How many times have you tried to lose weight?
Is it more than 5 times? 10 times?
When was the last time you tried to lose weight?
Why do you want to start right now?
All of these are questions you NEED to ask yourself if you’re looking to get started with your diet and exercise again.
If you don’t have an answer, don’t continue reading until you do (that shows you just how important it is!).
Once you know, here’s how I recommend you get started on your diet.
Step 1: Wins & Losses
Step 1 is always first priority, right?
YES!
Before you dive right in to cutting calories and hard workouts, hold up and work your way through Step 1 by reviewing your wins and losses.
Make a list of all things that HAVE and HAVE NOT worked for you across your history of diet and exercising.
Ask yourself questions like:
- When and how have you been successful in losing weight and keeping it off?
- What did NOT work either related to results or my lifestyle?
- What have you seen or explored that might be a fit for you?
Spend some time digging into these questions because too often when you’re ready to get started, you’re SO EAGER you’ll do ANYTHING.
Sustainable fat loss needs to be something that works for YOU!
Finding what works for you does take time, but you can cut out a chunk of that time by reflecting clearly identifying what does and does not work for you.
Step 2: Create the Picture
Okay, Step 1 is important, but this might be most important.
I know you’re eager to get the ball rolling and finally get this weight off once and for all, but you can’t do that until you finish up Step 2 – Creating the Picture.
After you’ve listed out what does and does not work for you, we still have quite a bit of trimming to that list of possibilities for what works for YOU…
My suggestion for doing that comes by creating a picture answering the question “What do you want?”
To lose weight?
Maybe to get healthy?
There’s a catch…
When you create your picture you’re not going for 5-year-old artwork here…
You need to create a Picasso.
You need detail, expressiveness, and beauty!
Here are 10 questions I suggest people use to start adding clarity to their picture:
- On the day I achieve my goal, what do I look like? Feel like?
- What am I doing? How am I acting?
- How different does my life look?
- What year and time of year is it?
- Is my life better? Or where could my life still use some improvement?
- Am I happy, satisfied, and confident?
- Who is there with me celebrating and involved in my life overall?
- What do my eating and activity habits look like?
- What from my current lifestyle remains?
- Is this realistic? Or can I actually create this?
If you don’t have a crystal-clear work of art after answering these questions, go through them again and dig deeper.
Don’t be afraid to tap into the emotional side of things.
The goal is to create a picture so real, detailed, and clear that you’re overcome by an eagerness you’ve never experienced.
Now you’re ready to fly out of your chair and into Step 3.
Step 3: Set Your Sacrifices
Wait, this one might be more important than Step 1 and 2…
Now that you’re all hyped up and motivated to make that picture a reality, we have to put in the work to create it.
Unfortunately, that work isn’t always fun…
My best advice is to work backwards.
Go back to questions 3, 8, and 9 above. Where you need to get to lies in the answer to these questions.
Getting there from where you are right now requires you to work backwards and lay out all the small steps and milestones you need to hit to get there.
It also means you must take at what you’re willing to sacrifice to get there…
You know the saying “Nothing worth having comes easy.”
It is 100% true when it comes to fat loss.
I’d love to be one of those coaches out there telling you that this diet is going to be easy, that you can always eat whatever you want, and you’ll totally be able to lose this weight fast and keep it off forever.
But I’m here to keep it real, and this journey requires a little bit of sacrifice.
You don’t need to cut everything you love out of your life (CLICK HERE to get the entire training and FREE 6-Page Guide I put together on this), but there’s a reason you are where you are today, so if you want something different from where you’re at right now, change is necessary.
Be realistic with yourself – don’t give up date nights out with your significant other, Friday night family pizza, or wine with your girlfriends. Those things are still healthy for you just in a different way.
Look at your schedule, habits, and behaviors honestly and point out some things you can tweak or change.
Step 4: Stupid Simple
Woah, woah, woah – not to make this too complicated, but Step 4 is for sure more important than Steps 1 through 3.
You’ve already been put through the emotional wringer to this point, so the last thing we need is to add MORE emotional stress or things that might encourage you to reconsider your commitment to this journey.
That’s why we need to start you with something STUPID SIMPLE.
I’m talking 10/10, no doubt about it, 100% guaranteed SIMPLE.
Look, I know you’re eager to get after it and see some quick results, but starting drains A LOT of your energy and motivation, so once you get started, you’re like a ticking time bomb ready to blow at the first sign of challenge or struggle.
You must refuel that motivation tank by getting yourself some quick, simple wins so you’re ready for the more difficult challenges of this journey.
So, what are some examples of STUPID SIMPLE things?
Think things like:
- Eat Breakfast
- Get 7 hours of sleep
- Drink 3 glasses of water
- Go for 1 walk
- Pack your gym clothes (Yes, I’m not even talking about EXERCISING)
- Make a grocery list before you go to the store.
Honestly, it’s completely individualized to where you’re starting at and should be something not drastically different from what you’re doing now.
Step 5: Stack Wins
Now, this is DEFINITELY most important.
No joke, you cannot successfully lose weight and keep it off without this.
Changing your body composition in all simplicity is a game with millions of levels.
The problem is that most of us think we need to set the new high score and break records, but the truth is that all we need to do is enough to win and move on to the next level.
You master your first STUPID SIMPLE tasks? Great, what’s one step up from that? Again, something you need to do without a doubt.
Each time you master a task or practice, move on to a new one.
Stack your wins!
Nobody quits a diet or exercise plan because they just couldn’t handle that they were happy and successful every minute of every day!!
You’ve quit before because you’ve been frustrated, disappointed, and tired of losing the fat loss results battle.
With these 5 steps, you never have to lose again.
It’s time to stack your wins and score big!
About The Author
Jordan Davies is the Co-Owner of Complete Performance. Jordan has her B.S. in Exercise Science and Psychology, and her M.A. in Holistic Health Studies. She is a CSCS certified strength and conditioning coach, and a PN-1 and NCI-1 certified nutrition coach. She loves to study how the human body needs to be moved and nourished and making that fit to your unique lifestyle. Click Here Now to Apply for Coaching with Jordan.
