When starting my fitness and weight loss journey way back when (June 2013) I really had no clue where to start. I had a whole slew of people that I watched on YouTube who were getting AMAZING results. I would attempt to start a program (Jillian Michaels, C25K, Weight Watchers) and I would end up failing. I didn't have the motivation or drive to continue. It was too hard. I was done trying. Eventually I got so fed up with people getting results and I wasn't. I began to ask questions. How where these people getting results? Once I found out how, I put them to the test. And you know what? BOOM I got results! I've complied my findings below.
1. Journal EVERYTHING you eat. Every lick, bite and taste. Write it ALL down.
I got a composition notebook like this and carry it around with me to write my food intake down. To start, keep track of approximates of how much food you ate. After a week of writing down your food, actually MEASURE it out and write it down. There is a nifty app called ' My Fitness Pal' that you can track your food on too. I know that I have MUCH MORE SUCCESS with the paper and pen journaling personally. Figure out what works for you!
2. Avoid eating after dinner
I STILL have trouble with this one. It's a tough habit to break. It may be helpful to write down TIMES in your food journal so you can track when you are eating. Perhaps eating more through out the day may help. It's a horrible habit that needs to be broken!
3.Take Measurements BEYOND your weight
I know that it is hard NOT to focus on your weight. Especially after NOT having a scale for a year and a half and gaining 40 pounds. It's important to know that you can lose almost no weight but lose tons of inches off of your body. This is EXACTLY what happened to me after 30 days of
INSANITY . I dropped only 0.4 pounds , but I lost 7 inches!! There are various ways to take measurements, but make sure you take your measurements the same way each time you take them.
4. Find an accountability partner
This is key to your success. Have people you HAVE TO check in with daily AND weekly. I found my accountability though a Challenge Group! I HAD to post what workouts I did along with rate my nutrition. Once I started this challenge group, I started seeing results. (P.S. I have a challenge group starting January 6th. IF you want more information, fill out
this simple form!)
5.Set SMALL, REASONABLE goals.
If you only focus on your ULTIMATE goal, it's so easy to get discouraged. Here is my motivation WALL! The post it notes count down until I'm at my goal weight. I focus on one post it note at a time. I know that it's not healthy to lose more than 2 pounds a week, so I don't set my goal for more than that. I strongly suggest you make something like this. It's VERY rewarding to get to cross off , or take off the post it notes when you have gone down in weight.
*** Please NOTE: as mentioned before, it's not all about how much you weigh. 5 pounds of muscle takes up the same space as 1 pound of fat. It's important to go off of how you FEEL and what you can now accomplish because of your new lifestyle (may it be that you can go longer without a break during your workouts, or that your pants aren't as tight any more). Have your goals VISIBLE!!
I hope this helps! If you want more tips like this, please comment below!
Kate
