Weight Loss Information

Weight Loss Information -- Setting Effective Goals


Weight loss information is often confusing and misleading. The more specific we are in discussing weight loss information the better it is for everyone. Here's an example...realistic goals. What are realistic goals? I wrote an article not to long ago that defined "realistic" as a 5-10% reduction of your total body weight. The 5-10% reduction is all the weight you need to lose to show a health benefit or improvement.

But I think there is a more specific term that can be used when disseminating weight loss information, specifically dieting goals. How about Effective Goals. What are effective goals? Effective goals are:

1) Specific and measurable
2) Attainable
3) Forgiving

"Exercise more" is a great idea, but it's not specific. "Walk 1 hour everyday" is specific and measurable, but is it attainable? Maybe, maybe not. "Walk 1 hour 3 times per week" is a great goal. It's specific, measurable, attainable, and forgiving (leaves room to miss a day).

A behavioral technique, called shaping, utilizes this concept of effective goals, but makes it even better. It uses only small short-term goals that get closer and closer to the ultimate goal. It is based on the concept that "nothing succeeds like success." Shaping uses two important behavioral principles:

1) Consecutive goals that move you ahead in small steps are the best way to reach a distant point.

2) Consecutive rewards help to keep you motivated.

I am going to start using Effective Goals instead of "realistic ones." So, your weight loss information for the day...set effective goals and "shape" them.

To Healthy Living!

Michael A. Smith, MD
Weight Loss Professional

Dr. Smith is the primary physician and consultant for the Weight Loss Professional Website. His interests include preventative medicine, the genetic etiology of obesity, and several others too numerous to list. Please visit his Website at http://www.weight-loss-professional.com/article and let him know what you think.


MORE RESOURCES:

Dallas Weight Loss Surgeon Adds Bariatrician
MarketWatch (press release)
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Weight-loss couple urge others to take up challenge
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Weight Loss: Rick Warren's New Purpose
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NTRR Begins Clinical Trials of Breakthrough Weight-Loss Formula
MarketWatch (press release)
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The Virginian-Pilot

Does "home-cooking" = weight loss?
The Virginian-Pilot
The weight loss industry knows one important (better yet, vital) thing about us: We don't know what we're doing wrong. As long as someone else has the upper hand in what you're doing, you'll only be able to do what you're being told.



The 'fit but fat' debate: Weight loss should still be the goal, experts say
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WEIGHT LOSS STILL THE GOAL Though these findings appear to support the idea that you can be fit but fat, scientists note that the rate of MNBO is very rare within the obese population, and the risk for mortality is still high among the obese, ...



"Extreme Makeover: Weight Loss Edition Season 3" Now Casting
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In a unique, non-competitive show about weight loss “Extreme Makeover: Weight Loss Edition” documents the amazing makeover of courageous, “super obese” people who, in an unprecedented 365 days, set out to safely lose half of their body weight, ...

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Los Angeles Bariatric Surgeon Discusses Revision Weight Loss Surgery
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Dr. Michael Feiz, a weight loss surgeon in Los Angeles, says even with such a small margin of error, revision bariatric surgery is one of his most successful procedures in correcting complications that may have occurred and further satisfying any of ...

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Zee News

Calories, not carbs, key to weight loss
Times of India
The study, led by Otago University endocrinologist Jeremy Krebs, looked at whether 419 participants (aged 35-75 years) had different rates of weight loss over two years when they were given two low fat diets; one involving high protein intake and the ...
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Today in Research: Online Dating; Church as Weight-Loss Technique
The Atlantic
By The Atlantic Wire Discovered: Online dating is a crock, sugar is toxic, mapping the Milky Way, and church as a weight loss management technique. Online dating is a crock. Of course it is. A mutual love of The Wire doesn't mean much of anything in ...

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