Need to lose some weight? Here are 10 extremely simple steps to take to lose as much weight as you need to, maybe more. Follow them closely and your results will come.
1.) Get Clear On Where You Are and Where You Want To Be
Be honest, how bad do you want to lose weight?
Frankly, most women are just “interested” in losing weight, not “committed” to losing weight and getting healthy.
That’s because they really haven’t taken a good hard look at exactly WHERE they are. Once you do that you can get clear on where you WANT to be.
We lie to ourselves about our situation, which creates stagnancy, complacency, and worst of all…mediocrity.
Don’t you want to be feel and look amazing? Don’t you want to THRIVE, not just survive?
Well stop lying to yourself and realize that if you don’t start doing SOMETHING, anything…your body will become diseased, obese, and will completely give up on you?
You need a strong desire for transformation to FINALLY stick with a plan for weight loss. The rest of the article will help you.
2.) Set Behavior Focused Goals
People who write their goals down and read them every day have a much greater chance of accomplishing them. But, there’s a major problem with goal-setting.
Most women set puny, uninspiring goals.
“I want to lose weight” is NOT a goal. It’s a wish, a preference, something that MILLIONS of other women say every day.
In order to set goals that you can actually be motivated and inspired by, you have to set specific goals that focus on YOUR behaviors…your actions.
Some examples of behavior goals:
- This week I will only drink 1 diet soda, instead of 3
- This week I will exercise for 20 minutes on Monday and Wednesday, since instead of just on Monday
- This week I will eat 20 grams of protein for breakfast, since I’ve only been eating 7
- This week I will take 5 minutes to read more 1 post from Fit Women for Life everyday, so I can stay motivated and accountable
These goals are specific and pretty easy to follow.
Remember, your BIG results come from lots of LITTLE actions.
3.) Do The 3-P’s – Prioritize, Plan, Prepare
One of my favorite P quotes is “proper planning prevents poor performance.”
Since you’re reading this article, I’m assuming you consider your health a priority, so I’ll skip that one, just know that you SHOULD always prioritize your health.
Next is planning.
Plan your meals using step #7 below. You don’t have to be perfect when it comes to meal planning, leave a couple of meals blank for lunch dates or brunch and enjoy yourself. The goal here is to eat “perfectly” about 80-90% of the time.
Plan your workouts for the week using step #4 below. All you need to do is plan on doing about 25 minutes of metabolic exercise (exercise that creates an “After-Burn”) 4 days per week.
Finally, prepare your week for success! Pre-package whatever meals and snacks you can. Lay out your workout clothes for the week. Prepare your mind, by visualizing you actually DOing everything you said you would do.
The 3 P’s are crucial to sticking with your weight loss journey.
4.) Schedule Your Exercise
Any effective weight loss program needs a solid exercise plan. Unfortunately, most women get this step completely wrong and end up hurting their results.
There are 3 mistakes you can make with exercise:
1.) Not exercising at all – bad idea. Muscle burns fat, it’s the ONLY tissue that does, so without it, kiss your weight loss goodbye
2.) Trying to out exercise a bad eating plan – you just can’t over-exercise your way to weight loss, especially if you’re not eating well
3.) Doing the wrong type of exercise – this ends up throwing your hormones out of balance, increasing stress hormones and lowering fat-burning hormones
Metabolic resistance training should make up the majority of your exercise for the week. The good news is you only need about 2-3 hours of HIMT (High Intensity Metabolic Training) to see amazing results.
5.) Manage Your Stress and Get Enough Sleep
Let’s face it, we live in a high-stress society. We constantly worry about everything, every decision, every encounter, everything.
Stress is a silent killer of weight loss results.
The more stressed you are the harder it will be for you to lose weight AND sleep well, which leads to a vicious cycle of NEVER being fully functional.
Sure, you might be awake, but your body is asleep. Just getting by, keeping you breathing, but it will never let you create the body of your dreams in a stressed-out state.
First, you need to identify your BIGGEST stress, then find solutions for it. Then repeat.
Next, get your sleep right. If you have trouble falling asleep, get rid of all electronics, avoid sugar/caffeine after 4 p.m., and have 10 minute of quiet, wind down time before actually getting in bed.
Manage your stress and get 7-8 hours of restful sleep!
6.) Measure Your Progress
Technically you don’t NEED to measure your progress in order to lose weight, but if you’re progress has stopped or slowed, you’ll know if you take consistent progress measurements.
And just because the scale hasn’t moved, doesn’t mean you aren’t progressing. I see this a lot at the gym, women ONLY measure progress with the scale…bad idea.
Measure you scale weight, use body fat calipers, measure your body with a tape measure, take 3 pictures (side, front, back), and even journal how you FEEL.
Feeling unmotivated? Look back at your old measurements to celebrate a small win and see how far you’ve come.
7.) Balance Your Macronutrient Meals and Snacks
There is no real one size fits all approach to figuring out EXACTLY how much to eat, what to eat, and what time to eat it. The one thing that works for ALL women are balanced meals.
I call these meals, metabolic meals, since when you properly combine your fats, proteins, and carbs you end up boosting your metabolism, which leads to fat loss.
Do this one habit consistently and you’ll not only lose weight, but you’ll drastically improve your health.
Here are some general guidelines:
- Your meals should be about 33/33/33 ratio of proteins/carbs/fats
- Always start your meals with a protein (about .8 grams per bodyweight)
- Choose anti-inflammatory carbs (fruits, vegetables, starches, gluten-free grains, etc…)
- The more you exercise, the more carbs you should eat
8.) Fail Forward
I hate to break it to you, but you’re going to fail.
You’re going to make mistakes. You’re going to encounter obstacles. Every successful person in any are of life, especially weight loss has a past FULL of failure.
The difference between them and you? They failed forward.
See failures and mistakes as learning experiences and lessons on what NOT to do. Don’t ever beat yourself up about ANY mistake, no matter how small.
This will prevent you from ever feeling guilt, regret, your anxiety about food, fitness, or yourself.
Remember, you’re stronger than you realize.
9.) Do The Necessary Work
Discipline means doing what you have to do even if you don’t feel like it.
I know sometimes it will be hard to stick to your weight loss plan, but you must know in order to see results, you have to actually TAKE ACTION.
Good intentions will lead to more of the same.
More frustration, more disappointment, and more obsessing about your weight.
There never will be a more perfect time that right NOW to start taking action on your behavior goals.
Start today and fine-tune along the way.
10.) Do The 3 C’s – Commitment, Consistency, Control
The final step is piggy-backing off step #9.
Don’t just be interested in losing weight, be COMMITTED to doing whatever it takes to lose weight.
Don’t just dabble in healthy habits, be CONSISTENT with them.
Don’t listen to the voice inside of your head that says you can’t do it, CONTROL your thoughts to keep them positive.
I get it, some things you can’t control.
Office parties, family gatherings, unexpected life events, etc…BUT you can control your attitude towards every situation.
Being healthy and transforming your body doesn’t have to be a chore, enjoy yourself and the process.
You can still have fun, eat what you want (every now and then), and not be miserable like most weight loss programs will have you.
Your program should be sustainable, flexible, and results-oriented.
A program like the Flat Belly System that we use here at Fit Women for Life.
To learn more about The Flat Belly System and how it will you see weight loss results in as little as 7 days, click the image below to read about the 4 fat loss myths keeping you fat:
