Starting Your Weight Loss Journey

Woman walking on road with headphones

How to avoid the mistakes , save time and create a great lifestyle.

 

What is the first thing they teach you in an emergency?

Look after yourself first, 

because if you aren’t ok, 

How can you save anyone!

It is time to put yourself first.

You will have wins and losses on your journey. 

Don’t get down on yourself or give yourself a hard time if you haven’t had the success that you wanted yet.

There is no one solution that fits all.

Remember, just like anything in life, the failures are always more important than the wins, as long as you commit to one thing.

NEVER

GIVE

UP!

Getting Your Head Right

In our last post we discussed the importance of getting your head right before diving into your weight loss journey.

  • We cleared our head from all the garbage on social media, news and toxic peers.
  • We started to consider a bigger picture goal that needed fitness rather than weight loss being the only goal.
  • We considered joining a gym and we cleared out our kitchen of food that wasn’t in harmony with our new life. Remember, we didn’t get rid of all the treats, even olympic athletes enjoy treats each week.

Working the right goal for you

You Already Have A Purpose

You already have a purpose even if you don’t know it, but the question is, is it what you really want?

It is not easy to create a vision or a purpose for yourself however until you do you will be a slave to the companies, governments and people around you that do know what they want.

The reason why we want to clear our mind before we set our purpose is because we want to be sure we are hearing our own voice.

Not the voice of what society says we should  do but our own voice.

"I’d rather fail at my own goal than succeed at someone else’s!"

Think About The Long Game

Let me explain why a larger purpose is better than a single goal.

Let’s say you want a new car.

If your car isn’t part of a bigger purpose, you run the risk of getting caught up in the moment and buying a car that doesn’t fit your life.

You might spend all your money on a great car but then remember you actually wanted to go on a holiday this year.

If your car is part of a bigger purpose you can make plans that factor that holiday, that hobby or the grandkids in.




  • It makes decisions a lot easier.
  • It helps put things into perspective.
  • It breeds a habit of patience playing the long game.

Don’t Be Too Realistic

Sales people have a saying ‘salespeople with logical, realistic goals raise skinny kids’ 

It is very hard to get pumped for mediocrity so set your sights just beyond what you think is realistic. 

Obviously speak with a professional before you start your mission to make sure that you are doing it in a sustainable, safe way.



Create Your Own Bigger Purpose

If your only goal is to lose 10kgs then for goodness sake stop.

Do you really want to lose 10kgs of fat? 

Does the thought of losing fat get you excited?

There isn’t anything emotional or exciting about losing a lump of fat off your hips.

For most people losing weight brings thoughts of losing fun and losing freedoms.

The 10kgs of fat is just a measurement of your goal, but it is not exciting enough to be the goal.

Invest the time to create a bigger goal that excites you.

  • How everyone is going to look at you when you turn up wearing that outfit. 
  • How good it’s going to feel when you keep getting told how amazing you look 
  • How proud you are going to be of yourself.

Celebrate The Wins

Have you ever seen a professional sports team celebrate scoring a minor goal in a game or qualifying a good position for a race the next day?

They go absolutely crazy. 

woman im a winner

A journey of a thousand miles starts with a single step and if you don’t put effort into keeping your spirits up along the way then you will run out of enthusiasm before the end is in sight.

The trick is to celebrate in such a way that you remain in harmony with your goal.

Don’t go out and binge on a bottle of red because you lost a kilogram, that would be slightly counterproductive.

Be Aware Of Imposter Syndrome

This can be a big demotivator for people when they should be celebrating their wins.

Small milestones achieved can be overlooked when you still can’t see any major results.

It can give you a feeling of being a fake or a fraud.

Imposter syndrome

Ask any successful person in any field and they will tell you that at some point they had to fake it until they made it.

Actions equal results so if you took a positive action today then celebrate it with your team knowing that the sum total of all your positive actions will lead you to positive results.




Forgive The Mistakes

I believe that anyone who didn’t make a mistake today isn’t trying to use their full potential.

I make so many mistakes each day I wonder how I’m still here, but you have to push into the unknown to see what you can do.

It is not the goal that excites me, it’s the person I must become to achieve the goal that excites me.

So you made a mistake or you had a moment of weakness. 

You can’t make an omelet without breaking a few eggs!

"A day of perfection is a day wasted"

Starting your exercise action plan

Build It Up Over Time

The reason that I am a huge advocate of having a gym membership is because it is the most efficient way to exercise.

You can achieve so much more in such a short period of time by using the specialised equipment in the gym. 

Not only that, but it is a much more motivating environment than home is, you don’t have to worry about the weather and using a Personal Trainer turbo charges everything.

It would take hours of walking, running or bodyweight workouts to achieve the same as a solid 30min gym session.

So if you believe your time is an issue, then join a gym.

woman jogging

Time management is not about balance, it is about integration.

We need to be realistic about how we integrate our new gym visits into a life that already seems to have no spare time.

Try going 2 to 3 days per week, however, don’t be disappointed if you can’t quite achieve it for the first few weeks.

It will take time for you to adjust to the new schedule.



Get The Right Intensity

Not doing enough

This is a tough one even for the seasoned gym goer.

