The Beginners Guide to Losing Weight: Getting Started Part 1

If there’s one thing we say at Pretty Awesome Fitness when you want to lose weight is to clean up your diet, and supplement that with exercise. But where do you exactly start? How do you do it? Most importantly, how do you make it right?

Which is why from now on, things are going to change. You’ve heard how I lost weight. You’ve read how I battled with binge eating. Today and for the next couple of weeks, I will be here to guide you through this process, help you get started, explain the journey, step by step and hopefully by the end of this series called The Beginners Guide To Losing Weight, released every Monday, you will get a good stepping stone to how to lose weight right. And at the same time seize the world Pretty Awesome style.

Welcome to The Beginners Guide To Losing Weight, the four-week series where I take you by the hand and feed you with the right information on how you can really start losing weight for good. Over the next four weeks, you will learn:

Part 1: Getting Started (which is today!)
Part 2: Feeding Yourself
Part 3: The Only Exercise Plan You’ll Need
Part 4: The Process and After-math

If you follow this series to its word, you will lose weight. If you stop listening to other sources that leaves you even more confused, you will lose weight. If you give yourself a chance to put away all that you’ve heard and listen to what I’m about to say, you will lose weight. You will, you will, you will. You ready to get started? Let’s go.

WHY LOSE WEIGHT?

I first decided to lose weight because I felt ugly. That’s right, — I was 19 back then and I couldn’t look myself in the mirror without seeing an ugly beast staring back at me. Harsh I know, but that’s honesty at it’s best. As days passes by, I was desperate to shed the weight because I was losing confidence, self-esteem and more importantly my youthfulness. In an attempt to lose the weight I’ve put on over the years fast, I turned to meal replacement shakes and diet pills.

Did it work out? Nope. In fact, I put on more weight than I initially lost being on the shake program. The result? I became less motivated and somehow accepted that I should just live with this for the rest of my life.

Until one day, when I was in college, I kept falling sick at least every fortnight. My health was deteriorating and I felt weaker physically more than ever. One day I woke up and told myself how done I was with feeling sick and settling with what I have. And so my journey started in turning my life around for the benefit of nothing else but myself. The rest was history and today I’m here helping as many people as I can to lose weight, get fitter and be more awesome.

Let’s face it. Life is so much easier if you’re healthier and fitter. I won’t go into much details with why you should really start losing weight, if you’re overweight that is but here are some brief reasons on how it has changed my life, and how it can change yours.

– Losing weight is fun. I wouldn’t say the first few months was exactly mind-blowing, but seeing your body change week by week feels pretty awesome.
– Your health gets better. It’s more than just the numbers. You’ll (literally) feel good, and an ideal weight (obviously) puts lots of health risk and conditions at bay.
– You feel more confident and it’s one of the best self-esteem booster. I didn’t expect this to happen but right after I lost weight, I felt like a new person. I did better in my school presentations, I spoke better and I carried myself better.
– It opens your doors to opportunities. This could be a little bias, but losing weight might even lead you to studying nutrition, fitness or even get into this whole personal training thing like I did. Sweet?

GET STARTED 1: FIRST THINGS FIRST

Great Aqilah, I know the benefits of losing weight. But I don’t even know how much I want to lose. I just want to lose weight.

Then you’re in the right place my friend. Before we go on, I have prepared for you a DIY template of which you can download, print and record all the task we’re doing today. It’s too easy. You’re welcome.

Just click here (or right click and press save as) to download the file -> gettingstarted.pdf

Done? Great!

The very first thing we have to do today to kickstart your weight loss journey is to talk about your goals. You’ve probably heard it all — make specific goals, add a timeline, do it the SMART way… But I beg to differ, and I’m here to give you some options.

Here’s the reason:

While making solid goals is crucial to your success, and is the first thing you need to do before you start losing weight, making solid goals that matters to you is way more important.

When I first started losing weight (properly and not with the shakes and diet pills), I simply told myself I wanted to lose weight. I did not have a clue of how much I wanted to lose weight, I just want to start exercising and feel healthier. In other words, I have a goal, but my goal was as vague as ever — I just want to be healthier.

I took that goal, wrote it down and then I took a plunge into the world of exercising. After a couple of sessions, I felt good (#endorphins?). It wasn’t until my second month of training and eating properly did I actually sat down and have a think about what I really want out of this, and fast forward six months later, I weight I didn’t even think of losing in the first place.

While you probably think writing down a specific goal is important, and in all honesty it is, some of us, like I was, do not even have a clue on what we want. We just want to lose weight, we want to get healthier. Strike while the iron’s hot. Do it while you have the intention to. So I’ll give you two options, and you can choose either one before proceeding. Let’s take a look.

Option A: ‘SMARTS’ GOAL SETTING

Suitable for: Those who knows how much they want to lose and by when.

Take out a piece of paper and a pen and sit down with a clear mind. No eating, no drinking, no self-victimising. Just you and your clear mind. Now I want you to write down a (S)pecific goal, saying you want to lose weight doesn’t cut it here. Add a (M)easuring tool, give it (A) number and make it (R)ealistic. Think of a (T)ime frame — when do you want to achieve this goal by and finally add a (S)ignificant ‘you’ touch to it. Here’s a solid SMARTS goal:

“I want to lose 10 kilos in 3 months by exercising three times a week and adopting good nutrition habits. I will measure my progress by weighing myself etc. and I am doing this for myself because I want it, not because someone told me to do so.”

