What I did to lose weight was a very big deal. It’s hard work! For anyone who has been on and off diets too many times to count, I’m sure you get what I’m saying. These tips for l
I’ve been on the diet wagon off and on for about 3 decades now. I had some
An Important Point To Remember In Any Weight Loss Journey
Before I go over these 20 things I did to help me lose weight, I just want to cover this point. This list of 20 things are things I have done to lose weight, but sometimes, not all in the same day. Maybe, I started it and was unable to complete it. I strive to complete what I can but sometimes life gets in the way. You need to give yourself some grace in this process. It took awhile to gain the weight and it’ll take time to get it off.
It is always good to think in terms of baby steps. This is a concept that Becky at the “So Very Blessed” website has describes so well in her weight loss journey. “The Life-Changing Power Of One Small Change | Long Term Weight Loss”. Building on the foundation of small steps is a powerful thing. Let’s take a look at how I did it.
20 Essential Tips For Losing Weight
I Got Some Help
Guidance, support and the structure of a program were what I needed. I joined the Noom Weight Loss Program to help give me structure concerning the food, exercise and how to handle lives daily stressors.
Set Short and Long Term Goals
I set the goal I wanted to reach. It’s important to have a big goal, but you also need smaller goals along the way to keep up your motivation and confidence. These smaller goals, once achieved, are also the stepping stones you need to get to the big goal.
I Defined My Why
This is the most important step. I took my time to figure this one out. Understanding the big “why’s” really pushes you as to why you actually want to reach your goal. Ask yourself why you want to lose weight. When you answer that question, continue asking more. Like a
Read The Daily Lessons
Noom’s lessons teach you how the program works. It also teaches you about proper nutrition, the importance of movement and exercise, and how behavior affects our weight. There are some questions we have to answer and even some quizzes to see how we are understanding the material. These lessons don’t take that long to read. Maybe around 10-15 minutes per day depending on the subject. I personally took notes, but you don’t have to. That’s just me :o)
Weighed In Daily
Weighing in daily is something that is on the Noom “to do” list. Weighing in daily helps you stay aware. Maybe some extra exercise you did yesterday is accounting for your weight loss today. Maybe the trip to the DQ is accounting for your slight weight gain today. The awareness really helps to keep you focused.
Logged My Food Daily
Again, like weighing in, logging your food helps keep you aware. You can look at your food intake for the day and really decipher a lot of information from it. Food tracking on Noom is done with a phone app and in accordance with Noom’s green, yellow and red food system. You can read more about this system and how it works by reading my blog post here. The daily food logging allows you to know how many calories you’re taking in and what kinds of food you are consuming (green, yellow and red system). It helps you understand the nutritional value of the food you are consuming.
Incorporated Daily Exercise
Exercise has so many benefits. It can help you burn calories and lose weight. Exercise can help you develop more strength, stamina and also build muscle. It will increase your overall health. Exercise is also an excellent form of stress relief.
Drank Lots Of Water
Water keeps us hydrated right down to the cell level in our body and it also regulates our body temperature to keep it working at its best. It can also keep us feeling “full” or we can become “full” when we drink it. The 0 calorie filler-upper!
Develop a Weekly Meal Plan
Making up a weekly meal plan is an excellent tool to help keep yourself on track. It takes the guesswork out of what to eat. Meal planning can also make a shopping list easier to make as we know what we are having.
Tried New Foods and/or Recipes
Trying new foods adds variety to the foods you eat and keeps you from getting bored with eating the “same ole thing”. You might find a new food that has a high nutritional value which will be nice to add to your regular menu. Trying new recipes comes under this as well offering the same benefits. Using fruits and vegetables in season give you the goodness of using the freshest produce available and supporting the local economy. A win-win!
Meal and Food Prep
Prepping fruit, veggies or herbs when first brought home from the store or market makes it easily accessible when needed, or when you are in a hurry or tired. Many grocery stores are now beginning to offer fruits and vegetables that are already prepped and ready to go. You may pay a little more for the convenience, but it can be worthwhile.
Doing full meal prep ahead can be a real time saver and easy on the cook when coming home after a hard day at work. Using a crockpot, instant pot, or pressure cooker can make meals fast and easy. Setting aside a day to prep many meals which can be frozen into
Made Sure My Noom Daily Tasks Were Completed
The dashboard in the Noom app provides you with the tasks you should complete on a daily basis. This includes the link to the food and exercise tracker as well as your daily lessons. Keeping up daily keeps you on track with the lessons, as even missing a few days can put you behind. No worries though as you can either catch up on your own or if life really gets in the way, you can ask your goal specialist to push back your lessons to give you time to regroup. The important thing is to keep up as best you can by completing the task list. The program is based on the lessons presented and the task list keeps it all together for you in Noom’s convenient app.
I Setup My Own Daily To-Do’s
As you go through the program, you will begin to realize that you may need to remind yourself of specific things that are important to you in your weight loss journey. Maybe it’s remembering to drink 80 oz of water a day. Maybe it’s remembering to meditate daily. I also indicate what my weekly goals are on the same sheet so I can see how I am progressing on that front. These are all things that are checked off daily. You can create a list on a daily basis or a weekly basis. This really helped me keep all the areas I want to track, up-front and center.
Actively Interacted With The People Who Support Me At Noom
Whether it’s my goal specialist, group coach or fellow “
My goal specialist was especially helpful to me as it was nice to talk to someone, one on one about things. I also tended not to hold back on much as I wanted to lose weight and I needed the help. That’s what my goal specialist did for me. Answered my questions and asked further questions to allow me to “dive deeper” into the issue when needed. A really useful relationship and one that made a big difference to my success.
