1. The calorie deficit should be your number one priority
The undeniable truth is that energy balance dictates whether or not you will lose weight or not. If you are not in-taking less calories than what you burn, you will not lose weight. There are literally no outliers. Before you say it, yes it is harder for some people, yes people with thyroid issues or P.C.O.S find it more difficult but the energy balance equation remains the most important thing to conquer.
Basically, you must ingest fewer calories than the amount you expend for weight loss.
2. Your focus should be step count, not exercise
Another false belief of people is that they should focus all their time and attention on what exercise to do. Should I do cardio? Should I do weights? Should I do HIIT or LISS? Should I train fasted? Should I train fed?
The truth is that weight loss is dictated by overall energy balance and not what type of exercise you do. The goal should be to think about how you can expend more energy over the course of the day rather than the 30-60 minutes of exercise 3-5 times per week.
You should be targeting yourself with a step count, you should be walking to the shop, parking further away, you should be doing anything that will burn more calories throughout the day – that’s what really moves the needle of the number of calories burned.
Unfortunately people over-estimate the number of calories they burn through exercise as do the activity trackers on your wrist. Focus on moving more overall for real success.
Basically, push those steps up!
3. Train for performance, not calories
So if you should focus on expending more calories overall, what should you focus on the gym? Does it really matter?
You should use your time in the gym to improve fitness, health markers, strength and even mental health. Burning calories should be very low on your list in my opinion. If you focus on burning calories in the gym you forget about all the other benefits that come with training.
Improved physique, improved posture, improved strength, reduced risk of osteoporosis, reduced risk of sarcopenia, improved insulin sensitivity, increased muscle mass – just to name a few.
If you train for performance, your goals are endless, if you train for calories on the other hand then training will feel monotonous and quite empty.
What happens when you have lost the weight?
Also in my years of experience of working with people, they always look more defined when they have resistance training at the forefront of their training over cardio. My advice to everyone is to focus on weight training and use cardio as a tool to expend more energy if needed. However if your move goal for the day is high enough, you will leave yourself with the ability to leverage your training for performance.
Basically, stop exercising and start training…
4. Sleep is incredibly important
Too often people underestimate the importance of good sleep routine. We spend around one third of our lives asleep (or we should) and so it makes logical sense to create solid consistent plan for it. You should be aiming for between 7-9 hours to be optimal. In order to create the likelihood of this, it makes sense that you have a bedtime and wake-up time and that it remains the same each day. It makes sense that you should wind down properly before you sleep (minimal blue light) and it makes sense to start your morning with some time for you and not rushed – (check out my awesome DoTheWork Journal, you can get your copy here).
The impact of not getting enough restful sleep can include increased appetite, poor recovery, higher stress, lower motivation, reduced energy expenditure both consciously and subconsciously – which is the big one.
Although sleep itself doesn’t directly impact weight loss, not managing it currently can impact the amount of calories you burn and also impair your ability to make decisions that will benefit your goal of weight loss.
Basically – manage your sleep to create the best chance of success with weight loss.
5. You have to believe
Okay right now I want you to think of someone you know who is a yo-yo dieter (it might be you)… Here is the reason that person never achieves their goal…
They don’t believe they can do it!
They cannot visualise the end result, they assign all the previous failures in their weight loss and create their own barriers. They have literally taught themselves to quit. It becomes almost innate, quitting becomes a habit. Giving up, a habit.
This could easily have been number one because in reality you should have belief and be able to visualise your success before you even think about the calorie deficit, because without that you might get two weeks in, maybe a couple of months but I promise you that you are destined to quit if you don’t believe.
You have to forget all the previous failures, use them as feedback not failures, use the knowledge you gained from giving up last time and use that to create a situation where failure is impossible. If you have the mindset that nothing or nobody will stop you…
You become UNSTOPPABLE!
Basically… “Believe you can and you’re halfway there.”
Theodore Roosevelt
6. Most people WILL NOT support you
The last people you should look to for support during a weight loss phase are probably your friends and family. Unless they are on the same path as you, it is a recipe for disaster. In most cases, people don’t have the same desires as you, their goals are not the same. Therefore they will have their goal in mind when they peer pressure you out of investing in a coach or into a night out or into another bottle of wine. They do this because it suits their goals not yours. They are being selfish by doing that.
You need to be selfish right back. Nobody else will do it for you. FACT. You will have to make tough decisions and sometimes going hard after a goal repels some people and that is just something that you will have to deal with too.
People do this too because they are scared of your success with weight loss, because they have their own insecurities they try to bring you back down to their level. They fear your success. Even the ones that love you the most, in fact, they are normally the worst for it.
So the next time they force feed you a biscuit and try and make a joke, tell them with confidence that you do not care. I promise you when your results arrive they will be inspired by you and that is powerful and liberating. Short-term pain for long-term gain. You have to be stronger than the people around you.
Basically, you have to do you. Don’t use other people as an excuse for YOUR ACTIONS.
7. Goal-Setting
Without direction, you have nothing. With a hope you have nothing. You need a goal, you need to be specific, it needs to be measured and it needs to be time-bound.
E.g. I will weigh 10lbs less 8 weeks from now. I will weigh myself each week to check my progress and make interventions where required.
E.g. 2. 8 Weeks from now I will fit back into my favourite dress and feel amazing once more. To track my progress I will try the dress on every other week and make interventions where required.
You must also have a plan, a goal is worthless without an effective plan. This is where hiring a coach comes in. You are investing in years of knowledge and experience of someone who specialises in what you need. The same way you do when you need a plumber etc.
As well as the experience you get accountability, somebody to answer to, somebody to call you out when you haven’t done what you should have done. This helps in any walk of life, it’s why we have managers at work and it is why the most successful people in the world have coaches and/or mentors.
If you hire a coach and implement their plan. Magical things will happen.
I specifically help people lose weight and take back their self-confidence. If you would like to get some results similar to the below. Hit the button below to show me you are interested.
However, be sure that you are ready. I only work with people who really want to make change in their lives. If you have had enough of your current situation, then I would love to help you. No pressure first off, we will get you on a 30 minute discovery call where we find out whether my coaching is the right fit for you.
One more thing. I guarantee results, should you follow my guidance. I am that confident in my service. If you followed my guidance to the letter and didn’t make progress, I would return your money. You have nothing to lose except lbs and inches.
Dale Wallace – The DoTheWork Coach