The secret to achieving success with a weight loss exercise routine

When it comes to losing weight, the important thing is routine. Like most things in life, it’s very difficult to achieve lasting results without developing some type of daily weight loss routine. This also applies to weight loss diet programs and weight loss exercise routines. This one aspect alone probably prevents more of us from being successful with our weight loss goals than any other factor. Sure, many of us hit the road running. We buy the latest books, tapes, DVDs, specialty foods and cookbooks, etc. basically everything under the sun that will help us reach our weight loss goal. But unfortunately, most of us quickly fall back into our old daily routines and never give new programs a chance to work.

I’ve started a vigorous weight loss routine myself on several occasions, only to completely lose pace within a week or two of starting. And let’s face it: most of us will never see significant results in such a short time. So where did we go wrong? Why do people start and stop their weight loss routine over and over again? Well, there are many reasons, but personally I think it all boils down to one thing: the lack of committed effort to stick to a regular routine. So what can we do to overcome this obstacle?

The first thing to do is set realistic weight loss routine expectations. Start with small steps, if necessary. Let’s say you already have a pretty full schedule and you’re not sitting at home with nothing to do all day. Why would you start with a weight loss routine that requires you to spend an hour a day working towards your weight loss exercise goals? Sure, wouldn’t it be great if you could do that, and how much longer would you be a month or two down the road if you stuck with an aggressive plan like that? But are you really going to go from zero minutes a day to sixty minutes a day just like that? Maybe, but for most of us, probably not.

So why not try this approach? Let’s reduce this to the absolute minimum. How about a mom spend five minutes every day, or even every other day, doing some kind of low-impact exercise, just for starters? Five minutes on the exercise ball, elliptical, treadmill, or bike—whatever—is better than nothing, but it will go a long way toward helping you develop a weight loss routine that she can stick with. If five minutes is too short for you and you can easily increase it to ten, fifteen, or even twenty minutes every day or every other day, then so much the better. But whatever you do, it has to be something that you can do day after day. Don’t start with a half-hour workout if you know there’s no possible way you can fit another thirty-minute workout into the rest of the week. Five minutes of exercise every day will get you there faster than a thirty-minute workout you do once and never again. Make sense?

Once you’ve developed your own weight loss routine, whether it’s five minutes or thirty minutes or more, and you’re managing to stick with it consistently, then and only then should you consider increasing the length of your exercise routine. The trick to this is that you have to push yourself to keep up your effort, but not to the point that the commitment becomes so exhausting that you find yourself making excuses to avoid training altogether. This will lead to the death of the exercise routine and any weight loss exercise results you would have otherwise achieved. And whatever you do, be sure to write down your goals, your activities, and your actual results.

This doesn’t have to be anything fancy either. Although there are excellent exercise log books and even PC software programs out there, a simple plain paper notebook will work just fine. Plan your next week or two. Schedule the time and duration of your workouts, and a brief description of what you hope to achieve. Once you have completed the exercise routine, write in your log the actual time you spent and any additional comments you feel are necessary. Also make sure you weigh and measure yourself at least once a week and record those results as well. This will give you a way to help you stick to your plan and monitor your progress. Don’t make your weight-loss exercise goals more difficult than they really need to be. Develop a realistic weight loss routine, stick with it, measure it, and monitor your results. Tweak it and tweak it, but don’t push it to the point of giving it up, and you’ll achieve the results you so desire.