Step 9: The End

Step 9: Choose an End Date

Once you’ve figured out how much you want to weigh to you need to decide how much you need to lose each week to reach your goal.

I’d like you to use Google and find out what the healthy weekly weight loss rate is for you. Try and use reputable sources if you can, as this will increase your chances of success. To get you started, have a look at what the NHS says about healthy weight loss. You can record your findings in the PDF attached to this step.

It’s important that you try to avoid an unhealthy rate of weight loss. Losing too much too quickly can be harmful. Do some research and think about the limits you can place on the amount of weight you can lose each week. Again, you can record your results in the PDF.

I’d now like you to find out what rate of weight loss is most likely to result in you achieving your target weight? You might find that aiming to lose 1 pound per week is not practical for you at the moment, so perhaps 0.5 pounds per week is more suitable. You also need to factor in how quickly you want to arrive at your target weight.

You must stay motivated throughout your weight loss journey. Visit some weight loss sites and read some of the success stories from others who’ve lost weight.

Once you’ve established a safe amount of weight to lose each week you need to think about how long it’s going to take you to reach your target weight. Let’s say you’ve decided on a target weight of 65Kg, your next step is to work out when you’ll achieve this weight. You’re probably wishing it could be tomorrow, or next weekend, but this probably isn’t practical and you may need to be patient. You should ask yourself “How much weight can I lose per day or per week?”

I’d now like you to calculate your “End Date,” or the date by which you will have achieved your target weight of 65Kg. We can do this using simple maths. If you weigh 75Kg and your target weight is 65Kg, then you obviously need to lose 10Kg. All you need to do is take 10Kg, divide it by 0.5Kg (the amount you’ll be losing each week) and you’ll get a figure of 20 weeks. So in five months you’ll have reached your target weight of 65Kg.

For those of you that favour the imperial system of measurements, let’s say you weigh 10 stone three pounds and you want to be 9 stone, then you need to lose 17 pounds. All we do is divide 17 pounds by 1 and we get 17 weeks, or 199 days. Simple!

You have your target weight and your all important “End Date” and you’re now ready for the next step…