How To Guarantee Success With Your Weight Loss Program - Even If You've Tried Before & Failed

The key to being successful with your weight loss diet is to plan ahead. Any weight loss program which gets long-term results will need to mean a change in your lifestyle. However, most people are resistant to change – that’s just human nature.

When it comes down to it, it really doesn't matter whether you're going low carb, South Beach, or just cutting your calories. They all work.

It just comes down to make sure you have the tools you need.

Number one priority is a reliable scale. A digital readout is best, as you can see it clearly from a standing position. And you don't have to guess whether you weigh 130 pounds, 129 pounds or 131, the readout will tell you.

You will also need a good tape measure. Sometimes the scale doesn't change, so it doesn’t look like you’re getting results - but you're still losing inches from your waist and other areas.

You should measure yourself around your chest or bust line, your waist, your stomach and your buttocks. You can also measure each thigh. These body parts have the most fat deposits, so it’s here where you’ll notice the first results.

Upper arms can get flabby as well, but it's more difficult to measure around your arms accurately by yourself. You could either leave this area out altogether, or get someone to help you.

A journal is important tool to help you lose weight, too. But this isn’t just for keeping track of what you’ve eaten. You can make notes of how you feel during the different stages of weight loss, and also keep an eye on whether you're binge eating when you're upset or feeling a lack of motivation or will power.

Tracking your exercise progress, as well as noting your weight and your measurements on a weekly basis will give you a feeling of progress and keep you motivated.

If your weight loss hits a plateau you can look at your journal and see if you've been slipping up, either by eating too much or not exercising enough. This means you’ll always know what’s happening, and won’t fall back on the excuse of “I’ve tried everything but I’m still not losing weight”.

The next step to effective weight loss is to set yourself a realistic weight loss goal.

"Try to lose some weight," is a guaranteed goal to failure. Don't "try." Just do it.

If your goal is more than a few pounds, then make sure to give yourself a reasonable amount of time to accomplish it.

We’ve all seen magazine headlines that shout “lose 7 pounds this weekend” – but these are just designed to sell magazines. These aren’t goals to aim for. While it is possible to lose certain amounts of weight very quickly (bodybuilders do it all the time to make a certain weight class) it is not permanent weight loss, and it’s not recommended.

To lose one pound of fat tissue (not just weight, which includes water and muscle) you have to either burn off 3500 calories or eat 3500 calories less than what your body requires. You need to do this gradually, however.

The average person needs somewhere around 2000 calories a day, although this maintenance level can vary. Of course if you're very active or very sedate your mileage will vary, too.

If you cut 500 calories from your daily consumption you can realistically expect to lose one pound a week – 500 calories a day times 7 days equals 3500. This may not sound too exciting, but this really is the best way to lose weight.

If you then increase your exercise to burn off an extra 250 calories a day in addition to cutting calories from your diet, you could achieve weight loss of 1.5 pounds a week or 6 to 7 pounds a month.

If you need to lose 25 pounds this would then take you around 4 months to achieve. This rate of weight loss is certainly very safe, and better still, there’s a much greater chance of the weight staying off – because you’re actually losing pounds of fat, rather than water and muscle. To stay motivated and focused, it’s worth writing down a weekly target weight on your calendar.

Now you may not lose your exact target weight each week – but that’s okay. Your body really doesn’t work to our logical, mathematical ways of judging progress. But stick with it, and the results will be apparent.

By following these methods, you're not just "trying to lose weight," like millions of people all over the globe. Instead, you're actively pursuing your weight loss goal – which has a much better chance of success.