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Where to start losing weight: developing an action plan

Why is losing several dozen pounds considered almost a feat? People who have achieved significant weight loss and changed beyond recognition become heroes of TV shows and social networks. This is because, according to statistics, 85% of the female population and 55% of the male population have set such a goal at least once in their lives, but 25% and 10%, respectively, reach the final stage. Fighting the feeding instinct inherent in nature itself is a real challenge. The outcome of the battle largely depends on what served as a starting point.

To bring the matter to an end, you need to know where to start losing weight and how to properly make a plan - not only diet and training, but also make adjustments to your usual lifestyle. Making such a decision must be accompanied by an awareness of the complexity of the approach to weight loss. From now on, each step should bring you closer to the goal, and you should study them carefully at the beginning.

The simplest and correct solution

If you want to lose weight, you need to limit your diet

If you want to start losing weight correctly, achieve the desired result and not harm your health, you need:

  1. Save about $200.
  2. Find a nutritionist in your city and make an appointment with them.
  3. Go on a date.
  4. Follow all his recommendations.
  5. Visit him regularly to adjust the plan he originally designed.
  6. Find a professional fitness trainer who specializes in weight loss and make an appointment with them.
  7. Consult with him, order an individual training program, taking into account the nutritionist's recommendations.
  8. Follow all his recommendations.

You'll need money to pay for personalized nutrition plans and workouts. The amount is approximate and may vary in different cities and between different specialists. On average, each such deployment costs about $100. Only a nutritionist and trainer will help you start losing weight correctly and guide you until you achieve the desired result.

Appointment with a nutritionist

First, you will receive a detailed survey aimed at collecting memories. Be prepared to answer a lot of questions:

  • if there are chronic diseases;
  • what you eat, how many times a day (with the smallest details, down to seeds and a bottle of mineral water)
  • how fast did you gain weight
  • what illnesses have you suffered in the last 2 years?
  • Do you have bad habits?
  • what is the nature of your work (sedentary life or you have to move constantly - on foot or by car)?
  • what kind of life do you have after work?
  • Do your parents have a problem with excess weight, etc.

After data collection, tests and organ studies are prescribed:

  • general blood and urine tests.
  • blood sugar test;
  • blood chemistry;
  • blood test for thyroid hormones.
  • tomography?
  • Ultrasound of the abdominal cavity.
  • gastroscopy / other endoscopic examinations of the gastrointestinal tract.

Based on all the data collected, an individual diet plan will be drawn up, which you must strictly adhere to. You must also follow all relevant advice given to you by the nutritionist (walk in the evenings, go to upper floors without elevators, do exercises, etc. ).

Coach consultation

After the nutritionist with all his recommendations and diet plan, go to the trainer. You should tailor a weight loss program at the gym to suit them. It is important to understand the following point here: as soon as the trainer begins to criticize the nutritionist's actions, turn around, leave and look for another specialist. Doctors are properly trained and know what they are advising, but in the fitness industry there are too many amateurs who can ruin everything.

If you need to lose a lot of weight (over 100 kg), the program can last from six months to 2 years. If you need to lose 10-20 kg, usually 6 months is enough.

So it is extremely easy to start losing weight properly. This method is good because you don't have to independently calculate BMI, daily caloric intake, BJU ratios, etc. Errors are excluded here, health risks are minimal and the end result is guaranteed. The disadvantages are the high cost of developing individual nutrition and training plans, as well as the duration of the course - from 3 months to 2 years.

Independent weight loss

If you plan to organize the weight loss process yourself, at home, you will have to spend a lot of time preparing. Regardless of gender, age and weight, it is recommended to start with the following steps.

General points

The first is motivation: clearly articulate your goal and determine why you need to lose weight. You can make a photo selection of when you were thin and what you are now. You can hang your favorite dress in a prominent place where you have to "fit in". Read relevant literature, watch movies. There are a huge number of ways to motivate yourself and they should work throughout the months you will be working on your body.

The second is a medical examination. You can't go anywhere without him. What it will give you:

  • some diseases cause excess weight, and you cannot get rid of the latter without curing the former.
  • all diets and some types of exercise have contraindications - with the data of the examination, you will be sure that this or that diet or exercise will not harm your health.

Keep a weight loss diary: you will write down all your mistakes and achievements, changes in weight and volume.

Find like-minded people: join groups on social networks where people share their successes, give advice and support each other. Please contact them for any issues.

