Writing it down can confirm your commitment. Post these reasons where they serve as a daily reminder of why you want to make this change.

Write down everything you eat and drink for a few days in a food and beverage diary. Tracking physical activity [PDFKB] , sleep, and emotions can also help you understand current habits and stressors.

This can also help identify areas where you can start making changes. Next, examine your lifestyle. Identify things that might pose challenges to your weight loss efforts. For example, does your work or travel schedule make it hard to get enough physical activity?

Do your coworkers often bring high-calorie items, such as doughnuts, to the workplace? Think through things you can do to help overcome these challenges. If you have a chronic condition or a disability, ask your health care provider for resources to support healthy weight.

This may include referral to a registered dietitian and other clinical or community programs, federally approved medications or devices, or surgery. Ask for a follow-up appointment to monitor changes in your weight or any related health conditions.

Set short-term goals and reward your efforts along the way. Maybe your long-term goal is to lose 40 pounds and to control your high blood pressure.

Short-term goals might be to drink water instead of sugary beverages, take a minute evening walk, or have a vegetable with supper. Setting unrealistic goals, such as losing 20 pounds in 2 weeks, can leave you feeling defeated and frustrated. Being realistic also means expecting occasional setbacks.

When setbacks happen, get back on track as quickly as possible. Also think about how to prevent setbacks in similar future situations. Keep in mind everyone is different—what works for someone else might not be right for you.

Try a variety of activities such as walking, swimming, tennis, or group exercise classes. See what you enjoy most and can fit into your life.

These activities will be easier to stick with over the long term. Even modest weight loss [PDF This modest weight loss can decrease your risk for chronic diseases related to obesity. Find family members or friends who will support your weight loss efforts.

Coworkers or neighbors with similar goals might share healthy recipes and plan group physical activities. Joining a weight loss group or visiting a health care professional such as a registered dietitian may also help. Revisit the goals you set in Step 3 and evaluate your progress regularly.

Evaluate which parts of your plan are working well and which ones need tweaking. Then rewrite your goals and plan accordingly.

If you consistently achieve a particular goal, add a new goal to help you continue your pathway to success. Reward yourself for your successes! Use non-food rewards, such as a bouquet of fresh flowers, a sports outing with friends, or a relaxing bath.

Rewards help keep you motivated on the path to better health. Treatment for overweight and obesity Common treatments for overweight and obesity include losing weight through healthy eating, being more physically active, and making other changes to your usual habits.

Choosing a safe and successful weight-loss program Tips on how to choose a program that may help you lose weight safely and keep it off over time. Prescription medications to treat overweight and obesity If lifestyle changes do not help you lose weight or maintain your weight loss, your health care professional may prescribe medications as part of your weight-control program.

Bariatric surgery Weight-loss surgery, also known as bariatric surgery, is an operation that makes changes to the digestive system. Body Image Creating a positive body image through healthy eating habits.

Use the BMI healthy weight calculator. You do not have to do everything at once, try one thing at a time and find what works for you. get active for minutes a week — you can break this up into shorter sessions. aim to get your 5 A Day — 80g of fresh, canned or frozen fruit or vegetables count as 1 portion.

swap sugary drinks for water — if you do not like the taste, add slices of lemon or lime for flavour. cut down on food that's high in sugar and fat — start by swapping sugary cereal for wholegrain alternatives. share your weight loss plan with someone you trust — they can help motivate you when you have a bad day.

do not stock unhealthy food — popcorn, fruit and rice cakes can be healthier alternatives. do not skip meals — you might end up snacking more because you feel hungry. do not finish your plate if you're full — you can save leftover food for the next day. Start moving more and eating healthier with the free NHS Weight Loss Plan or sign-up for a weight loss support group.

Visit the NHS Better Health website. Filter by ingredient or time and find a new favourite for the whole family. Visit the NHS Healthier Families website. Follow an instructor-led workout from the comfort of your own home.

