It’s important to have a healthy approach to long-termweight loss which means you don't have to deprive yourself from the foods you love to lose weight. 

1. Ditch the ‘all or nothing’ mind set
When you set out to lose weight, it’s a great to write up a weekly exercise and eating plan that looks perfect on paper.

But let’s be realistic. You might only make it the gym once that week, or you may need to grab take-away food.

Instead of feeling like you may as well give up if you deviate away from your best intentions, remember that life gets in the way of even the best laid plans. It’s important to work on the ‘art of flexible restraint’. This means never being too strict, or too lax on your approach to weight loss.

Hot tip: Use your weekly ProPoints allowance as your spontaneity stash for when the unexpected pops up.

2. Get weight-loss support
When you surround yourself with supportive people, you put yourself in a great position for weight loss. For weekly support and encouragement, attend Weight Watchers meetings. You’ll learn a new weight-loss skill each week from a Leader and feel inspired by the people around you. It’s a great place to share, celebrate and charge up your motivation batteries.

But the meeting room isn’t the only place to find support. Tell your friends and family that you’re living a healthy new lifestyle. They can come to your aide and offer their support by perhaps exercising with you or providing healthier options like salads and grilled foods at gatherings.

Hot tip: Visit the Weight Watchers online community to view blogs or chat to other members via the message boards or download the free iPhone App.

3. Remember to plan ahead
You may have your fridge and pantry stocked to the max with healthy foods, but if you forget plan ahead and pack your meals and snacks for the day, you may end up ravenous and eyeballing the office vending machine like a long-lost lover.

Make sure you allow enough time in the morning or night before to plan and prepare what you’ll eat during the next day. Planning ahead will also help you keep track of your ProPointsbudget so you have enough ProPoints values left over for special occasions, treats, or a bigger portion of your favourite meal.

Hot tip: Keep Filling & Healthy foods and 0 ProPoints value fruits on hand to help keep you feeling full.

4. Don't deprive yourself
Cutting out certain good groups like carbs, fructose or fats is a dangerous short-term solution to weight loss that can hinder your health. Deprivation diets can also lead to cravings, an empty bank account and abandonment of your weight loss attempt.

A healthy approach to weight loss means enjoying all food groups to ensure your body is properly nourished. The ProPoints Plan gives you the flexibility to eat the foods you love and lose weight at the same time. That means feelings of deprivation and hunger won’t have a place in your weight loss vocabulary.

Hot tip: The Weight Watchers Good Health Guidelines cover healthy serves of all foods groups each day.

5. Be patient with your weight loss
Losing weight at a speedy and unsustainable rate can pose some serious health risks and make it harder to keep off long-term. While the recommended healthy rate of weight loss is up to 1kg per week, it is normal for some people to lose more than that during the first few weeks on the ProPoints Plan.

But losing weight isn’t exclusively about reaching your Goal weight. It’s about learning how to live and enjoy a healthy lifestyle so you can stay at your Goal weight for life.

Hot tip: Use the eTools Weight Tracker for a comprehensive look at weight loss history with your milestone stars. You can view graphs week by week or month by month, etc.

 

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