Measure Twice & Reflect.

You Will Wish You Had Done This.

Factor in your current levels.

What people usually do when they are starting on a weight loss plan is start on a plan without measuring their current situation. How much activity are you getting now, before change? Knowing your current level of calories, or equivalent observation of what you eat, before change, is valuable. It gives you the information to help you start at a level with consideration.

For example, if you are eating 3000 calories a day, you don’t have to go straight to cutting to below 2000. You can eat 500 calories less and still lose a pound a week. That is not factoring in exercise. Counting calories or not, see that this is an option. It may allow you to focus on one nutrition habit at a time.

Calorie counting has been a measurable way to see what one is eating and has been a popular method. What people sometimes do is go straight to the lowest amount possible and try to lose a max amount of weight, instead of setting what might be a more realistic goal. They may not be factoring in what feels a little more sustainable.

Another important piece is if you are currently gaining, losing or maintaining weight at that level of calories. Even if you are not going to track calories, observing your activity, weight trends and typical eating patterns will only help you have more information to identify what you need.

Reflect on past attempts, successful or not.

Whatever you decide to do, if you have been on a plan that didn’t work, you may have still learned something from it. (Unless it is extreme.) Maybe it taught you some discipline or that increasing vegetables is an option.

Simply labeling it as a failure, can make you miss out on some good details into what works for you and what doesn’t. If you reflect a little, you can piece together a sustainable program from different programs you have been on.

If I can get you to believe, you will take action. If you take action, you will get the result you want.

A lot of times the ‘new’ trend or plan gets you to believe it is possible again. It may even be something that is rebranded from what you already did, but you believe again because you are being told it is possible. Believing is valuable. If I can get you to believe, you will take action. If you take action, you will get the result you want.

Take Measurements

Measure your waist circumference, hips, arm circumference, etc. Get your weight reading at a time of day that you will be consistent with. Take photos of yourself front and back. You are going to wish you did this. Do not avoid it. It can be hard to do and some avoid it, only to wish they had that picture to visually show all their progress.

If you are measuring success with weight and you don’t get an accurate reading, you are setting up for a disappointing day down the road. Let me explain. Say you are two or more weeks in, you have changed what you eat, working hard and pants are looser. You decide to weigh yourself at this point. Your weight is the same or higher than you expect. This can be a serious pain association that has the potential to demotivate you if you are not reframing it. The truth usually is that you had gained more weight that you wanted to admit before you started. It is possible that you did lose x pounds. Without the starting weight, you can catch yourself to reframe, but it is an unnecessary challenge to have.

Another important factor to consider is measuring progress in other ways besides weight. Taking photos, measurements of your body and simply track with the habits you are creating in your life. After all, if you stay motivated, you will keep going. If you keep going, you create the environment for a tipping point.