How to Jump Start Your Weight-Loss Plan

In order to make a significant change to your life, you are going to have to have clear in your mind what it is you want. Decide whether you want to slim down, tone up, or some combination of the two. Once you have this in your mind you have to consciously realize when making eating decisions and when making decisions regarding your own activity - you have think about how this will affect your goal. None of the tips below will help if you don't have a strong commitment to your goal.

Don't Starve Yourself
In order to not lose substantial amounts of muscle it is necessary to lose weight slowly, over months or years. If someone were to starve themselves right off the bat their metabolism screeches to a halt and the little bit of food they do eat isn't processed like usual, instead it is immediately stored as fat because your body is running in "survivor mode" because you are barely eating.

Keep an eye on the scale, but know it doesn't tell the whole story
Use body fat measurements to get a better idea of your situation. The simplest of which are skin fold calipers, however I find that measurements taken by amateurs can be wildly out of line. Best off with one of the newer nice electronic pulse BF monitor things.

Tell People
Gloat to your friends about how you are serious about wanting to change your situation. Wanting to prove yourself to those whose opinions you care about will give you more of a rooting into the goal. You just about have to do it now, lest you be ridiculed mercilessly for all eternity. Just kidding. But seriously. If you find a friend with a mutual goal then try to get them in on it with you, you will peer pressure each other into completing your goals. It's college life at it's finest.

Set Laziness Aside
If you want to lose weight, put aside any kind of notion you had that this would be easy and require no effort. If you want to be successful in losing weight you are going to have to make the choice to not be lazy again. Trust me, you gain energy and momentum as you progress towards your goal.