Seven Steps To Reach Your Weight Loss Goal

Importance of weight loss goals

While growing up I was always the fat kid in school. I was teased. My clothes didn't fit. I overate on junk food. I lost weight at times but it always came back.

Now, that is step one: Decide to do something about it.

Finding what works

Well, where do you start? Information about weight loss is a lot like information about money. Sure, there's a lot of it. But how helpful is it?

Everywhere you look -- talk about money, money, money. And everywhere you look -- people, and governments, swimming in debt.

Same thing with weight loss goals. Everywhere you look -- talk about weight loss. And everywhere you look -- obesity.

So, step two: Find what works.

So, what works for weight loss?

I tried lots of different things. Like super low calorie diets. It worked great. Lost the weight.

Then stopped. Gained it back.

Vegetarian diet. But too many carbs.

Exercised. Got stronger. But stayed pudgy. And didn't reach my weight loss goal.

Real science of weight loss

Then in medical school at the University of Washington we had an excellent course in nutrition. It was one of the first nutrition courses taught in a medical school in the United States.

Now, nutrition is a real subject, real chemistry, real physics. It's how the cells work, how the hormones work, how muscle is made, how fat is stored and all the rest. So that was the formal training part.

But I still didn't quite have everything I needed to reach my weight loss goal and stay there. I still had some trouble with my weight, but it was better.

Separating the good from the bad

I was raised in a culture where the majority of the people are overweight -- which is the United States of America right now. And in that culture it is hard to find out what it true and what is not true.

I was practicing medicine and I continued to research. I read every medical journal I could find that had to do with weight loss goals and I applied what I learned in my practice.

I found hundreds of articles, some excellent and some not so good. Even in medical journals you can find things that make no sense. So I continued to sift out the good from the bad.

Reaching your goal weight

After 20 years of work it finally all fell into place. I finally understood what foods were good and which were bad, how much to eat, when to eat, how much exercise was needed and what kind of exercise was best, and many other things.

These are the basic principles. These are the things that affect your weight -- whether you lose weight, reach your weight loss goal and keep it off or stay overweight and unhealthy.

What will work for you?

Now, those principles have to be applied on an individual basis. Because what one person can do another person cannot do.

Therefore step three: Individualize.

A 60-year-old woman can't do the same exercise as a 20-year-old man. And some people can't exercise at all, but they can still lose weight.

And what one person will do another person will not do. Let's say you were raised in Italy. Are you going to give up pasta? No, you're not going to, no matter what the experts say about carbohydrates and weight loss.

The myth of rapid weight loss

I remember what my mother went through when I was growing up. She always had trouble with her weight. It was a very big problem for her. She worried about it. She worked at it.

Miracle diets. Aversion therapy. Little diet candies. Hypnosis.

She used machines with vibrating belts to jiggle the fat away. And she used machines with rollers to roll the fat away. And a thousand other things.

Did it help her reach her weight loss goal? Well, no. Why?

Diet gimmicks and fads don't work. They violate the basic chemistry and physics of weight loss. Or at least they try to. They are just distractions, leading you from the things that would really help you be successful.

So, step four: Ignore the distractions.

Permanent weight loss

It's not important for you to lose 10 pounds this weekend -- or 20 pounds this month -- or even 50 pounds on the latest fad diet -- if you're just going to gain it all back.

What matters is what happens next year and the year after that.

Lose a few pounds?

Some doctors have just about given up. They've started telling their patients that reaching their goal weight is unreasonable. Have you heard that?

Instead, they say lose a few pounds. Ten pounds, maybe 15. It will help your diabetes. Your blood pressure. Your heart.

Well, look, if you're facing real life-threatening and life-shortening problems like diabetes and high blood pressure, you need results.

You know how many people can take off 10-15 pounds and then keep it off? Not many. The vast majority just gain it back.

How about real results?

So who keeps the weight off? It's those people who reach their goal weight. Those are the people that keep if off. This isn't a trivial point. It's one of the key points in the entire field of weight loss.

You want a real miracle? Then set a goal weight. Where you'll be happy with the way you look. Where you'll be fit and healthy.

This is step five: Set a goal weight.

Determination

Do you know what determination is? It means really deciding to do something. It means that you've made your mind up to do it, no matter what.

Lots of people leave this step out. They have doubts. Uncertainties. They wonder if they can do it. They wonder if it will work.

So, make up your mind that you are going to reach that goal weight -- no matter what. This is your decision. It's different than before. There's no doubt in this one. There is only a certainty that this time you really will get to your goal weight and stay there.

So we have step six: Decide to reach your goal weight.

And then what?

And then step seven: Do it.

Follow your plan. Do what works. Drop out what doesn't. Keep track of your progress.

When you do this you will move steadily toward your goal, and in time you'll get there and stay there.

What's next? If you haven't gotten your copy of Dr. Dan's Super Weight Loss Plan, you should get a copy today.

It has a complete program for you to reach your weight loss goal. All the steps, individualized for you, to get where you want to be. You'll be glad you did.

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