Started Meditating
I will have to admit, I was plenty skeptical about this one. I’ve heard it plenty of times before about being in the present moment. In reality, much of my overeating dealt with emotion. Overeating because something bad happened in my life and my solice was food. It could be that my hunger got away from me and I ate everything in sight and now I felt bloated and ashamed. Eating because I’m nervous about how my interview is going to go later today. Dwelling on what is happening in the past, or in the future is futile. You can’t change the past and you can’t determine the future. You can only live in the present and do the best you can in the present moment. Developing this awareness is what meditation is all about.
Like most things in life, it takes practice and gets easier over time. The time I knew when meditation was working for me, I was thinking before acting. It made me realize I was aware of how my current step was affecting my next step and I took that step with confidence. It also makes me a more content person. Definitely an essential self-care tool!
Setup a Monthly Challenge and Reward
The thought of getting to weight goal can be a daunting one. So much so, that through my many attempts at weight loss, I soon became aware that that goal was a long ways off. Of course, it’s important to keep your “eyes on the prize”, but adding extra incentive like reaching a short term goal with a prize at the end of it, was something to strive for in the short term. It keeps up your motivation and confidence to move on. Perhaps this month will be an exercise challenge where you participate in a zumba class 2 times per week. Your reward might be a new water bottle. Next month might be a fruit challenge. Eat a different fruit 5 days per week. Your reward might be a new cookbook.
All of these monthly challenges can help you to take the next step forward to getting to your ultimate goal. In my case, as I am in
Found Other Ways To Measure Success (Beyond The Scale)
Success goes way beyond the scale in weight loss. You are tackling weight loss from many avenues and your success with those efforts is exhibited in different ways. as an example, last week, you may have just started exercising and been winded and tired walking to the end of your street. This week you are walking around the block and you are less winded and have more energy. That is a success not measured by the scale. This week you are eating dinner at home every day because you prepped meals ahead last weekend. You are eating healthier with no unhealthy drive
The problem with just focusing on the scale is that it is too narrow a focus. Many times, a lack of movement on the scale is not always determined by what you are doing, but because of a weight plateau. A number on a scale is not a true measure of overall success. Don’t set yourself up for a downfall.
Failure Is Just a Learned Opportunity
Having guilt and shame in your weight loss journey is not something that will help you meet your weight loss
Allow Yourself Grace In The Process
Know that you are enough and doing the best you can, at the moment. You are learning new concepts and in some cases changing years of habits that have not been serving you as well as the worthy person you are. Thank yourself for the efforts you are putting into making a better version of yourself. You are worth it and you are enough. You will get there!
This Is a Journey, Not a Destination
I know this might sound like a cliche at this point in time as we have heard it many times before, but it’s the truth. Reaching goal weight is a big milestone (YES HUGE), but maintaining it is the next trek on your journey. In order to maintain your weight, new healthy lifestyle habits and routines you learned will need to be continued. It was SWEET (no pun intended) to reach
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Yes, I’ve listed 20 here in this article, but I have 16 more essential strategies that can get you on the road to success with your weight loss journey. Sign up below to receive the FULL list and become a part of “The Journey“.
The Road To Maintenance
The road to maintenance was smoother than expected because I kept my healthy lifestyle in focus. I continued to follow the principles I had learned at Noom. Not wanting to lose the healthy habits and routines I had learned, I continued my growth through reading on health topics through blog articles you can find on the Noom website and other healthy lifestyle websites and blogs of people’s personal experiences. I also developed my own website here with a blog to share my experiences and develop community with people I know who are out there who are just like me.
Although I stopped tracking and weighing daily, I continued to weigh in weekly just to keep aware of my numbers. My weight remained pretty steady with less than 3 pounds difference from my goal weight. If I would have maintained it 5 pounds over goal weight for a week or two, I would have logged my food to deepen my awareness of what was going on with my food. You can continue to use the Noom app for free when you no longer subscribe to the program tracking your weight, exercise and food logging.
How I’m Doing Now
In the 8 months since I have reached goal weight (as of this writing), I have maintained my weight to within 3 pounds except for a week I went on vacation. I gained 10 pounds back as I had totally gone off the Noom radar. Interestingly enough, when the vacation was over, I felt ready to get back on track with Noom with no feelings of guilt. Like I was missing an old friend. I am back to within a little less than 4 pounds as of this writing.
I continue to exercise most days, develop a weekly meal plan and have my daily to-do’s to check up on to keep me honest :o) By learning how behavior influences my food choices and habits, I have been able to plan strategies to make things work more in my favor with regards to maintaining weight. I do however know that this is my life and no foods are
Resetting Goals In Maintenance
It’s very important to reset your goals once you achieve goal weight. I can’t stress this enough! If you don’t do it, you will have nothing to strive for and old habits and routines will begin to reappear. Just to add that although I am at goal, it doesn’t mean I know everything there is to know about weight loss. There also are things I struggle with like portion control and advancing my exercise routine. These are examples of goals I can pursue in maintenance. You should always have something to strive for. Something that keeps you on track. You have confidence and discipline
It’s Worth Every Minute
I truly have not felt this good in years. I feel healthier, stronger and have more stamina. I’m a happier and calmer person these days. I feel more confident in how I live my life on many levels. Some things are still a work in progress and that’s okay, because I am not perfect and not expected to be. Besides, learning helps me grow and I can only become better for it. I’m in a good place for my family in a time where the dynamics are changing. I’m better prepared than ever before. Thanks
After years of weight issues, I have finally found the formula of combining healthy food choices, regular exercise and positive behavior change to lose weight for good. Coupled with, exploring self-development, being productive and living simply, I am now maintaining a healthy lifestyle and in a good place. I enjoy writing articles to help my readers to become the best they can be!
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