The keys to having a successful weight loss transformation
Most of the people who join a gym and start dieting after a sudden rush of motivation strike them will hop off of the bandwagon just as quickly as they hopped on it, for of a variety of reasons. Before you get a gym membership, you need to understand that a physique transformation takes time and you cannot expect to see instant results unfortunately.
In this article, we’ll talk about why the fit-life beginners can’t follow a diet, lose and/or keep off weight. Treat the points below as principles for fat loss, and you’ll be on your way to achieving your dream physique.
Sticking to a Diet
Sticking to a diet is one of the hardest parts of a weight loss journey. The hardest part of it is first even starting the diet, and then continuing it. However, there are a few tips and tricks that can help you to stick to a diet and achieve that much wanted weight loss.
Design a Customized Nutrition Program
One of the biggest and the most common errors that fitness newcomers make is that they follow generic weight loss programs that are available on the internet. While these programs promise good results, and some will yield results for sure, they are usually made (and sold) by self-proclaimed fitness experts that may not have the best expertise and are just creating cookie-cutter programs for you to follow. Their interests lie more within the money rather than your results, so your best bet is to design your own customized nutrition plan.
Know Your Macros
If you’ve never counted calories before, it’s time you get used to tracking your macros, meaning your protein, fats, and carbs, as they are crucial for building muscle mass and burning body fat, and overall helping you to achieve that much desired physique. It’s not nearly as intimidating as it might sound. Apps like MyFitnessPal make keeping track of your food a walk in the park. Get in the habit of reading labels before buying packaged food, and look at where the food sources are coming from.
You’re setting yourself up for failure if the diet doesn’t match your lifestyle, a cheat meal here and there is good for the mental health as well as the physical health, but overall you need to stick to a relatively strict diet if you want to see results. If you can’t live without your favorite weekly pizza (there is nothing wrong with that, btw), you should stay away from a program that asks you to look away every time you’re passing by a Domino’s.
Best Way To Lose Weight
No matter how strict, well calculated or fancy your diet is, if you want to lose a considerable amount of weight, you need to have a form of exercise in your program, something that will burn some calories. Most people make the mistake of joining a gym even though they hate training, and if you try doing something you hate every single day, you more than likely will not get much out of it.
When it comes to physical activity, you are not bound to running on a treadmill or performing burpees, or maxing out your compound lifts. In fitness, many different paths can lead to the same destination, meaning there are many different forms of physical activity that will help to burn calories and drop weight. Join a physical activity that you like doing and stick with it. It could be a dance class, swimming, tennis or even axe throwing.
Accountability
You need to have accountability in one form or the other if you’re serious about losing weight. Peer-pressure can be an incredibly effective tool in shedding fat. Most people drop out of a weight loss program because they don’t have to be answerable to anyone for their failure.
As soon as you decide on getting rid of the spare tire, share your goal with at least one confidant. Brownie points if you can get that person to join the gym with you. Share your transformation goal on social media if you don’t have anyone in your immediate circle to keep you accountable.
Discipline Over Motivation
People think that motivation is the key to losing weight and keeping it off, but in reality, it is discipline. Sure, motivation is what will get you off of the couch and moving, but what about about the days when you don’t feel like it? Do you just skip because you don’t have the motivation? No, you need to have the discipline to control yourself and continue on your weight loss journey.
Have a Target AND a Deadline
Your fitness journey doesn’t end at losing weight, once your number is hit it doesn’t mean you just go back to your old ways and gain all of that weight back. You have to make sure that it doesn’t come back as is the case with many people who join the fit lifestyle, you want to continue to make progress. Remember – you either go forward or backward in your fitness journey – there is no staying put.
Once you’ve reached your weight goal, set a new target for yourself. It could be gaining 5lb of lean muscle mass in a year or running a marathon in a certain amount of time. You have to be constantly shocking your body to remain in the best shape. Continuing to set goals for yourself is critical for continuing to progress in life, there is no doubt about that.
Weight Loss Wrap Up
Overall, losing weight is more than just joining a gym and participating in a fad diet for a few weeks. You have to put in the work to lose the unwanted lbs, and in order to keep them off, you have to continue to put in work. Sticking to a diet and staying active are key to losing weight, can you handle that?
What is your current fitness goal? Let us know in the comments below. Also, be sure to follow Generation Iron on Facebook and Twitter.
