Where to start losing weight: creating an action plan

Why is losing a few tens of kilograms considered almost a feat? People who have significantly lost weight and changed beyond recognition become heroes of television shows and social networks. This happens 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 natural instinct for food is a real challenge. The outcome of the battle largely depends on what served as the starting point.

In order 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 adjust your usual lifestyle. Making such a decision must come with an awareness of the complexity of the weight loss approach. From now on, every step should bring you closer to the goal, and they should be carefully thought out at the start.

The simplest and most correct solution

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

If you want to start losing weight properly, 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 him.
  3. Go on a date.
  4. Follow all his recommendations.
  5. Visit him regularly to adjust the plan he originally created.
  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 plan, taking into account the nutritionist's recommendations.
  8. Follow all his recommendations.

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

Appointment with a nutritionist

First, you will receive a detailed survey to take your medical history. Get ready to answer a lot of questions:

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

After data collection, tests and instrumental studies are prescribed:

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

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

Consultations with the coach

After the nutritionist with all his recommendations and diet plan, you go to the trainer. You should tailor your gym weight loss program to suit them. It is important to understand the following thing here: as soon as the instructor starts criticizing the actions of the nutritionist, turn around, leave and look for another expert. Doctors have proper education and know what they are advising, but there are too many amateurs in the fitness industry who can spoil everything.

If you need to lose a lot of weight (more than 100 kg), the plan can last from six months to 2 years. If you need to lose 10-20 kg, 6 months is usually 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 calorie intake, BJU ratios, etc. Errors are excluded here, health risks are minimal, and the end result is guaranteed. Disadvantages are the high cost of creating 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 devote a lot of time to preparations. Regardless of gender, age and weight, it is recommended to start with the following steps.

General points

The first is motivation: clearly formulate your goal and determine why you need to lose weight. You can make a selection of photos of when you were slim 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 during the months you will be working on your body.

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

  • some diseases cause excess weight, and you cannot get rid of the latter without treating the former;
  • all diets and certain types of exercise have contraindications - with the examination data, 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 social media groups where people share their successes, give advice and support each other. Please contact them in case of any problems.

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 talk you out of this temptation and keep you from going back. Effective, but must be designed at the very beginning of the journey.

Required Purchases:

  • scales;
  • kitchen scales;
  • dumbbells.

Think about what caused the excess weight: poor diet, overeating, sedentary lifestyle, age or some disease. Understand: without eliminating the provoking factor, you cannot lose weight.

Nutrition

Immediately prepare for the fact that the first steps towards losing weight can take up to a month. Of course, the preparation phase 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 this.

Preparation for weight loss involves weighing yourself and reducing daily calories.

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

First week

  1. Write down everything you eat during the day and in what quantity.
  2. Count your calories in the evening.
  3. On Sunday, determine the average daily calorie 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. Consider which foods or meals you need to reduce your daily calorie intake (food calorie charts will help you with this).

Second week

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

Third week

  1. Start with a fasting day.
  2. Study the question of complex and simple carbohydrates. Leave only the first in the diet.
  3. Create a menu for the week, reducing daily calorie 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 daily to 1. 5 liters.
  4. Avoid fatty foods: meat, fish, milk (more than 2%).

Remember – this isn't the weight loss itself, although you'll probably lose a few pounds already, it's just 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 express options for 3 days and a week, which promise to lose 1 kg in 1 day. First, it is harmful to health. Second, the weight will return with interest after the hunger strike is over.

If you want to lose weight correctly, choose long-term diet systems for weight loss, designed for 1-3 months. They are mostly author's works: Montignac, Atkins, Dukan, Liepaja. Carefully study everything related to them, prepare a menu for the first week, look for recipes and calculate the calorie content.

That's it: Nutritionally, you're ready to lose weight.

Sports

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

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

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

First week

  1. Avoid the elevator: 5-6 floors must be walked daily.
  2. When you work sitting, get up for 5 minutes every hour and warm up: walk, stretch.
  3. Walk for at least half an hour in the evening.

Second week

  1. Find a simple set of exercises for morning exercises lasting 10 minutes. It should invigorate you and improve your mood, not deplete you. Do it daily.
  2. Learn several 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 exercises.
  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, sporty) for half an hour at a fast pace.
  3. Evening walks are extended by an hour.
  4. Make a training plan.

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

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

Consider where the classes will be held. A gym membership is a financial hit, but it's worth it. Professional simulators will be at your disposal, and you can always ask the trainer for advice. Or group fitness classes - it's amazing and doesn't let you break down.

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

Recommendations for special cases

The right weight loss start 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, a few tips for special categories of the population will help to organize the whole process more correctly.

Women older than 35 years

At this age, the body gradually begins to age and adapts 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 tummy grows, the bottom expands, the breasts increase in volume and fall a little.

In addition to the above-mentioned nutrition and training programs, there is a special step-by-step system for women after 35-40 years who do not want to put up with excess weight.

  1. If you can skip a visit to the doctor before the age of 35, then at this age it is mandatory before losing weight. They may suggest the most suitable weight loss methods for you.
  2. Start taking special vitamins.
  3. A high protein, low fat, low carb diet is not for you. Choose the most balanced diet with a daily intake of at least 1500 kcal.
  4. There is no need for strength training at this age, but you can't completely exclude it from your training plan. When building it, focus on cardio exercises, but don't forget about dumbbells.
  5. Replace morning jogging with sports or Finnish walking.
  6. Dancing is good, of course. But, when you plan to lose weight at this age, you still decide to swim.

And the most important advice to an older woman who is starting to lose weight: see a doctor every 3 months. All changes in the body during the premenopause period are important.

Men with beer bellies

Deciding to lose weight for a man with a belly is quite a feat. Dieting is a common thing for women, but they are not ready for dietary restrictions. What is it like to turn down a can of beer with salted fish in the evening, and not sit in the bathroom with friends on weekends?

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

However, the process will need to start with this:

  1. There is no need to go on a diet - just cut out 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 priority to protein foods with low fat content.
  4. Be sure to include a morning run in your training plan.
  5. Choose abdominal exercises.
  6. Alternate strength and cardio exercises.

For a man who has set a goal to lose weight, the main thing is to start. They get involved in the process much faster, not allowing themselves any indulgences, as women like to do. Don't postpone your plans. If the four-week preparation described above is too long for you, start right away tomorrow so you don't drag it out for months, during which your beer belly will only 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 reason for disturbed metabolism, due to which you gain extra pounds.

Here you should definitely start with a visit to the doctor - it is categorically not recommended to develop plans yourself. After all, any restriction in fat or carbohydrate intake can worsen your health. An additional 10 minutes of exercise leads to shortness of breath and tachycardia. Improperly performed exercise can lead to joint pain or even injury.

Therefore, making a decision about losing weight after the age of 50 must necessarily be agreed with experts, without initiatives or dubious experiments.

How much weight do you need to lose?

If you need to lose 10 kg, it is enough to follow the four-week training program detailed above. With it you can lose 3-4 kg per month. Once you implement it, you don't even need to go on a diet - just continue to follow the nutritional recommendations of week 4 and go for 40-minute workouts every other day. The main thing is to start correctly, and then the need for a hunger strike will disappear by itself.

It's another matter if you initially have a very high weight (more than 100 kg). Here the preparatory phase also plays an important role. If you immediately start an 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 contract. What is important to you is a smooth, gradual introduction to any diet and slow weight loss (1-2 kg per week). But then you will save on plastic surgery.

The beginning of any job 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. That's the only way to get results.