There can be many triggers that inspire someone to begin focusing on their health once more. Becoming overweight is often a slow process, one composed of many small habits that add up over time. You don’t have to be undisciplined and unserious to experience this outcome either, as even 100 extra calories above your maintenance intake recommendation, perhaps incremented each day over ten years, can lead to the same outcome as someone who ate 500 plus for less time.
You may want to lose weight to fit into a wedding dress or suit, to feel more confident on holiday, or maybe to reclaim your health after a medical scare. There are many reasons, and all of them are valid. What’s important, however, is not to lose weight because you don’t feel like enough. Otherwise, it’s easy to pin our entire sense of self on the size we are, and this only leads to “never good enough” syndrome, while also pathologizing a journey that should be rewarding for us.
In this post, we’ll discuss some ways to finally mark your starting point for your weight loss journey with confidence:
Join A Program & Make It Social
Weight loss is often better to engage with when you’ve got people around you, and so finding a program with a community aspect gives you an extra bit of motivation when the novelty wears off and you need to start building good and disciplined habits. Fortunately, many are in the same boat, and suppose there’s a local walking group you could join, or perhaps a friend who’s also looking to get healthier could become your accountability partner. You may find great success with an online weight loss clinic, also.
Programs with built-in social elements often see better success rates because humans are naturally social creatures, and don’t want to let one another down. You might find it easier to stick to your plans when you know someone else is expecting you to show up to the gym or yoga class that morning. If anything, it makes the journey feel less isolating.
There’s a solid chance you’ll find apps or programs for weigh-ins and chats can give us just enough structure without feeling too limited. You may lose weight, and make friends! Not a bad outcome we’d say.
Set A Routine & A Starting Date In Mind
Deciding exactly when you’ll begin makes your weight loss plan feel more concrete. Rather than the vague “I’ll start eating better soon,” picking a specific Monday or the first day of next month gives your brain something solid to prepare for.
Your routine doesn’t need to be complicated. It could be as simple as planning to eat breakfast at the same time each day or going for a walk after dinner. Small, consistent habits often lead to better results than grand, unsustainable changes.
Setting aside time on weekends to prep some healthy meals for the week ahead could make your weekdays much easier. You might find that having grab-and-go options ready prevents those moments of hunger-based decision making that often lead to less nutritious choices.
Consider A Household Clearout
Taking a look through your kitchen cupboards and fridge could be a good first step, because if you’ve had bad habits up until now, you may still hold onto foods that might trigger overeating or don’t work with your new approach. You can donate them to a local food bank if they’re still in date or cook healthy meals with them now and freeze them with solid portion control.
Remember that foods aren’t inherently good or bad, but some might make your specific journey more challenging. You don’t have to be overweight to hear the call of those delicious donuts in your cupboard, for instance, and it’s best if you don’t need to expend the mental energy warding them off.
Purchase Cooking Appliances To Help You With Specific Diets
Getting excited about new kitchen tools can help you regain an interest in home cooking. An air fryer might make it easier to prepare foods with less oil and has become massively popular thanks to that, and little alternatives like a good blender could become your best friend for protein-filled smoothies after a gym sesh.
You may also find that slow cookers or pressure cookers help you prepare nutritious meals with much less effort. Coming home to a ready-made healthy dinner removes one potential obstacle from your path, and it also helps to skewer the idea that weight loss is about constant hard effort as opposed to different choices.
Enrol Into A New Gym Or Exercise Regimen
One of the reasons many people find working out so unappealing is not only that it sometimes hurts or can feel uncomfortable to begin (and it does take some weeks for this to subside), but rather it’s boring. It’s not fun watching the clock on a treadmill or trying to think about anything else than the exercise bike in front of you.
But do you have to worry about that? After all, the best exercise routine is the one you’ll stick with. Your body benefits from movement it receives, not from intense sessions that leave you dreading the next workout, and you can also enjoy habits that feel good to you. Maybe swimming is so enjoyable you don’t mind the effort, or you really love that dance class you’ve taken with your partner! Start gentler than you think necessary and build gradually, while also having fun. It’s a good way to avoid burning out immediately. This goes no matter what size you are.
Have A Small Goal To Inspire You
We tend to think of weight loss as a binary, either you’re at a healthy goal weight or you aren’t, and perhaps it’ll take a year or more to get to that final point. But remember there are many small improvements along the way if you’re getting fitter. To begin with, you’ll notice that you get to wear more clothes without being tied to your prior size, or you’ll sleep better, or wake easier, or breathe more comfortably, or sit in chairs with more comfort, or enjoy clearer skin and thousands of other micro-adjustments like this.
So, if the long drag of improvement is somewhat boring you, remember, your next tiny noticed benefit might just be a day away.
With this advice, we hope starting your weight loss journey with confidence feels so much more possible than it had been thus far.
