slowly building muscle tone while undertaking a walking program. Both will help increase the burning of unused calories and couple that with sensibly eating patterns and counting calories, you will soon be looking great and feeling if you could conquer the world.

So how long should you exercise each day? Aim for at least 30 minutes daily and you will see a regular weight loss when you also combine sensible eating patterns.