Successful Weight Loss Journey: Tips and Insights

This blog post is going to delve into exactly how I did it. This content is really aimed at people who have been trying to lose weight but haven’t been able to do it. They feel like failures because of it and think it’s their fault, believing it’s their lack of willpower.

I’m an average guy, a junior in college, not a D1 athlete and not a scholar by any means. I’m just like you; I’m not anything special per se, but I’m a normal guy who figured out how to make this happen after years of failure. So, I’m going to go into some of the main details of how I was able to do it.

Diet

When it comes to diet, the only numerical term I want to mention is being in a calorie deficit. There’s a point where you’re going to maintain, a point where you’re going to put on weight, and a point where you’re going to lose weight if you’re under that maintenance level. It’s that simple. I’m not going to go into any other numbers or talk about macros. We’re trying to keep it realistic and tangible here. You have to be in a deficit. It’s that simple. Whether it’s a large or small deficit, you’re going to lose weight. It might be faster or slower depending on how aggressive the deficit is. Remember, you have to be able to sustain it. You won’t stick to something you can’t sustain.

Eat what you enjoy. I ate what I liked the entire time I was losing weight. When I was chronically dieting, I was eating things I didn’t like, which led to binging. I quickly learned that you have to eat what you enjoy in moderation and intuitively. If you want to save your calories for later in the day, that’s fine. You can do intermittent fasting or whatever works for you.

I don’t want to talk about the word “diet” because diets don’t work. They set you up for failure and eating disorders. Cheat days and cheat meals are just socially acceptable ways of saying binging. I don’t support that. You shouldn’t need cheat meals. If your friends are having pizza, have a slice. It’s okay to have pizza or cookies, but remember your lifestyle. Go back to what you’re doing by choice. Make sure you’re in a deficit and use tools like MyFitnessPal. Eat what you like, make sure you’re in a deficit, and ensure it’s tangible and sustainable.

Exercise

The next point I want to touch on is exercise. For me, almost all of my exercise consisted of cardio. I was so focused on weight loss that I didn’t care about weightlifting. Focusing on one goal at a time is extremely powerful. To this day, I have gotten back into weightlifting, but during that time, I was strictly doing cardio and circuit training. I focused on keeping reps high if I was weightlifting, but mainly I focused on cardio.

You have to make sure you’re doing a cardio activity you enjoy. I love swimming and the Stairmaster, so I made sure to do those. I hate running, so I didn’t run. Don’t make cardio a punishment; make it something you enjoy. Put on a great album or watch your favorite show while doing cardio. Make cardio your friend if you’re trying to lose weight because it’s helpful physically and mentally. My personal cardio regimen consists of at least 45 minutes of Stairmaster, swimming, or circuit training every day. That’s what works for me; it keeps me lean, happy, and keeps my head in the right place.

Key Points for Successful Weight Loss

To end this blog post, I want to touch on the points that differentiate this successful weight loss transformation from the past 4-5 years of unsuccessful attempts.

Establish Your Why

It seems simple, but it’s drastically important. Establish why you want to lose weight. Once you know why you’re doing it and it’s important enough to you, you’ll be willing to do whatever it takes to achieve your goal.

Set Small Goals

Setting small goals is crucial because it keeps you focused. When I was 250 pounds, I couldn’t immediately reach 190, but I set small achievable goals. This led to constant wins, which kept me motivated.

Trust the Process

Once you develop your eating and exercise routine, make sure it’s tangible and realistic. Trust that the process will work. You need to believe in it to stick with it.

Lifestyle Change, Not a Diet

This isn’t a short-term effect. It’s a long-term lifestyle change. Build new great habits. Enjoy what you do so you can make it a habit. Eat foods you enjoy and are healthy.

Avoid Black-and-White Thinking

Black-and-white thinking is detrimental. You can’t seek perfection with this plan. Make sure you enjoy what you do and allow yourself breaks. If your friends want to go out for beers, it’s okay! Just get back on track the next day.

That’s going to wrap up this blog post! Thank you so much for reading. Definitely smash that like and subscribe button and share with your friends if you got something out of this. I’ll have more content coming up on my channel, so until then, keep grinding.

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