Weight Control: Operationalizing Your Plans by Virginia Bola, PsyD

We have such good weight loss intentions. We emotionally beat ourselves up for lack of self-discipline, weakness, cheating. We swear to change, to put looks and health ahead of comfort and self-indulgence. We promise to change. We want, more than almost anything else, to be the svelte, attractive individual we see in our own minds.

Before you run off, filled with enthusiasm for your latest, greatest, and final (you swear) weight control plans, slow down and take the time to operationalize your goals and the likelihood of your success will increase exponentially.

Here is one method:

"I'm going to lose 25 pounds before summer so I can feel comfortable in a bathing suit."

Take that dream and break it down into specific, limited steps:

1. Take at least a week to carefully select the diet, eating plan, or exercise routine you intend to follow. 2. Aim to adhere to your plan for at least 5 days per week for the loss of one pound. 3. If weight loss is less than a pound, determine to follow your plan for 7 days per week until you reach that one pound per week goal. 4. If you lose more than a pound, smile and enjoy. 5. Limit new or additional exercise routines to 10 minutes at a time, once per day, 3 days per week. You may easily want to do more but try to limit yourself. That will keep your desires strong and have you eagerly looking forward to the second month when you can expand your routines substantially.

"I'm going to let everyone know that this time is it - I am truly determined to reach my goal."

Before you share your intentions with everyone, pause and consider:

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BIO:

Virginia Bola is a licensed psychologist and an admitted diet fanatic. She specializes in therapeutic reframing and the effects of attitudes and motivation on individual goals. The author of The Wolf at the Door: An Unemployment Survival Manual, and a free ezine, The Worker's Edge, she is currently working on a psychologically-based weight control book: Diet with an Attitude. She can be reached at http://www.virginiabola.com

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