Total fiber intake should be 25—30 grams g daily. Eliminate trans fats from the diet, and minimize the intake of saturated fats, which has a strong link with the incidence of coronary heart disease. Instead, people can consume monounsaturated fatty acids MUFA or polyunsaturated fatty acids PUFA , which are types of unsaturated fat.

In some cases, removing certain foods from the diet might cause a person to become deficient in some necessary vitamins and minerals. A nutritionist, dietitian, or another healthcare professional can advise a person how to get enough nutrients while they are following a weight loss program.

Self-monitoring is a critical factor in successfully losing weight. People can use a paper diary, mobile app, or dedicated website to record every item of food that they consume each day. They can also measure their progress by recording their weight on a weekly basis. Those who can track their success in small increments and identify physical changes are much more likely to stick to a weight loss regimen.

People can also keep track of their body mass index BMI using a BMI calculator. Regular exercise is vital for both physical and mental health.

Increasing the frequency of physical activity in a disciplined and purposeful way is often crucial for successful weight loss. One hour of moderate-intensity activity per day, such as brisk walking, is ideal.

If one hour per day is not possible, the Mayo Clinic suggests that a person should aim for a minimum of minutes every week. People who are not usually physically active should slowly increase the amount of exercise that they do and gradually increase its intensity.

This approach is the most sustainable way to ensure that regular exercise becomes a part of their lifestyle. In the same way that recording meals can psychologically help with weight loss, people may also benefit from keeping track of their physical activity. If the thought of a full workout seems intimidating to someone who is new to exercise, they can begin by doing the following activities to increase their exercise levels:.

Individuals who have a low risk of coronary heart disease are unlikely to require medical assessment ahead of starting an exercise regimen.

However, prior medical evaluation may be advisable for some people, including those with diabetes. Anyone who is unsure about safe levels of exercise should speak to a healthcare professional. It is possible to consume hundreds of calories a day by drinking sugar-sweetened soda, tea, juice, or alcohol.

Unless a person is consuming a smoothie to replace a meal, they should aim to stick to water or unsweetened tea and coffee. Adding a splash of fresh lemon or orange to water can provide flavor.

Avoid mistaking dehydration for hunger. An individual can often satisfy feelings of hunger between scheduled meal times with a drink of water. Therefore, people should avoid estimating a serving size or eating food directly from the packet. It is better to use measuring cups and serving size guides.

Guessing leads to overestimating and the likelihood of eating a larger-than-necessary portion. These sizes are not exact, but they can help a person moderate their food intake when the correct tools are not available. Many people benefit from mindful eating, which involves being fully aware of why, how, when, where, and what they eat.

People who practice mindful eating also try to eat more slowly and savor their food, concentrating on the taste. Making a meal last for 20 minutes allows the body to register all of the signals for satiety. Many social and environmental cues might encourage unnecessary eating.

For example, some people are more likely to overeat while watching television. Others have trouble passing a bowl of candy to someone else without taking a piece. By being aware of what may trigger the desire to snack on empty calories, people can think of ways to adjust their routine to limit these triggers.

Stocking a kitchen with diet-friendly foods and creating structured meal plans will result in more significant weight loss. People looking to lose weight or keep it off should clear their kitchen of processed or junk foods and ensure that they have the ingredients on hand to make simple, healthful meals.

Doing this can prevent quick, unplanned, and careless eating. Planning food choices before getting to social events or restaurants might also make the process easier.

Some people may wish to invite friends or family members to join them, while others might prefer to use social media to share their progress. Weight loss is a gradual process, and a person may feel discouraged if the pounds do not drop off at quite the rate that they had anticipated.

Some days will be harder than others when sticking to a weight loss or maintenance program. A successful weight-loss program requires the individual to persevere and not give up when self-change seems too difficult.

Some people might need to reset their goals, potentially by adjusting the total number of calories they are aiming to eat or changing their exercise patterns. The important thing is to keep a positive outlook and be persistent in working toward overcoming the barriers to successful weight loss.

