How to lose your first 20

The changes you make to your life to lose 20lbs create momentum to carry you even further in your transformation. There are fewer steps to take and these steps make big changes to your body.

We are going to focusing on the BIG things that cause BIG changes. Not the stepping over dollars to pick up pennies mindset.

You want to lose 20lbs? Then I'm going to give you 20lbs solutions, not 1lb hacks.

ONE. STOP DIETING

It seems weird to tell you not to diet, right? You don’t need any more diets but instead a consistent lifestyle. Diets have an end. Lifestyles don’t.

To find your way of eating, start tracking your food using a food tracking app such as MyFitnessPal or Chronometer.

You will track EVERYTHING you eat and drink (minus water) for at least 14 days. During that time, I want you to take measurements on day 1 and day 14, then compare.

If you gained weight, then your eating too much if you didn’t lose any weight, you found your maintenance calories, but if you lose weight, then you’re in a sweet spot.

I can’t stress the importance of this step right here. It’s the biggest eye-opener that you’ll have in the fitness world. You need to know what’s happening in order to know what to correct. You wouldn’t go to a financial planner and not let them see your bank statements, so don’t turn a blind eye to this either.

Will it be easy? Not in the beginning but it will be worth more to you than 20lbs.

TWO. USE AN ACTIVITY TRACKER.

Activity trackers are just about everywhere now; most phones have some kind of activity tracking apps.

Set a goal each week with your activity tracker, stive to burn a total of 2000 calories with your weekly workouts, or get in 30,000 steps/week.

At the end of the day or week, you’ll know if you’ve done enough, if your one pace, or if you need to step it up next time.

Losing 20lbs goes WAY faster when you’re hitting your movement goals each day/week.

THREE. STOP PUNISHING YOURSELF.

Losing 20lbs also take a mindset shift, and sometimes…

“…the weight you need to lose isn’t on your body.”

It’s in your head

One of the culprits of the diet yo-yo game I’ve seen many people on is using food or exercise as punishment. Such as, you fell off the wagon and ate a pint of ice cream before bed, you wake up feeling guilty and then not eat for the rest of the day as punishment.

Or you workout ‘extra’ hard to burn off some of those calories

This creates an unhealthy relationship with food and exercise and, over time, trains your body to use the two to punish yourself.

Too many times, you’ll end up on a yo-yo of dieting, binging, then starving.

It’s freaking exhausting.

Stop punishing yourself if you fall off the wagon, so what! Have short term memory and move on because one bad meal won’t make you fat. Life happens, don’t beat yourself up over not being perfect.

FOUR. GET STRONGER

Nutrition determines weight loss, but strength training determines what kind of weight you will lose.

The goal with 20lbs is to lose 20lbs of fat weight, not just scale weight (these numbers are different), and strength training is one of the best ways to accelerate the fat loss process.

Strength training burns calories during the workout; your body has to use calories to repair the muscles after a workout, not to mention when you lose 20lbs, focusing on getting stronger is what makes you look leaner and toned when you drop the weight.

Strength train 4xweek with a focus on big exercises such as presses, squats, picking up things off the ground, pressing overhead, and rowing or pulling things towards you.

You will want to do 4-5 exercises each workout starting with 3-4sets of 8-15 reps, and here is the key of this… record your numbers (weights, sets, reps) each workout and when you do the workout next time strive to beat those numbers from your last workout.

What you’ll find is as your body gets stronger muscles start to show, you see shape to your body, you see change, and that will motivate you not to stop.

Plus, you’ll never hear anyone complain their muscles looked too good or they were too strong.

STARTING TOMORROW

These are 20lbs solutions, not just 1lb hacks.

Stop dieting and start tracking, be active daily, get stronger, and STOP using food or exercise as punishment.

This may seem like a lifestyle shift, and it is! To make a change in your body, you have to make a change in your day to day habits, your routine, your lifestyle: not tweaks but changes.

You make these changes and 20lbs will seem to happen on its own.

Note: This blog is intended for those that have more than 20lbs of fat to lose, if you have less than 20lbs to lose, some of these steps can still help but understand you’re in a different state of your transformation

If you need help or accountability in taking these steps then here are some options for you...

1. join our small group training classes to start getting your movement on track (1 WEEK FREE TRIAL | PositiveImageFitness )

2. apply for one on one nutritional coaching to get your food habits on track (https://forms.gle/LBrzTPwvq2Kx9Sef7 )

3. starting tracking your food and hitting your daily protein target each day...1g/lb of goal body weight in whole foods.