Trying to lose weight can be an excruciating process! Many women have tried all the diet plans under the sun and still struggle to see lasting results. Diet plans and weight loss companies make you believe there’s a secret formula or specific foods that will magically lead to weight loss.
But these are lies!
The truth is that losing weight is about consistently staying in a calorie deficit, consuming fewer calories than your body needs to maintain its current weight. It’s not about eating their magical foods or following their secret protocol. The name of the game is to set yourself up to be consistent – not perfect, but consistent- long enough to maintain a calorie deficit and see the scale drop.
After successfully navigating my 75lb weight loss journey, I learned a few tips to make losing weight as painless as possible.
Here are my top tips!
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- I eat the same foods, even in a dieting phase! Entering a diet where you plan to restrict foods you enjoy and dream of eating again one day ends poorly. I’ve seen success by eating the same foods when in a dieting phase. I do this by reducing the portion sizes to lower my total calories. And I also make a few small swaps, like having a wrap or lavash instead of whole grain bread in my sandwich. But I don’t eat a fundamentally different diet to lose weight.
This doesn’t mean you can eat whatever you want and see success. I mean, you could try, but it would be very difficult. Instead, you might need to wait to start a diet while you spend some time making adjustments to the foods you regularly consume before trying to lose weight. Learning to eat more lean proteins, plenty of fiber in fruits/veggies/whole grains, and healthy fats from whole food sources rather than ultra processed foods will set you up for a successful weight loss journey! Then, when you enter a fat loss phase, you reduce your portion sizes and make a few small swaps rather than totally changing your entire diet overnight.
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- I track all food and drinks with the Macros First app to ensure I’m actually in a calorie deficit and to monitor that I’m properly fueling my body with enough protein, fiber, and healthy fats to feel satiated and full. Learning to track macros has helped me feel confident that I’m in a calorie deficit and still properly fueling my body with nutrients and resources.
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- I pre-log my meals in Macros First the night before. I am a true believer in pre-logging. Pre-logging ensures I will hit my macros and eliminates decisions on what to eat. I have enough decisions to make each day, and deciding the night before eliminates in-the-moment decisions during my busy days!
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- I keep meals simple! I repeated the same breakfast and eat leftovers for lunch most days, so I only have to plan my dinners. I keep dinners I knew my kids and I enjoy on repeat. Again, the fewer decisions to make, the better! I can stay more compliant when I don’t have to keep thinking about and deciding on different things.
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- I eat consistent meals—I prefer three meals/day and one dessert. I cut out snacks during a calorie deficit and stick to larger, more filling meals and one dessert to look forward to each night. Sticking to a regular meal schedule allows me to regulate my hunger cues, and when those moments of feeling a bit hungry kick in, I know I have another meal coming soon.
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- I don’t drink alcohol. This one took me a while to realize, but alcohol really can not play a significant role in your life if you have any health related goals. Alcohol not only adds additional calories to your day, but it impacts your sleep and hunger hormones. When in a deficit, I’d recommend limiting alcohol as much as possible, aiming for around 1-2 drinks/week or less.
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- I didn’t try to lose all 75 lb at once. I entered several fat loss/dieting phases, where I reduced my calories for around 12-16 weeks at a time. Consistency is critical, and it is hard for most people to adhere to the level required to see results after a few months. I typically recommend my clients commit to a minimum of 8 weeks and up to 16 weeks. People with a significant amount of body fat to lose may be able to go for much longer than this, but in general, 8-16 weeks is a good range for most. This will require you to be patient! But remember, this isn’t a race. If you approach this correctly, you are working on changing your entire lifestyle, which takes time. So be patient!
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- I nail the boring basics – Hydration, sleep, and proper digestion are essential. If you aren’t drinking enough water, getting enough sleep, or eating enough fiber so you poop once a day, you’re making weight loss a heck of a lot more complicated! Pay attention to these critical pieces of the weight loss puzzle.
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- I strength train 3-4 days/week – Building muscle is hard and takes time! When you enter a calorie deficit and see the scale drop, it doesn’t mean it’s necessarily just body fat, and you could also lose muscle mass and bone density. Strength training is critical to ensuring you maintain as much muscle mass as possible while losing weight.
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- I keep active – I averaged around 10K steps/day. One of the main drivers of determining how many calories your body can consume is your daily activity outside of your actual workouts. Things like walking, fidgeting, and cleaning all add to your NEAT = non-exercise activity thermogenesis (technical term for all your daily movement outside of actual workouts). Most people see great results when they average around 8-12K steps/day.
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- I use regulating resources to support myself in stressful times – Practices involving breathing, meditation, and outdoor walks help support myself when life gets stressful, so I don’t rely just on snacking and booze to cope with the stress as I had in the past. No need to shame ourselves when we reach for the bag of chips or the glass of wine to self-soothe AND we can greatly benefit by developing additional ways to support ourselves in stressful times that better align with our health goals.
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- I track and reflect on my weekly progress – I’m a huge fan of data to help make informed decisions less based on emotion. Monitoring and reflecting on your data can help so you don’t make impulsive decisions or self-sabotage. I do this each week with my 1:1 clients to help them stay on track to achieving their goals.
There you go! That’s how I did it.
There was no secret plan, no magical macro count. I set myself up to be consistent long enough to stay in a calorie deficit and see the weight drop.
And now it’s time for me to do it again! I have a few extra pounds I’d like to shed before summer arrives.
Want to follow along?
I’ll share my plan, nutritional approach, workouts, and progress.
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Remember: this post is for informational purposes only and may not be the best fit for you and your personal situation. It shall not be construed as medical advice. The information and education provided here is not intended or implied to supplement or replace professional medical treatment, advice, and/or diagnosis. Always check with your own physician or medical professional before trying or implementing any information read here.