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How to Double Your Chances of Sticking to a Weight Loss Plan

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Making the decision to start a weight loss plan is always the first step towards weight loss.

But how do we increase our chances of actually sticking to the weight loss plan we create for ourselves.

Over the years I’ve gone through many different weight loss programs I created for myself, and in most cases I’ve reached my goals, and sometimes I didn’t.

Looking back on it now, I realize that there has been one differentiating factor that really helped me to stick to my weight loss plans when I’ve succeeded.

It’s something that most people avoid doing when making the decision to lose weight because they don’t like putting pressure on themselves.

However, the social pressure behind doing this one thing is what makes it so effective!

What I’m referring to is blogging about your weight loss journey.

When I’ve done my previous weight loss plans and I blogged about my journey from setting a goal to recording my starting weight and doing my “before” pictures, all the way through to actually reaching my goals and everything in between, I’ve always found that blogging about it was a tremendous help.

There have been numerous studies done that show that publicly announcing your weight loss plans has a positive effect on achieving your goals.

The perceived accountability and gentle social pressure we put on ourselves can be exactly what we need to keep us on track during the inevitable tough times we may run into during a weight loss program.

I’ve even gone to the point of challenging several of my friends in weight loss challenges where we put up hundreds of dollars and public humiliation on the line to make sure we hit our goals.

You don’t have to do that, but blogging about your weight loss journey can be a HUGE motivating factor for losing weight.How to D

The support you’ll garner from friends and supporters online could just be what you need to keep going.

When I’ve ran into challenges with my weight loss in the past, such as when I’ve hit plateaus, I’ve had my readers posting comment of encouragement and recommending various resources to help me out as well.

If you are a blogger, I STRONGLY recommend blogging about your weight loss journey, publicly declaring what your goals are and sharing your progress on a regular basis.

Even if you have ZERO followers and nobody reads your posts (they will), just knowing that someone out there could be watching can be just what you need to keep you accountable.

If you haven’t started a Blog yet, I would also strongly recommend getting started with blogging by clicking on this to get access to one of the most powerful blogging systems on the planet with the best training as well.

My Public Declaration

I would be a hypocrite if I wrote this post but didn’t publicly declare my weight loss plans as well.

Losing weight has not been a priority for me for several years now, and truth be told I’m actually currently at my heaviest weight I’ve been at all of my life.

As of this morning I weighed in at 243.8 lbs which is pretty much the heaviest I’ve ever been.

I don’t yet know every detail of the weight loss plan I’m going to follow to lose this weight but I have a pretty good idea and I’m organizing the resources to get started shortly.

For example, about a week ago I purchased a recumbent exercise bike to help me with my cardio training, and I’ve been gathering other resources as well.

My ultimate target goal is to lose 75 lbs of fat from my current frame, as well as to start building some more lean muscle mass after that.

I don’t know how long it’s going to take me to reach this goal, but that doesn’t really matter.

One way or another I’m going to hit the goal, that’s all that I know.

How to Make Your Public Declaration

Declaring your weight loss goals publicly isn’t easy for most people.

Especially when the majority of people tend to give up on their weight loss plans after just a few weeks.

However, I promise you that if you declare your weight loss goals publicly, it WILL help you to stick to your plans.

As human beings we tend to stick to things that we tell someone else we are going to do way more than to things we just tell ourselves, so why not use this part of human nature to your benefit!

If you’ve already got a blog, just write a post sharing your plans.

I do not recommend setting a deadline for reaching your goal though, just set a target and start working towards it.

I realize that most gurus out there say that a goal without a deadline is not a goal, but that’s not true.

For a more thorough explanation of why I don’t recommend putting deadlines on your weight loss goal, check out this video:

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3 Weight Loss Tech Gadgets You’ll Need If You Want to Lose Weight in 2015

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I love gadgets.

If you ask any of my friends and family members, I’m always playing with some new fitness gadget, tracker, system or website.

Sadly, in reality, the majority of the gadgets I end up buying or getting sent to me for review end up sitting around collecting dust.

Most of them I never use for more than a few days, or perhaps a few weeks.

However, there are three gadgets that have stood the test of time and I think are absolutely essential to helping you achieve success with your weight loss plan.

