Tune Into Your Body

You're body is trying to tell you something, but are you listening? To win at the weight-loss game, you've got to make some changes. One of the most important ones is to stop listening to anything but your body to establish a realistic weight for your specific build. Forget about what you see and hear from various media sources. The images seen in print or on TV are unrealistic.

Another thing not to rely heavily on is the body mass index (BMI), which determines the amount of fat you have on your body according to your weight and height. This method fails to distinguish between fat and muscle, so the BMI will ultimately give you an incomplete sense of the shape you're in.

A more accurate gauge is to determine your body composition - more specifically the amount of body fat and lean muscle you have. There are several methods that can be employed to determine this such as skin caliper testing, body fat testing with scales or other bio-electrical impedance devices or underwater weighing.
Most local gyms or medical facilities should be able to perform these procedures for you.

Once you have a better understanding of where you are at and where you should be, mapping out a plan becomes easier.