The voice in your head will usually tell you to quit when you reach 70-80% of your true potential.

If you are happily having a chat with your buddy while you workout then you are definitely not putting in the right amount of effort.

You should be able to talk, but you shouldn’t be able to hold a conversation.

The other area people struggle with is waiting too long between their sets of exercises. This is different for a wide variety of reasons, however, generally speaking you are just waiting for enough time for your breath to calm down, your heart rate to calm down and your blood to balance out away from the muscles you are using.

Once that is achieved it is time to get into it and go again.

Doing too much

This is very common with beginners who do not yet understand the science behind working out.

If you are a beginner or have not trained for a few months, then it is always better to under train than to over train.

If you are training yourself and don’t have a PT, take it easy for the first few weeks and let your body adapt.

There is no point being a hero, hurting yourself and being unable to train for the next 6 weeks. That could seriously jeopardise your entire goal by destroying your consistency.

Over time you will learn that there are days for rest, days for mild workouts, days for heavy workouts and there are days to test yourself with PBs (Personal Bests).

barbell rack

Strength Training Is Your Friend

When most people think about weight loss they think about cardio exercises like running, bike, treadmill etc.

Although this is an extremely important part of your training, another equally important form of training is strength training.

There is a myth that your muscles will get too big. Muscles need food to grow, the only way you will look like a bodybuilder is if you train and eat like one.

Strength training puts demands on your entire body and mind that forces your body to respond and adapt in very positive ways. 

  • Muscle strength
  • Bone strength 
  • Flexibility 
  • Balance
  • Confidence
  • Mental strength…..

Oh, and muscle uses calories 24 hours a day 7 days per week.

Regardless of your age, give strength training a go.

Starting your nutrition

Start With One Meal At A Time

Just like visiting the gym, maintaining the proper nutrition is something you have to integrate into your day.

At first you will sometimes forget to plan it and end up eating less nutritious foods.

Just like working out at the gym, prepping your own meals is far more effective at achieving your weight loss goal than not changing your eating habits.

"You can't outrun a bad diet"

The reason why we want to prepare our food is because we want the food ready to go and easy. The last thing you want to be doing is going to the local cafe when you are already feeling hungry. 

That is a recipe for bad decisions.

Start with choosing one meal of the day that you are going to optimize, let’s say lunch.

Tonight go and prep the rest of the week’s lunches. Do this for the next 2 weeks and then move onto breakfast and start prepping that as well.

Within a month or so you will be well within the habit of prepping your food during the week.

Don’t Deprive Yourself

If weight loss is part of your goal, then it’s probably safe to assume that you have some sort of emotional connection to food.

That is a broad generalisation I know, but in my experience it is often the case. When food is taken in excess it is often to fill an emotional need and I feel it’s important that we all look at what our connection to food is so that we can understand our response to it better.

Either way, if you suddenly stop eating those foods you are likely to create a psychological problem for yourself that could put your goal at risk.

Instead of going ‘cold turkey’, maybe you should consider reducing those foods instead of eliminating them.

Maybe you should consider slowing down and enjoying the moment more. Make your treat time a special moment, increase the intensity and decrease the portion size.

Forget What They Taught you

The same people that taught us that plastic was great have also been teaching us about healthy eating for the past 50years.

If you grew up through the 70s-90s in Australia like me, you may have experienced a huge shift in what was classed as healthy food. I remember in the 80s how frozen meals seem to become the norm overnight.

Some families survived with their strong cultural traditions, but for the most part the words ‘low fat’ and ‘low sugar’ became part of every food advertiser’s spin vocabulary for fast convenient processed food. 

If you want a complete personal consultation in nutrition, then investing in a dietitian or a nutritionist is well worth it.

But to keep things simple, here is my outline of how to be healthy.

70% of what is on your plate should be from a plant and should ideally have a high natural water content.

Therefore 70% of the food you buy should be the same.

The remaining 30% can be grains and protein.

There are literally millions and millions of great recipes and cooking tutorials online now and there’s just no longer an excuse for not knowing how to cook healthy.

There are a lot of studies out there and a lot of contradictions. Trust your common sense and use moderation as your safest plan.

Recap

  1. You already have a purpose but is it what you really want?
  2. Think about the long game and make better decisions.
  3. Don’t be too realistic, dare to dream.
  4. Find your bigger purpose, something that excites you.
  5. Celebrate the wins no matter how small they are.
  6. Forgive the mistakes and keep moving forward.
  1. Build it up over time so you maintain consistency.
  2. Get the right intensity to get the most out of your workouts.
  3. Strength Training is your friend, so give it a go.

  1. Start with one meal at a time, again, to maintain consistency.
  2. Don’t deprive yourself, life is too short, moderation is key.
  3. Forget what ‘they’ taught you. Use your common sense and look for unbiased information.

I hope that this article has helped you in some way.

Lasting health and fitness takes a little longer than what most of the health industries’ advertisements suggest, but with the right attitude you can and will make it.

Always remember,

Success is a journey not a destination.

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Better Shape Fitness are the Mature Age weight loss specialists and the only place that brings Gym Memberships and Personal Training together for you at no extra cost.

Follow the link below for a step by step guide on the benefits of strength training for weight loss.