Designing Your Personal Weight Loss Plan

This 5 week course will guide learners through the essential steps in planning an individualized weight loss program. There is no guarantee of weight loss through completing the course; learners will have the framework and essential components for an evidence-based weight loss program. This course is intended for healthy adults who do not have any chronic disease such as diabetes, high blood pressure, heart disease, lung disease or any others. In addition, this course does not provide information for people who have food allergies or intolerances. Losing weight and keeping it off requires planning and goal-setting. Crash diets or fad diets are ineffective and can be dangerous. This course provides evidence-based information for planning a weight loss program that is safe and effective in producing a one to two pound loss per week. This course will help learners establish the following: 1. A realistic goal weight with a specific plan for rate of weight loss and time frame for achieving goal weight. 2. A realistic goal for the frequency, duration, and intensity of exercise that will enable the learner to achieve and maintain the goal weight. 3. A specific set of strategies for grocery shopping, eating in restaurants, eating at social occasions, and dealing with hunger and emotional eating. 4. A plan for monitoring food intake, exercise and weight loss. 5. A plan for continued evaluation of progress to goals and strategies for adjusting goals for continued weight loss for the next 6 months or longer. 6. A thorough understanding of the difficulty of maintaining weight loss and a plan for maximizing the chances of keeping off the weight lost.

• Week 1
• Let’s get started on designing your personal weight loss plan! We begin this first week by setting a personal goal weight that is realistic for you and making a plan for exercise. You probably expected that we would start out with calories and food - but these two topics are actually the right place to start!
• Week 2
• In week two we will focus on the topic of nutrition. This week you will learn how many calories you should take in to lose weight and how many servings from each of the food groups you should take in daily to make sure you get all the essential nutrients that you need. You will also make a plan for grocery shopping.
• Week 3
• Is it OK to eat out in restaurants when you are trying to lose weight? How can you manage your calorie and food group intake in your workplace cafeteria? What strategies are most likely to increase your ability to lose weight and keep it off?
• Week 4
• This week we will learn about the “triggers” that can get you off track when you start your weight loss program and we will develop strategies to deal with these. We will also take some time to review all the goals you have set for yourself so far and make any needed revisions.
• Week 5
• You made it to the final week of this MOOC! Our focus this week will be on helping you to stay on track and avoid going back to old eating habits as you lose weight. We will also consider why it is so hard to keep weight off once you lose it and some strategies you can use to increase your success.