Trying to lose weight is the goal of most of my clients and they have so many questions on how to lose weight. When I come up with a program for my clients I try to keep things as simple as possible because if the weight loss program is complex they will not follow it. Clients also ask me if there is a short cut or some supplement that will make them get to their goal faster. I tell them unfortunately no there is no magic bullet for weight loss, it takes hard work and planning.
If you’re looking for some short-term guide on how to get results this is not the plan for you. Many people try fad diets like keto, intermittent fasting, south beach diet to name a few. These diets provide some results but usually cause the weight to come back when the diet is stopped. Staying on a restrictive diet never seems to work long term. Most of the time my clients break down and go back to the lifestyle they had before. This leaves them wanting to give up on their goals.
With all this noise and marketing out there on how to lose weight what are you supposed to do? So many experts are saying things like carbs are bad, fat will make you fat and that you need to kill yourself in the gym to get the weight off. I’m here to tell you that this is not true. Sure, it will take some hard work and planning but the key word is some.
I’ve been a trainer for 10 years and helped many people lose weight. I’ve seen some people lose 45 pounds in 90 days and I’ve seen others get taken off diabetes medications because of the lifestyle changes they’ve made. Everyone that I’ve worked with has seen results if they follow the plan that was given to them. I will give you the same plan that I give them and if you follow it you will see results too.
Stay consistent
The number one thing that you need to do to lose weight is to stay consistent. The biggest problem people have with weight loss programs is that they give up. Staying on track is huge and guess what you will fall off the track many times during your journey. The key is to get back on track. I encourage many of my clients to jump of track here or there for a social event or family holiday. Having a little fun is important but most days you need to stick to the weight loss plan. This means working out at least 30-45 minutes 6 days a week. Tracking your food and eating high quality foods. If you have a cookie or cake this doesn’t mean that you’ve messed up your program. Enjoy the cake or cookie and move on to eating mostly healthy foods. The idea is to stay on track and be consistent even if you mess up here or there.
Planning
After consistency, we will look at why planning is important. Planning for when you will work out during the week is key to success. Planning what you will eat during the week is important and will keep you on track to hit your goals. Building a workout program is something that needs to be done during the planning process. There is a ton of different workout programs that are on the market and most of them will work. You just need to stay consistent with them to see results. Many of my clients ask me what’s the best program for weight loss? I tell them the one that you’re going to stick with. I love to running and weight lifting but that might not be for you. Try a few different activities until you find one that sticks.
After you find an activity that you like map out when you’re going do it on your planner. Make a set time that works for you every day so that you don’t skip. If you don’t have the energy to work out in the evening, then you should try morning workouts. The main idea is to do a plan you can stick with.
If you are having trouble planning think about hiring a personal trainer to help you figure out what you need to do. Having a professional make your fitness plan is like having a wedding planner it takes a lot of the stress out of process.
Tracking
Tracking is important when you’re trying to lose weight because it’s hard to figure out if what you’re doing is working. Using a scale to track your weight once a week is important. One of my favorite ways to track take a before and after picture.
Tracking and measuring your food intake is a must because it will objectively tell you if you’re hitting your numbers. If you’re not hitting your numbers you will not lose weight. Get a food scale and use a app like my fitness pal to track what you’re eating. If you skip this step weight loss will be hard or impossible.
Track your fitness progress. I have an apple watch and use it to track everything from running, strength training to my sleep. It’s a great tool because I get to see if I’m improving during my workouts without guessing.
Set goals
Setting goals is something that I do with all my clients and it helps them to work toward something. If you don’t set goals, then you aren’t working towards anything. Weight loss isn’t the only goals that we set. I like to challenge my clients to run a 5k or do some other event that is out of their comfort zone. This will keep you looking at health instead of just weight loss. Setting up fitness goals is a great way to keep yourself motived to run faster which will help you lose weight faster. You can also make a strength goal if you don’t like running.
Sleep
Get 7-9 hours of sleep every night. This is the most important part of a weight loss program because if you don’t sleep you won’t workout, track food and you’ll lack the motivation to do anything fitness related. Hormones that play a role with hunger go out of whack when we don’t sleep and we drag during our workouts. Track your sleep and make sure to improve this because it plays a massive role in weight loss.
Diet
Here we go a new fad diet is coming out. This one will work I know it. I’m sorry but no we’re not going over a new fad diet that will give you magic results. As talked about before you need to track your food and use an app like my fitness pal but what should you be eating. Plants and lots of them. Fruits, veggies and whole grains have tons of fiber and low calories which will make you feel full longer. This makes it a lot easier to stay on track. Make sure that most of your food are whole foods. 70% of my diet comes from whole plant based foods and it works wonders for me. Your diet should have lots of color and you need to have veggies with every meal. Fruits and nuts are a great snack that should be added into your diet daily.
Focusing on a diet that has a whole food plant foundation will keep you consistent with nutrition. You can break from this plan here or there at social events. Just keep the 70% whole food foundation going.
Conclusion
Losing weight takes a lot of hard work but it is simple. Everyone is different and has different goals. What works for one personal might not work for you. Finding a fitness program that fits you is important because you’ll stick to it. Make sure that you’re tracking your food and that you’re getting goals. Plan for your food and your fitness. Get plenty of sleep. It’s ok to go off track sometimes just stick to the plan. Build your diet around plant’s and whole foods about 70%.
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https://www.onthegofitnesspro.com/weight-loss/
References
http://www.cnn.com/2014/07/28/health/irpt-weight-loss-benji-kurtz/index.html
https://nypost.com/2017/12/13/sleep-is-just-as-important-for-weight-loss-as-dieting-study-says/
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/weight-loss-consistency-is-key-to-success-study/