BAM. That’s it there. Write that down on the paper and paste it on a wall where you normally frequent.

Option B: SIGNIFICANT GOAL SETTING

Suitable for: Those who really have the desire to lose weight but don’t have a clue of how much, by when etc.

I truly understand if you don’t know how much you want to lose right now, and that’s okay, because at the end of the day, the number do not matter. It’s how much you want it that counts. Having zero clue of what you want out of this does not lessen your chances of turning your life around and changing your lifestyle. But here’s the thing… You still have to, at the very least, try to make this journey significant to you, and write that significance down.

Let me give you two examples and you can judge it yourself which is more effective.

Example 1.

Client: I want to lose weight for my wedding.
Me: Okay, so how much do you want to lose and by when?
Client: My wedding is in 7 months. To be honest I don’t know how much I want to lose. I just want to lose some weight.
Me: Alright. That’s great! But let’s try and add a number to that. Do you think you want to lose 10kg or 20kg?
Client: 20kg will be great!
Me: Awesome! Let’s put that down in your diary.

Sounds like a typical trainer-client conversation I must say. Don’t worry I used to be guilty of that too when I first started personal training. Let me show you this next one.

Example 2.

Client: I want to lose weight for my wedding.
Me: Okay, so how much do you want to lose and by when?
Client: My wedding is in 7 months. To be honest I don’t know how much I want to lose. I just want to lose some weight.
Me: Alright. That’s a great start! Now tell me, is there a reason why you want to lose weight?
Client: To look good on my wedding day?
Me: Yes, but perhaps something deeper than that. Is there some sort of a calling that just gave you this little nudge of wanting to lose weight?
Client: *thinks deeper* I want to feel healthier and look brighter on my wedding day.

Sounds better, no? For what it’s worth, the client made the goal herself. A few months down the road, when you have a better idea of where you want to go, then you can revisit the goal and make it a little more specific.

Whichever option you pick, the most important thing here is to write down that specific or significant goal on paper. A goal not written down is a wish, and we’re not just wishing are we?

Not having a number in mind and does not mean you can’t achieve them. I started with a non-specific goal, but my goal was significant. Make the reason count by digging deep in you. That significant goal you have there is the foundation you need to make this journey a success.

What you have to do now: Think of your goal and write it down on the DIY template before moving on.

GET STARTED 2: MEASURE YOURSELF

We all have problems measuring up. It’s normal, and it’s human. While your success in losing weight is more than just numbers (I think this is my 297021th time saying this), we need to have a baseline measurement to truly accept yourself, your current state and move on.

Good news is, I value simplicity over complication so I’ll make it as simple as possible for you. All you need to do is measure three things — your weight, your waist, and your hips. If you can measure your body fat, great! Otherwise don’t sweat it, you don’t need it.

Write it down, on that same piece of paper as you did your goal, and keep it somewhere safe. You need that, sometime during the next four weeks.

How often should you measure yourself? Every week for your hips and waist, and every month for your weight. Remember this, you are more than just a number. How much progress you’re making has nothing to do with what you see on that weighing scale so don’t make that a deal-breaker. Focus on how you feel inside and you’ll do much better in losing weight.

What you have to do now: Measure yourself and write it down on the DIY template before moving on.

GET STARTED 3: TAKE A PICTURE

Your third task is simple. Snap a picture of yourself — front, back and side view.

You don’t have to show it to anyone, just keep it safe. And like measuring your weight, we will take your picture every month.

Don’t put this off, trust me, you will thank me later. There is nothing more motivating than seeing yourself ‘shrink’.

What you have to do now: Take a picture of yourself and save it before moving on.

GET STARTED 4: THE (SIMPLE) ART OF WEIGHT LOSS

Losing weight, being healthy and simply feeling good is pretty clear cut. But like almost everything else, we just tend to make it hard.

While motivation is a great thing to have in this journey, it all boils down to your consistency and how serious you are in losing weight. It’s more than what you weigh, it’s more than just how you look — it’s how much you really want to work in getting the results you want.

Consistency trumps motivation anytime, and while you’re on this journey, be patient with not only the process, but with yourself. You did not put on the weight in months, the weight and health state you’re currently standing on is a result of your habits over two, five or even ten years or more. That said, it will take time for you to see results and patience is one key aspect of getting awesome results.

Most importantly, don’t think too much. I will help you the best I can over the next few weeks on exactly what you should be doing. It’s not a diet, it’s going to be something you fit into your lifestyle. You have the information, use it to your advantage, and of course with my help.

Quit asking how fast you’re going to lose weight.
Quit asking where you’re going to lose most weight first.
Quit thinking too much.

Put some trust into the process and enjoy the journey. I’ll help make it as interesting and enriching but there is only so much I can do if you’re not willing to put in some effort yourself.

WHAT HAPPENS NOW?

That’s great, Aqilah. I’ve got my goals written down and my hips, waist and weight measured. What now?

Congratulations mate, you’ve completed Part 1 of The Beginners Guide To Losing Weight. Next week I will be feeding you information about nutrition for weight loss and how to go about fixing your broken diet. Don’t worry, I won’t be telling you to count calories — I’ve had a bad experience with that and I definitely do not want you to repeat the same mistakes I made. Like I said, it won’t just be another diet, it’s a lifestyle change. Are you in?

If you’re eager to start, leave a comment below and tell me what your weight loss goal is. Include a significant reason with it and ask me one big question you have about weight loss.

Let’s do this together, Pretty Awesomes.