The festive season is coming to a close - taking generous food portions, empty tins of chocolates and a lack of motivation to maintain a healthy diet with it. Therefore, as the excitement of Christmas passes and the new year approaches it’s the perfect time to kick-start a nutritional and healthy regime towards a slimmer you. You may believe that slimming down and maintaining your goal weight is a challenge, however by incorporating the following 4 habits into your weight loss plan you can comfortably slim down for the new year:

1. Seek Social Support

Friends, family and online communities can be extremely supportive; helping you achieve successful weight loss. With a strong support network, you can achieve your weight loss goals through the encouragement and help of others.

If you have a partner, encourage them to take part in your healthy eating regime. As partners commonly share fluctuating waistlines, your partners weight loss can help you towards slimming down. In addition, inform all of you friends and co-workers that you are starting a weight loss program. This should prevent any tempting offers of cakes and biscuits in the office or late night nibbles with friends. Alternatively, online communities can help you lose weight. Research has found that the more you interact on weight loss sites and apps, the more likely you are to maintain a healthy weight loss.

2. Track Your Food Intake

Keep a food diary to increase your chances of weight loss. Many studies have found that people who keep a detailed diary of their food intake are more likely to be successful in losing weight and maintaining it. Keeping a food diary is easier than ever, with a wide range of nutritional tracking tools available for phone and tablet you can log your food intake in seconds. By keeping a food log your awareness of how much your are eating and what your are eating increases. Therefore, food diaries help you to cut out unnecessary snacking and identify areas where you can make simple changes to your diet; helping you achieve your weight loss goals.

3. Stay Motivated To Keep Fit

Maintaining your motivation to keep active doesn’t need to be challenge. Keeping active will greatly increase your successful weight loss, and by maintaining 3 simple habits you will be able to retain your enthusiasm to exercise:

a. Find An Exercise Partner

Having a supportive friend, family member, or significant other to take part in exercise with you can increase your chances of sticking to your fitness regime. With a fitness buddy you can reply on someone to push you to achieve your best and makes exercising social.

b. Think Of Fun Ways To Keep Fit

Exercising shouldn’t be a chore. In order to keep you motivated make sure to select a variety of activities that you enjoy. Whether it’s swimming, an aerobics class or boxercise, design your exercise routine around activities that you find enjoyable and look forward to doing. 

c. Chart Your Progress

By charting your progress you are setting a goal. Your goal to lose weight shouldn’t be unrealistic, set yourself fair targets and measure your progress each week, therefore with a goal in mind your commitment to exercise will increase.

4. Cook For Yourself

Home-cooked meals are likely to be more nutritious and less calorific than pre-prepared and packaged foods. Eating out at restaurants can also increase your calorie intake as you have no control over the use of ingredients - often ‘healthy options’ on a menu calorie-dense. In addition, restaurants often serve oversized portions and research has shown that people eat more when they are served larger portions. Therefore, when eating home-cooked meals you have complete control over portion size.

By following our top tips you can maintain a healthy lifestyle and lose weight in the new year. We strongly advise that you try natural methods of losing weight before considering the use of weight loss prescription medication, such as Xenical and Orlistat. For further information, medication and treatment please click here.