#1 – The Fitbit Aria Wi-Fi Smart Scale

This scale is just awesome.

It connects to your Wi-Fi network and allows you to automatically track your weight so easily that you’ll actually step on it on a daily basis.

Over the years I’ve had many different scales, and I’ve tried various ways to track my weight, and my body fat % etc., but I always ended up giving up as the tracking process just took way too long.

Meaning, I would go into the bathroom in the morning and step on my scale, and then look at my weight and then have to remember what I weighed and what my body fat % was…

…THEN I would have to walk from the bathroom to my computer, load up a tracking spreadsheet of some sort and type in my new weight…

…that’s IF I wasn’t interrupted by someone or a phone call, or if my dogs didn’t need me to let them out or if someone didn’t text me or some other interruption didn’t cause me to completely forget what my weight was.

I hated the process tracking my weight using such a manual method, so I ended up giving up.

Since getting the Fitbit Aria Wi-Fi Smart Scale though, it’s been super easy to track my weight.

I simply step on the scale, it automatically detects that it’s me (based on my weight), and it measures my weight, my body fat %, and it connects to my Wi-Fi network and uploads my data to the Fitbit website where I can get a detailed analysis of my weight, and my body composition.

It’s simply awesome.

And the FitBit website is a great tool as well for tracking your weight and activity levels.

Although I haven’t actually been on a weight loss plan for the past few years, since getting the scale about a year ago I’ve been tracking my weight pretty consistently every few days and now I have all that data available to me, so I can see exactly how much weight I’ve put on in the past 12 months etc.

I’m a firm believer that in order to lose weight you must track your progress regularly on a daily basis while on a weight loss plan, and several times a week if you’re just on a maintenance plan.

This scale makes that easy.

If you don’t keep track of your weight daily, it makes it way harder to lose weight as you then have no idea what’s working and what isn’t.

This brings me to the 2nd tech gadget that I think is a must-have for a weight loss plan.

#2 – The Fitbit Activity Trackers

The Fitbit family of activity trackers is awesome for tracking your daily activity.

I had a Fitbit Force activity tracker for the first half of 2014 and loved it, except for the fat that there was a recall on the rubber they used for the band which caused a little bit of irritation in some people.

I ended up sending mine back in order to get a $140 credit from Fitbit as I wanted to try out using the Samsung Gear watch instead, which also tracks activity and also heart rate.

I like the Samsung watch I have, as it syncs with my Samsung cell phone and I can answer calls on it, read emails and text messages, but I’m not too impressed with it’s activity tracker system.

Yes it counts steps like the Fitbit, but what I like about the Fitbit system of activity trackers is that they integrate with the Fitbit website.

This way I have my weight tracking and graphing and my activity tracking and graphing all in one place.

I can also track my meals on the Fitbit website as well, or track my meals using MyFitnessPal and then synchronize automatically with Fitbit.

Overall, after testing several different bands from Nike, BodyMedia, Samsung etc., I still like the Fitbit system the best.

I’m currently using a Fitbit Flex but will be upgrading to the new Fitbit Charge HR bands when they come out in the near future.

#3 – The MyoTape Body Measuring Tape

The MyoTape body measuring tape is not really a “tech” gadget but it’s still really cool and I think it deserves a spot in my top 3 favorite weight loss tools.

This very simple tape measure allows you to easily measure your body measurements such as your waist, hips, thighs, biceps, forearms, neck, chest or whatever else you want to measure without the need of a second person.

Ever try measuring your bicep with a regular measuring tape?  It’s nearly impossible.

With this tape it’s really easy!

And it’s very inexpensive, so I definitely recommend getting one of these.

Keeping track of your measurements is extremely important especially if you’re embracing on a weight loss program that is going to combine dieting and exercise/fitness.

The reason for this is that if you’re building muscle, your weight might not drop, but your body measurements will improve.

By combining the scale measurements you get for body weight, and the body fat % and your body measurements with this tape you’ll have a very good way to measure your weight loss progress with a lot of accuracy.

These are the three tech gadgets that I recommend picking up if you want to lose weight in 2015.

Out of all the things I’ve bought and tested, these are the gadgets I have used the most and continue to use.