As exciting as it can be to think about slipping back into your favourite summer dress 20 pounds lighter and feeling healthier, the immediate question of “How the hell do I actually lose the weight?” can be straight-up scary.
Here, we share seven things you need to do to reach your healthy weight—and stay there for good.
Have a long-term strategy!
Substantial weight loss is not a sprint.
It’s not even a marathon.
It’s the rest of your life.
It is your new normal.
When you’re trying to lose a sizeable amount of weight, it’s extra critical to find a weight-loss approach that you can envision yourself using, well, forever. After all, the best ‘diet’ is one that you can stick with over the long term. Changing your mindset from the very first day from ‘diet’ to ‘healthier eating’ should be your first priority.
Adopting a “new normal” always feels a bit challenging at first. But it shouldn’t include deprivation, ditching social events, or blacklisting entire food groups.
Master the Big Stuff!
Start with general changes, like integrating more veggies into your meals and eating breakfast every day, switching to a skinny latte and drinking 2ltrs of water a day is a good start.
You can work on the finer points after you get the big stuff sorted.
Don’t Obsess Over the Scales!
The one-to-two pounds of weight loss per week rule applies whether you have 5 or 50lbs to lose, cutting 500 calories a day by eating healthier and exercising will get the job done.
But if you’re trying to drop a substantial amount, that timeline can seriously delay your goal-weight gratification.
Instead of getting hung up on the scale, zone in on other payoffs associated with your new and improved healthier lifestyle.
Maybe it’s sleeping better, having more energy, or being able to run a mile. These are all signs that you’re making huge progress and getting healthier – which is the point of losing weight in the first place.
Start Weight-Loss Boosting Habits!
The silver lining of having a lot to lose is that you can achieve a healthy caloric deficit with relatively small changes to your overall eating habits and exercise routine.
Don’t underestimate the benefits of taking your calls standing, parking further from the supermarket’s entrance, or having a refillable water bottle on you at all times. Sure, it’s not the same as a solid sweat session or eating salads every day, but it will make a dent in your calorie burn.
Progressively Cut Calories!
Calories are energy. And the smaller your body is, the less energy you burn through each day. The more weight you lose, the harder your body works to hold onto every calorie you consume, a phenomenon known as starvation mode.
Basically, you require fewer calories to maintain your new weight than someone of the same weight who was never overweight.
For that reason, staggering the amount of calories you cut as you lose weight can help your body adjust to its new energy intake. Try cutting 500 calories from your daily food intake when you first start out. If a month or two in you start plateauing for two weeks or more, you might need to cut another 100 calories. It’s important to make sure you never get below 1,200 calories per day.
Lift Something Heavy!
We have mentioned this in many of our posts and it is one of our key strategies at Fitterbody Bootcamp – and it works! Strong is the new sexy. And when it comes to weight loss, more strength training = more fat loss. As you lose weight, your basal metabolic rate (the number of calories you burn just breathing) drops.
Love Your Body!
Getting down on yourself does absolutely zero to fuel your weight-loss results. On the flip side, research shows that loving your body can actually help you lose weight.
Confidence in yourself is critical for staying motivated in your pursuit to drop pounds. Focus on nurturing your body and giving yourself props for all of the strong, awesome things you can do. Simply looking in the mirror and saying, “I am loving my body toward a healthier weight,” is a good place to start.
I hope this is of help 🙂
Kind regards
Julie