Frustrated Trying to Lose Weight? Here are Helpful Tips to Get You Started!

Some of the links in this post about weight loss are affiliate links. This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission at no extra cost to you. All opinions remain my own.

I would like to think one of the things I am best known for in my writing career is as a quasi-expert fitness guru. In my lifetime I have gained and lost over one hundred pounds (kids, amirite?) You may remember my “big” weight loss with the Wii Fit. Since that time I have pretty much managed to keep it off.

There was also a tumultuous period a few years back where I wanted to lose about five pounds. I tried a fad diet and it led me down a multi-year road of trying ALL the diets and I ended up twenty pounds heavier. It got so bad I ended up with a binge eating disorder and I sought help from a nutritionist. I saw her for four years, kept going long after I lost the weight. Now I have a wealth of knowledge I am going to share with you!

To start, let me say if you know you’re going to be dieting DO NOT use this time to “eat all you can” before you start your weight loss program.

That was my biggest mistake so many years ago. All I really wanted was to lose was five pounds that fateful holiday season. What I did was eat ALL the foods in that two weeks between Christmas and New Year’s. That caused me to gain five pounds before I even started dieting! That made that quick five pound weight loss a more daunting ten pounds. Terrible idea. In this article I’m about to tell you how you can lose the weight without getting rid of the foods you love.

Let’s to start by doing something I think might actually backfire. I’m going to suggest getting the RENPHO Body Fat Scale Smart BMI Scale Digital Bathroom Wireless Weight Scale. It’s affordable and effective. For starters, it will tell you your weight and body composition. That is helpful in knowing the total number of calories your body needs per day at rest just to survive. It’s a key number to know because you’ll want to take that number and subtract a certain amount of calories to equal the weight loss you’re looking for.

It takes a deficit of 3500 calories to lose one pound. Ideally, you would cut out 500 calories each day for a one pound per week weight loss. I know it doesn’t sound like a lot, and you *can* cut 1000 out but you’re going to be hangry and you might not succeed. Not to mention if you’re cutting 500 but adding exercise that will burn additional calories so you’ll lose weight faster. Remember, one pound per week is still 52 pounds in a year! Slow and steady and whatnot.

The reason I say the scale might not be the smartest idea is you could possibly become a bit obsessed with it. That can be good or it can be awful. Weigh yourself first thing in the morning before you eat for consistency. My problem was I was weighing myself daily. Doing that made me antagonize over a one pound daily gain when I knew I was keeping my calories in check. However, it does motivate me to reign my eating in. I also love having all the data on hand on my phone. That isn’t an affiliate link, it’s just the scale I use.

Now for eating before this ends up a whole ass novel.

For weight loss, you do not have to give up the foods you love.

Another thing I suggest you briefly try is MyFitnessPal or something similar. DO NOT BECOME OBSESSED. Again, these things I am directing you are tools. The scale will help you find out the calories your body burns at rest. You can input that data into MFP and it will tell you how many calories you should be eating. I suggest not changing your diet at first and just log what you eat as honestly and accurately as possible. Set it to private, there is no reason to lie. It’s helpful to know what you’re working with so you can go from there. In MyFitnessPal, you can manually input recipes and it has a barcode scanner for exact nutritional amounts.

Once you see how many calories you’re eating on average you can see what needs to be cut from there. Do I recommend a mostly whole food diet? 100%, but you really shouldn’t give up what you love. Personally, if there is a food I know I can’t control myself around I won’t buy it. Most things I can eat in moderation but I know certain foods will be on my mind nonstop if they’re in the house.

Dieting Pro Tips

What I do suggest is to eat what you want in ONE portion size and know that the next day you are more than welcome to have that same thing again. Snickers was murdered this way. I bought a fun sized bag and had one eighty calorie Snickers every day for like three weeks. When I ate it I took my time knowing I could have another the next day. After so many I got so sick of them I haven’t had one in years.

Try to incorporate as many healthy foods as you can but allow yourself whatever you want in moderation. If you don’t you’ll binge and the number on the scale will climb.

Honestly if you have a poor relationship with food and don’t have proper hunger and fullness signals you’re going to want to seek out a dietician to help you on this journey. Mine was a God send.

Don’t Forget to Exercise

You also need exercise. Any exercise. Move. Do what you enjoy. Personally, I use the Down Dog app series. I use all the apps, purchase one and you get access to them all. I also have a virtual fitness coach who developed a workout using weights I have at home to use on days I’m not doing yoga to aid in weight loss. She also helps me pop my booty out because I was just doing yoga alone and I lost my butt. Dee (Mom Inspiring Fitness on Instagram) helps me lose the rest of the weight yoga didn’t burn off while building muscle in my bum to pop it out.

I’m going to end it here by saying if you have any questions please leave them in the comments and I will answer them. Make sure you drink a ton of water and don’t drink your calories. When you go out to eat ask for a to go box with your meal and immediately box up half of it when it’s delivered to your table. Bonus meal! You can also contact me by clicking there or using the contact feature on this website.

I wish you all the best on you fitness journey!