Resolve to lose weight - for good!

Losing weight is one of the most common New Year’s resolutions to be made. But unfortunately, it is also one that is often broken.

Here expert nutritionist, Melanie Bibby, from national weight loss company Slimavite, explains why it can be so difficult to stick to a weight loss resolution, and offers her top tips for keeping on track this time around.

“The New Year is symbolic of new beginnings and a fresh start, so it can be a good time to make the decision to change your lifestyle and lose weight,” says Mel.

“To give yourself the best chance of achieving your resolution, be aware of and try to understand the most common traps that people can fall into. By being aware of these traps you will give yourself a better chance of success.”

New Year’s Resolution Traps

1. Losing weight for January. Are you planning to lose weight just because it’s January and you feel you should? One of the best ways to stay motivated during weight loss is to be clear about the reasons you want to lose weight and to think how you will feel when you reach your goals. This will help keep you motivated and make you much more likely to succeed. One tip would be to write down your reasons and even consider carrying them with you so you can refer back to them at any time, especially when you need to give yourself an extra motivation boost.

2. Going on a fad diet. Following the latest dieting ‘craze’ may work in the short term, but these diets are often very restrictive and impractical to follow long term. If you’re being asked to eat weird and wonderful foods or to cutting out major food groups then you’ll not be following a healthy balanced diet.

3. Being too restrictive. You don’t need to ban your favourite foods from your diet to lose weight. Enjoy your favourite foods in moderation, rather than banning them completely, and you’ll be much more likely to maintain your healthy eating plan long-term. If you ban foods then you are more likely to keep thinking about what you can’t eat, and this will only make you more likely to give up altogether, or to binge.

4. Burning out. People often fall into the trap of thinking they will see a huge weight loss as soon as they start going to the gym and when they don’t see the results they wanted, they give up. Increasing your activity levels does help with weight loss but needs to be combined with a healthy eating plan.

5. Setting unrealistic targets. It can be useful to set yourself both short-term and long-term goals, such as losing 1-2lbs a week, losing a stone in a couple of months or reaching your goal weight in 12 months. Unrealistic targets will only work to demotivate you and make you less likely to succeed.

For more details about the Bite Plan from Slimavite visit slimavite.com.