Prepare your family for the fact that you will lose weight. Ask them for help. Sometimes, if you don't have the courage to not eat before bed, let your husband distract you from this temptation and prevent you from relapsing. Effective, but we have to think about it at the beginning of the trip.

Necessary purchases:

  • Libra;
  • kitchen Scale;
  • dumbbells.

Consider what caused the excess weight: poor diet, overeating, sedentary lifestyle, age or illness. Understand: without eliminating the causative factor, you cannot lose weight.

Nutrition

Immediately prepare for the fact that the first steps towards weight loss can take up to 1 month. Of course, the preparation stage can be shortened to 3-5 days, but in 90% of cases such a start leads to inevitable failure. So be prepared to spend time on it.

Preparing for weight loss involves weighing yourself and cutting your daily calories.

Start by calculating your BMI. Determine how many extra pounds you have. Write down three numbers: your ideal weight (the ultimate weight loss goal) - your current weight - the number of pounds you need to lose. Then proceed according to the plan below.

First week

  1. Write down everything you eat during the day and in what quantity.
  2. In the evening, count the number of calories you consume.
  3. On Sunday, determine the average daily caloric content of your diet.
  4. Using a special formula, calculate how many calories are needed for effective weight loss. Usually for men it ranges from 1500-2000 kcal, for women - 1200-1500 kcal.
  5. Calculate the difference between what you consume now and what you get according to the formula.
  6. Think about which foods or dishes you will reduce your daily caloric intake (food calorie tables will help you with this).

Second week

This preparatory stage is already the beginning of weight loss, because with proper nutrition, you can lose 1-2 kg. You must give up fast food, fried foods, alcoholic and carbonated drinks and limit the consumption of sweet and salty foods.

Third week

  1. Start it with a fasting day.
  2. Study the topic of complex and simple carbohydrates. Leave only the first ones on the diet.
  3. Create a menu for the week, reducing your daily caloric intake by 100 kcal. Stick to it.
  4. Drink at least 1 liter of water a day.

Fourth week

  1. Start with a fasting day.
  2. Remove another 100 kcal from your diet.
  3. Increase the amount of water you drink per day to 1. 5 liters.
  4. Avoid fatty foods: meat, fish, milk (more than 2%).

Remember - this is not the weight loss itself, although you will probably already lose a few pounds, but only the preparation for it. It minimizes the stress your body will experience in the coming weeks or months.

In the last, fourth week of preparation, start choosing a diet. We immediately reject the express options for 3 days and a week, which promise to lose 1 kg in 1 day. Firstly, it is harmful to health. Second, the weight will come back with interest after the hunger strike is over.

If you want to lose weight properly, choose long-term diet systems for weight loss, designed for 1-3 months. Mainly these are developments of the author: Montignac, Atkins, Dukan, Liepaja. Carefully study everything related to them, prepare a menu for the first week, look for recipes for dishes and calculate the calorie content.

That's it: when it comes to nutrition, you're ready to lose weight.

Sport

If you want your weight loss to be truly effective, just organizing your meals won't be enough. The calories you consume must also be expended. To do this, you should increase physical activity and physical activity. But if tomorrow you start training for several hours in the gym, your body will rebel out of habit: the next day you won't be able to get up because of muscle pain. And all this because this also requires preparation. Luckily, there's something to do in those 4 weeks while you're building your new diet.

Thanks to sports, you can lose extra pounds and get a slim body

The training program suggested below is called "From scratch". It is designed for those who have never exercised, but understand that they should in order to lose weight.

First week

  1. Avoid the elevator: 5-6 floors you have to walk every day.
  2. When working sedentary, get up for 5 minutes every hour and warm up: walk, stretch.
  3. Walk for at least half an hour in the evenings.

Second week

  1. Find an easy set of exercises for morning exercises for 10 minutes It should stimulate and improve your mood, not exhaust. Do it daily.
  2. Learn many breathing exercises (qigong, bodyflex, oxysize), try to master one of them.
  3. Increase the time of your evening walk to 40 minutes.

Third week

  1. Include 2-3 new, more complex exercises in your morning workouts.
  2. Continue to improve proper breathing.
  3. Walk for 50 minutes in the evening.

Fourth week

  1. Morning exercises should last 15 minutes.
  2. After that, walk (Finnish, athletic) for half an hour at a brisk pace.
  3. Evening walks are extended by one hour.
  4. Make a workout plan.

If you start losing weight by implementing such a plan, your body will be fully prepared for new physical activity. The correction of the number will be done much more intensively and with minimal losses. Of course, the muscles will hurt at first, but not that much.

