How to Start Losing Weight

Sometimes even though you really want to lose weight and you are fed up with being frustrated and feeling heavy, it can be hard to just “get started!”

Why has the simple act of “getting started” become so difficult? I think it is because we perceive the act of “starting” as a really big process and therefore we get scared to take that definite first step.

Sometimes it can be the “motivation” to get started or the lack of it,that makes it difficult and so we put it off, saying things like “I’ll start my diet next week; next month; after Christmas” or some other time in the distant future!.  Sometimes we perceive the journey of weight loss in too big a chunk. If you need to lose say 5 stone to get to a healthy BMI, then focusing on the 5 stone figure can be overwhelming and stop you from taking that first step.

So the million dollar question is “What is the best way to get started on my weight loss?”

How to Fire the Starting Pistol and Get off the Starting Block with Weight Loss?

Step One:

It really doesn’t need to be that difficult! Below is a great “starting” process that I have used personally and with my clients to get them over the starting line with losing their weight.The first step is to stop making excuses and be determined to “start!” So grab a notebook and pen and write down:

” Before I go to sleep tonight, I will ………….” and fill in the blank with a small manageable step towards your goal.

Let me give you some examples of what my clients have written down: Before I go to sleep tonight I will:

• prepare a healthy lunch for tomorrow

• make a shopping list for the week

• plan my meals for the next 7 days

• do 5 press ups

• google gyms in my area that I can afford to join

• write down my reasons why losing weight will improve my life

• dig out my “diet books” and get some healthy ideas for meals

• prepare my breakfast, so it’s ready to eat before I go to work

• pack my bag with some healthy snacks

Do you get the picture?

Step 2:

Now, yes right now, take your note book and small action goal and put it on your bedside cabinet right on your alarm clock next to your bed. You will see it before you go to sleep and if you haven’t done it, it will remind you to go and do it right now, before you go to sleep!

Now you will notice that I didn’t say make the decision that “Before I go to sleep tomorrow night, I will …….” as this is too far in the distance of time and leaves room for too many excuses. You will also notice that I didn’t ask you to write “Before I go to sleep tonight I will plan the next month’s meals”, that is too big a chunk and you will feel that it’s too much and hence won’t get started. And this is what we often do when we want to achieve goals: – we set the “taking action” part too far in the future, or we choose too big a chunk to start with, feel overwhelmed and don’t get started at all.

So what have you been putting off starting? What goals have you got, that you haven’t stepped over the starting line to achieve?  Once you have done this first step, spend the next few days, setting small goals like this that you can accomplish towards achieving your bigger goal.
So remember:
1) Small Chunks
2) Time frame of today, “before I go to sleep TONIGHT!”
So I want to hear what you are intending to achieve. Sharing it with me will really set your intention. So please feel free to add a comment below to share your intention with me, what you are going to do towards your weight loss before you go to sleep tonight. Here’s to you getting of the starting block today!