How to avoid failed weight loss goals

People set fitness goals all the time, often wanting to drop a dress size or lose some unwanted pounds.

Goals are achievable if a plan of action is put in place, but few people bother to work out how they are going to reach them. Fail to prepare, prepare to fail

A captain of an infantry unit would never send his troops into battle without a detailed plan. To do so would be suicidal. The same can be said for anyone setting a fitness goal.

There are many people who are slightly overweight by a few kilograms, to those who are overweight by a couple of stone. If the task of losing the extra inches was easy we would have a very healthy looking nation, rather than the obesity epidemic we are currently facing.

Take a look at the mainstream gyms up and down the country, they have a sea of cardio machines: treadmills, static bikes, cross trainers, and rowing machines. Each evening, when people have finished work all these machines are in use with people pounding out the steady miles for hours. Fast-forward a year and you will often see the same people, on the same machines, doing the same routine, LOOKING the same.

Cardio is a good form of exercise for weight (not fat¹*) loss if done correctly, but there are two main reasons where people fail:

Variety

The human body is great at adapting to its surroundings and saturation. Put your body through any task repeatedly and the body will adapt, and in time the exercise will feel easier and become achievable with less effort placed on the body.

A lot of people like to stay within their comfort zone rather than push themselves.

In the fitness industry we like to change up routines every six to twelve weeks depending on the individual and how they are progressing.

When it comes to cardiovascular exercises such as running, individuals have an aim - such as a certain time or distance - they hope to achieve. However, once they've achieved this aim they will often stay at the same pace and won't push themselves to achieve more, meaning that they will hit a plateau. A year later they will look pretty much the same as when they started.

Eating

Burn more calories than you consume. It's that simple!²* But people still make mistakes. They go to the gym, do a hard workout, sometimes to the point of exhaustion, and when they get home they're shattered. But then they make a fatal mistake: they eat more food than necessary, more food than they would normally eat if they hadn't done a workout, because they've exercised they don't feel as guilty for eating those extra calories.

When the body goes into hunger mode it will crave foods which as high in fat and sugar, foods which will quickly release energy.

Human nature means that when we're hungry we reach for the biscuits, crisps, or sugary drinks, because our bodies knows these will quickly curb our hunger. If you want to snack, eat foods such as nuts, or a home-made salad or wrap. Snacks such as these will curb your hunger while you prepare a proper meal.

How can we tackle these fatal mistakes?

The most effective way of reaching your weightloss goal is to seek professional advice from personal trainers and nutritional advisers who have the knowledge and experience to give you sound advice. They come with a price, but you can't put a price on your health. How often do you put a budget on a night out with friends, a fancy meal with a partner, or a weekend away? Not very often! Yet when it comes to health, budget tends to rear its head very often. Don't look at it as an expense, look at it as an investment in knowledge which will last you a life time. A good personal trainer or nutritional advisor will educate you and teach you.

You can get good advice from fitness magazines, and if the programs detailed are followed properly, you really can get some decent results.

However, a good personal trainer will work with you, assess you, and adapt any training program or meal plan as you progress. As the body changes, so do its needs, something magazines can't monitor.

Everyone is different,and the same workout programme will give different people different results.

There are many different routes to achieving the same goal. We have all heard the saying "variety is the spice of life". If you learn different ways of working out, then you can keep your training interesting and will be more likely to stick to it. Mixing up workouts will also help to ensure you maintain a greater all rounded level of fitness.

You can read more from Daniel on his blog get out & about fitness.

¹* Don't mistake weight loss and fat loss. Depending on the type of exercise you do and the duration you do it for, will determine whether or not you burn carbohydrate, protein, or fat as a source of energy.

²* The golden rule in weight loss is to burn more calories than you consume. It also helps to put the right foods into the body, not consuming foods which contain lots of chemicals and E-numbers which the body struggles to process. When the body can't process compounds effectively it does one of two things; it either gets rid of them via bowel movements, or it stores them as fat.