The Importance of Weight Loss Support

There is no denying that weight loss is a difficult challenge. You must make so many changes in order to lose weight; at times it can become overwhelming. This is one reason gaining support is vital for success. Most of you will not travel down the road to weight loss on your own. At some point in your journey you will need a helping hand.


Start locating individuals and/or groups that can provide the supportive relationships you need to be successful. Weight loss support truly is about developing relationships. The greater your support network the more resources available to overcome obstacles when they arise. You may receive support in a variety of forms. One powerful type of support helpful for weight loss is emotional support.

An example of emotional support may be as simple as a friend complementing you on how well you did in aerobics class last night. Emotional support can help you through a tough time by listening, providing encouragement, or expressing acceptance for you. Emotional support makes you feel good and assists in keeping you on the path to weight loss. Support can also be more tangible and practical such as keeping your children while you go exercise or providing you with financial assistance when you are in a bind. Enlisting support is important for your weight loss efforts so get busy recruiting your team.

Family Support for Weight Loss

If you are to succeed in losing weight you must have your family onboard. They must be your biggest cheerleaders. Below are several important things your family should do and avoid as they assist you along this process.

Things to Avoid

• Threats: Using threats will only serve to anger the overweight family member. Nothing positive can come from it.
• Don’t conceal food.
• The overweight family member will find the food sooner or later and be resentful.
• Don't attack or lecture.
• Avoid talking down to the overweight family member. This will make them feel worse about themselves not better.
• Don’t expect perfection.
• Weight is something that’s managed not cured. Be patient and compassionate if there is a setback.
• Don’t avoid social activities due to the overweight family member’s weight. This will cause the person’s self-esteem to plummet and create resentment towards the family

Things to Do

• Be positive: Always be willing to provide an encouraging word and pat on the back.
• Keep a relaxed atmosphere at home. This allows plenty of time for the overweight family member to devote to eating right and exercising more.
• Be an exercise partner.
  
• Forgive lapses. The overweight family member feels badly enough as it is, no need to make them feel worse by coming down on them. Stay positive and move forward.

Understanding Variety, Balance, and Moderation

A study conducted by the American Dietetic Association found that 2 out of 5 people surveyed thought eating a healthy diet required giving up the foods they love. Actually nothing could be further from the truth. Avoiding your favorite foods will only lead to binging on that very food somewhere in the future. There are three important guides to use when developing a healthy diet: variety, balance and moderation.

Variety – You should select a number of different foods within a particular food group.

When you eat the ‘same foods’ every day you miss out on important nutrients found in other foods within the same group. For instance, if you only eat carrots as your vegetable source, you get plenty of vitamin A but no folate. Folate is found in dark green vegetables like spinach, broccoli and asparagus. Another reason to add variety in your diet, particularly for fruits an vegetables, is that each color of fruit or vegetable contains different cancer retarding substances called phytochemicals.

Balance –You should eat foods from all of the five different food groups. The different food groups are:

• Grains
• Vegetables
• Fruits
• Milk
• Meat and Beans

If you eat a bean burrito with salsa, an apple, and low fat glass of milk, you have covered all of the groups. Try to consciously consume balanced meals throughout the day. Overeating any particular group will cause you to miss vital nutrient found in other food groups.

Moderation –You should use portion control at meals and not over consume any one food. Realize that there are no “good” or “bad” foods. All foods, even those that are high in fat, have there place in a healthy diet plan but must be controlled.

By using these three pillars of a healthy food plan you can lose weight and adequately fuel your body throughout the day.

Strength Training For Weight Loss

Strength training includes any type of exercise where you work against resistance. This includes any movement using your own body weight, bands, tubes, resistance machines, or free weights. Incorporating a strength training routine into your weight loss program can help you lose weight. First, resistance training is a great calorie burning exercise. On average you will burn approximately 200-400 calories per session. Another benefit of strength training is that your metabolic rate will stay elevated for some time after the workout.

Some research studies show that metabolic rate can stay elevated for more than 12 hours. This means you are burning more calories even at rest. However, the main advantage of strength training is that it preserves muscle so as you lose weight more of it comes from fat. If you continue resistance training for several months you may actually gain muscle. Adding muscle is great because it takes more energy to fuel the extra muscle with most of these calories coming from fat. As with any new exercise start gradually. Begin lifting a couple of days a week using light weights at first. As your confidence grows, you can increase the number of days you train, the amount of weight you use, or the number of exercises you do. An appropriately designed resistance training program can be an effective tool for weight loss.