SMART Goal- Losing Weight

I would like to lose weight from 160 pounds to 130 pounds in 10 weeks, and I can achieve these by aiming to burn up to 1000 calories each day through regular exercise and reduction of calorie intake in my diet. It is important for me to lose weight because I will achieve health benefits which include reduced risk of contracting chronic disease such as hypertension, stroke, type 2 diabetes, and osteoarthritis as well as being fit to participate in athletics.

Some of the barriers for losing weight that I face include inadequate time for exercise, lack of willpower, poor dieting, lack of self-discipline and social support. Since I feel that these barriers may act as a road-block to me being successful, I have written a writing exercise which will help me achieve these results. Also, I will need to focus on portion control and eating healthily as well as finding a way to make it enjoyable and not feel guilty about eating. A healthy diet should be high in vegetables and fruit and low in high calorie processed products such as high fat foods and confectionery products. I will be using a high protein diet which is low in fat and has a high calorific value. I will use a method called the Zone Diet (Zone 7) which allows me to eat up to 5000 calories a day but exercise to burn up to 3000 calories to ensure I am not putting on weight. The first three weeks will be used to take my body weight to 150 pounds.

After losing weight, I would like to eat less than 20 lbs/kg of my weight every day to be able to maintain my weight. I will follow a closed weight control system involving periodic weighing of foods and adjusting the intake accordingly.

I will also need to buy a pedometer which is accurate to 1 mm in order to get a written report each week. The pedometer will record the amount of steps my feet take over a week. I will weigh myself daily and use a body mass index formula to calculate my weight. I will use a scale which allows me to enter the fat percentage of the foods I eat by weighing them before and after consumption to give my daily giving a separate figure for fat intake. By doing so, I will be able to reach my target of 1000 calories by eating less fat and adding other nutrients gained by the food. When eating out, I will weigh the food I order on the same scales and note the fat content of the food. I will also need to weigh and estimate the carbohydrate content of food I eat as well as the percentage of my body fat and calculate my water consumption from a weighing room.

I will need this information to be able to see where I am eating badly and what I can eat and what I can eat less of to ensure my daily calorie intake is this important.