So…
You’ve had enough of looking in the mirror and being sick & tired of what you see and you’ve decided it’s time to do something about it.
Where do you start? Gym membership? Juice diet? Circuit class? Running? Swimming? Yoga? Clean eating?...
This guide is perfect for any beginners looking to kick-start their weight loss journey or even someone who’s taken some time off and wants to get back into the swing of things. We will show you what we’ve found is the best way to do it, that’s the most enjoyable, the most effective and long lasting.
Looking into the mirror
This one is all about setting some goals before you even think about throwing on those gym trainers.
Yawnnn… Boring… I know, I know, you’ve heard this one time and time again, but honestly, I cannot put enough emphasis on how important it is to sit down and physically write out what you want to achieve.
Flicking through your favourite booty magazine and randomly choosing a model you’d like to look like is not gonna do it. You're fooling yourself and the magazine is bullshitting you.
That woman with the ‘perfect’ arse and glamorous cheeks (what cheeks?) is not really what she looks like. We live in a day an age where photoshop is the new makeup.
You need to get real with yourself and call yourself out on your own bullshit. Imagine you were staring at yourself in a mirror, you close your eyes and when you re-open your eyes, in front of you in the reflection you see what you would like to look like in 6-12 months.
Think about what this is, how this will make you feel and how this could change your life if you were to achieve it.
- Write down your goals, trying to be as personal to yourself as much as you can.
- Put numbers in the goal, for example, to lose 10kg or lose 4 inches from the love handles.
- Choose a date. It’s all well and good having a goal, but if there’s no time frame you could see yourself losing a little motivation. For example, got a holiday you want to lose weight for? Then that is your time frame.
- What do you want to achieve?
- What will this do for you?
- When do you want to achieve this by?
What are you into?
Now I’m not talking about what you like to get up to on the weekends… I’m talking about what type of exercise do you like? Since you’ve got your goals all sorted, it’s now time to think about how you are going to get there. Are you gonna grab a gym membership, join a local bootcamp *Cough Eat Lift Lose Bootcamp Cough*, become a yogi or do a few laps around the park?
Getting rid of that muffin top ain't gonna happen by just thinking about it so we need to figure out what exercises to do.
If you’ve never exercised before then I would suggest finding someone you can go to the gym with you or finding something that is group based. This will help build your confidence in going into a ‘fitness’ environment. Try a few things out and see what you enjoy.
If however, you’ve done a few bingo wing blasters in the gym or attended a legs, bums and tums class (that's what they call it right?) previously, then think about what you enjoyed the most. There's nothing worse than doing something you hate, you’ll put minimal effort into it and eventually give up, which won’t help with working towards getting those glamorous butt cheeks.
Despite what you’ve been told, you don’t have to go to the gym and sweat like a pig in a slaughterhouse. You can do other forms of exercise - shock horror, I know… The weight loss will come from improving your diet, exercising and thinking about what you are doing outside of the gym. So find something you enjoy, even if it is joining in with the local OAP’s chair aerobics.
The Dreaded Diet
I just wanna begin with ‘DO NOT DO WHAT YOU THINK YOU NEED TO DO’.
(Unless you’ve been following our content for a long while)
Hold on, hold on...
Let me explain. A lot of people get dieting wrong and when I say wrong, do I mean eating at the wrong times, eating the wrong type of potato or not drinking enough water? No, I’m talking about choosing a type of diet that doesn’t fit their lifestyle.
Now before I talk about what to eat, we need to outline the one and only reason why ANY diet works… Pay attention here…
EVERY DIET WORKS BECAUSE THEY ALL CREATE A CALORIE DEFICIT.
No if’s, no but’s. A calorie deficit. Which simply means you burn more calories than you consume. Now that’s out of the way let’s move on.
There are millions of diets on the internet and in your favourite mags but what is the best one? Well, none really… Apart from the one that suits your lifestyle. For example, if you’re someone who likes structure then maybe a ‘meal plan’ is best for you. Maybe you're someone who isn’t too bothered about breakfast, so intermittent fasting could be a good option for you. Or maybe you like the idea of tracking your calories through an app.
The point I’m trying to make here is that there’s no perfect diet. What's important is that if losing weight, toning up and burning fat is your goal then creating a calorie deficit your own way that suits your lifestyle and makes you happy is the best diet you’ll ever find.
This, however, doesn’t mean you can neglect the importance of natural growing foods like plants and things that walk or swim on the planet.
You should always aim to try and work towards a diet that consists mostly of 80% foods that naturally occur and the remainder 20% of your diet to be the ‘fun’ foods, like chocolate, ice-cream, diet drinks etc.
Make small changes to your diet, you do not need to go super crazy and completely change your diet overnight where you suddenly wake up and decide you are gonna be a vegan one morning.
Make changes that suit YOUR LIFESTYLE.
If your someone who gets frustrated and struggles to see the sort of results you want, let's have a chat to see what's happening and if we can help.
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