Successful weight loss does not require people to follow a specific diet plan, such as Slimming World or Atkins. Instead, they should focus on eating fewer calories and moving more to achieve a negative energy balance. Weight loss is primarily dependent on reducing the total intake of calories, not adjusting the proportions of carbohydrate , fat, and protein in the diet.

A reasonable weight loss goal to start seeing health benefits is a 5—10 percent reduction in body weight over a 6-month time frame. Most people can achieve this goal by reducing their total calorie intake to somewhere in the range of 1,—1, calories per day.

A diet of fewer than 1, calories per day will not provide sufficient daily nutrition. After 6 months of dieting, the rate of weight loss usually declines, and body weight tends to plateau because people use less energy at a lower body weight. Following a weight maintenance program of healthful eating habits and regular physical activity is the best way to avoid regaining lost weight.

People who have a BMI equal to or higher than 30 with no obesity-related health problems may benefit from taking prescription weight-loss medications.

These might also be suitable for people with a BMI equal to or higher than 27 with obesity-related diseases. The weight loss is a bigger stress for the body, and the hormonal response to the weight loss is much stronger.

The hormonal response is one of the reasons that weight loss slows down over time and also why weight gain occurs when the diet is stopped or relaxed. On a VLCD, you may have as few as calories a day and may lose up to 3 to 5 pounds 1. Most VLCDs use meal replacements, such as formulas, soups, shakes, and bars instead of regular meals.

This helps ensure that you get all of the nutrients you need each day. A VLCD is only recommended for adults who have obesity and need to lose weight for health reasons.

These diets are often used before weight-loss surgery. You should only use a VLCD with the help of your provider. Most experts do not recommend using a VLCD for more than 12 weeks. These diets usually allow about 1, to 1, calories a day for women and 1, to 1, calories a day for men.

An LCD is a better choice than a VLCD for most people who want to lose weight quickly. But you should still be supervised by a provider. You will not lose weight as fast with an LCD, but you can lose just as much weight with a VLCD. An LCD may use a mix of meal replacements and regular food.

This makes it easier to follow than a VLCD. This diet strategy is becoming more popular. It is often compared to fasting, but the two strategies are slightly different.

Time-restricted eating limits the number of hours per day that you can eat. A popular strategy is the For this diet, you have to eat all of your meals during an 8 hour period, for example, 10 am to 6 pm.

The rest of the time you cannot eat anything. There are some studies that this method can cause rapid weight loss, but there is little information so far about whether the weight loss is sustained. Fasting is an ancient form of caloric restriction.

It has become more popular recently. This is partly because some animal and human studies have shown benefits to fasting for people with diabetes and obesity. There are many different fasting regimens and it is unclear which may be the best.

One of the most popular is the system. This involves 2 days a week of fasting or VLCD and 5 days a week of eating your normal diet. Diets that incorporate fasting can cause rapid weight loss. Some fad diets also severely limit calories to achieve rapid weight loss.

In some cases, these diets are not safe. In most cases, these diets are not sustainable for long enough to cause long-term weight loss. Once you stop the diet, you are at risk for regaining the weight if you return to your old eating habits. Rapid weight loss is more about cutting calories than exercising.

Talk with your provider about what type of exercise you should do while you are on this type of diet. Your provider may suggest waiting until you are on a more long-term diet to start exercising.

Rapid weight loss diet is usually for people who have health problems because of obesity. For these people, losing a lot of weight quickly can help improve:. You should only follow one of these diets with the help of your provider.

Losing more than 1 or 2 pounds 0. It can cause you to lose muscle, water, and bone density. Rapid weight loss can also cause some side effects including:. People who lose weight quickly are also more likely to gain back the weight quickly.

This can lead to other health problems. In general, a rapid weight loss diet is not safe for children. It may also not be safe for teens, pregnant women or older adults unless a provider recommends it.

If you have a health condition, it is a good idea to talk with your provider before starting this or any diet plan to lose weight.