Anyone who’s tried to lose weight before understands how challenging it can be. That is, at least, if they were doing it unsustainably. If this sounds familiar to you, then consider this your guide on how to start your weight loss journey without falling off the rails.
I’m breaking down the exact details on how to achieve weight loss in a way that actually works. If you’ve ever quit your weight loss plan before or your journey is just getting started, here’s how to do it right this time around.
Calorie Deficit: The Key to Losing Weight and Keeping it Off
Today, there are countless different meal and exercise plans available claiming they can help you lose weight. But, what’s the supposed magic behind these plans? And, why do most of these plans fail?
The truth is, there is no magic but there is one thing that any and every successful weight loss plan comes down to: calorie deficit.
A calorie deficit is when the calories you burn in a day is greater than the calories you consume in a day. When you do this, your body will turn to it’s fat reserves for energy and weight loss will begin. Moreover, calorie deficit follows this simple equation:
calories consumed from food < calories burned from exercise and at rest
To make this equation work, you must:
- Decrease your daily calorie intake and
- Increase your daily exercise
To help you figure out your specific calorie budget in order to achieve a calorie deficit, use this body weight planner. Then, once you’ve got those numbers in mind, you’ll have a very clear idea of how much you should eat and exercise daily to lose weight.
If you don’t understand a calorie deficit, it will be really challenging to lose weight. Knowing your daily calorie budget is the first step in starting your weight loss journey.
Set Specific Goals
Before finalizing your calorie budget, consider what your specific weight loss goals are. For example:
- – How fast do you want to lose weight?
- – How much weight do you want to lose per week?
Your answers to these questions will help align your calorie budget with your goals.
Also, when setting goals, be sure to choose goals that are challenging yet realistic. For example, while you may want to drop 10 pounds weekly, that may not necessarily be realistic. To make things worse, having unrealistic goals is typically what makes people quit their weight loss journey early.
Therefore, set goals that are reasonable to you and your lifestyle. For example, give my plan on how to lose 1 pound per day a try. It doesn’t involve any crash dieting, but gives you a bunch of tips on how to lose weight fast without running yourself too thin.
Moreover, set goals to help refine your calorie budget and clarify your intentions. Just make sure to keep things realistic to prevent quitting your journey.
Put a Realistic Meal Plan Together
Once you’ve got your calorie budget and goals down on how to start your weight loss journey, you can create a meal plan that helps you achieve them.
The most important thing is that you make sure the amount of calories in your meal plan aligns with your calorie budget. This will help keep you on track to reach a calorie deficit.
When putting together a meal plan, consider the following:
- – Try making healthy meals ahead of time
- – Incorporate the best foods for weight loss
- – Don’t deprive yourself
First off, preparing healthy meals ahead of time is a great way to stay on track with your weight loss journey. When you’re prepared, you’re less likely to reach for unhealthy meals and snacks.
Second, take advantage of the best foods for weight loss. Incorporate foods from this list of the best superfoods for weight loss into your meals.
Lastly, don’t deprive yourself of any of your favorite foods. Moderation is better than deprivation. Studies show that depriving yourself of certain foods can actually lead to overall worse health. Therefore, incorporate one or two cheat meals into your weekly meal plan.
Start Incorporating Regular Exercise
The second half of creating a calorie deficit is upping the amount of exercise you get.
When creating your exercise plan, make sure that it’ll help you burn enough calories in order to reach the calorie deficit. To give you an idea of how many calories you burn while exercising, this guide tells you how many calories you burn doing different exercises.
Also, be sure to incorporate exercises that help improve your mental health. Thankfully, exercise has the double benefit of improving your inner and outer self. And, exercising for your mentality is just as important as exercising for your physicality.
Some exercises such as yoga are great for weight loss and bettering your mental health. If you’re new to yoga, then give this morning yoga flow routine a try.
Track Your Progress
The moment you start your weight loss journey, begin tracking your progress. Tracking your progress has several benefits including:
- Keeping you focused on your goals
- Boosting motivation
- Keeping you accountable
An easy way to track your progress is to download the MyFitnessPal app. In the app, you can log your daily exercise and calorie intake. That way, you have an easy way to make sure that you’re staying on track with your meal and fitness plans. If you don’t want to use an app, a journal is another great way to stay on track and be creative at the same time.
Another way to help keep yourself accountable and in line with your goals is to practice meditation. Meditation promotes:
- – Self-awareness
- – Less anxiety
- – Less stress
All of these benefits of meditation come back around to help keep you on track with your weight loss journey.
Final Thoughts on Starting Your Weight Loss Journey
When it comes to starting your weight loss journey, keep this guide in mind in order to stay on track. The goal is to make things sustainable so that you can stick with your plan rather than fall off the rails.
Above all, while weight loss is hard, try to make the process as enjoyable as possible. Keep in mind that you’re doing this for the betterment of yourself. Thankfully, sustainable weight loss makes things easier, clearer, and more about you.