When creating a training program, remember that the benefits of intervals are much greater. And don't exhaust yourself every day: muscle fibers need time to recover, so every other day is the most convenient schedule.

Consider the question of where the lessons will be held. The gym membership is a financial hit, but it's worth it. Professional simulators will be at your disposal and you can always ask the instructor for advice. Or group fitness classes - it's captivating and doesn't let you fall apart.

Buy some nice sports clothes - this is also a kind of motivation. And when you buy it, think that in 2-3 months you will replace it with things 1-2 sizes smaller.

Recommendations for special cases

The right weight loss principle is 50% of the success of your plan. However, the above plans must be adapted taking into account the individual characteristics of each person. Therefore, some tips for special categories of population will help to organize the whole process more correctly.

Women over 35 years old

At this age, the body gradually begins to age and adjust to menopause. Metabolism slows down, few people are ready to do sports. Thus, even the owners of the most slender figures begin to blur. The belly grows, the lower part expands, the chest increases in volume and falls a little.

In addition to the above recommended diet and training programs, there is a special step-by-step system for women after the age of 35-40 who do not want to tolerate extra pounds.

  1. If you can skip seeing a doctor before the age of 35, then at that age it is mandatory before losing weight. It may suggest the most suitable weight loss methods for you.
  2. Start taking special vitamins.
  3. High protein, low fat, low carb diets are not for you. Choose the most balanced diet with a daily intake of at least 1500 kcal.
  4. You don't need to do strength exercises at this age, but you can't completely exclude them from your training program. When you make it up, focus on cardio exercises, but don't forget the dumbbells.
  5. Replace morning jogging with athletic or Finnish walking.
  6. Dancing is, of course, good. But, when you plan to lose weight at this age, prefer swimming.

And the most important advice to an elderly woman who begins to lose weight: to be examined by a doctor every 3 months. Any changes in the body during the premenopausal period are important.

Men with beer bellies

Deciding to lose weight for a man with a belly is a real feat. Diets are common for women, but they are not ready for food restrictions. What is it like to refuse a can of beer in the evenings with salted fish, not to sit in the bathroom with friends at the weekend?

A man with a beer belly can set a goal and lose weight

However, the process should start with this:

  1. No need to look for a diet - just remove alcoholic and carbonated drinks, fast food and snacks from your diet.
  2. Daily calorie intake should be reduced to 2000 kcal. Usually men do not like to sit with these formulas and tables, so it is better to ask your wife, sister or mother for help.
  3. Give preference to protein foods with low fat content.
  4. Be sure to include morning jogging in your workout routine.
  5. Choose exercises for abs.
  6. Alternate strength and cardio exercises.

For a man who has set a goal to lose weight, the main thing is to start. They are involved in the process itself much faster, without allowing themselves any indulgence, as women like. Don't put your plans on hold. If the four-week preparation described above is too much of a journey for you, start right away tomorrow so you don't drag it out for months, during which your belly will grow.

Age after 50

The most dangerous and difficult thing for both men and women is losing weight after 50-60 years, when the body is worn out and its organs no longer work at full capacity. It is age that often becomes the main cause of metabolic disorders, which is why you gain extra pounds.

Here you should definitely start with a visit to the doctor - it is categorically not recommended to develop plans yourself. Besides, any restriction on fat or carbohydrate consumption can worsen your health. An extra 10 minutes of exercise results in shortness of breath and tachycardia. An incorrect exercise can lead to joint pain or even injury.

Thus, making a decision to lose weight after 50 must necessarily be agreed with experts, without initiatives or dubious experiments.

How much weight should you lose?

If you need to lose 10 pounds, just stick to the four-week workout plan detailed above. With this you can lose 3-4 kg per month. Once you've implemented it, you don't even need to diet - just continue to follow the nutritional recommendations for week 4 and do 40-minute workouts every other day. The main thing is to start correctly, and then the need for hunger strikes will disappear by itself.

It's another matter if you are very overweight to begin with (over 100 kg). The preparation stage also plays an important role here. If you immediately start with express weight loss minus 10 kg per week, in the end, even if you manage to lose weight, it will affect your health and the skin will hang in folds because it does not have time to shrink. What is important for you is a smooth, gradual introduction to any diet and slow weight loss (1-2 kg per week). But then you will save plastic surgery.

The beginning of any business is 50% of its successful completion. Weight loss is no exception. If you're motivated to go all the way, don't dive in head first: the dive should be slow and gradual. This is the only way to achieve results.