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Where to start losing weight: develop an action plan

Why is losing several tens of kilograms considered almost a feat? People who have achieved significant weight loss and changed beyond recognition become heroes of television programs and social networks. This happens because, according to statistics, 85% of the female population and 55% of the male population have set themselves a similar goal at least once in their life, but 25% and 10% respectively reach the final stage. Fighting the food instinct inherent in nature itself is a real challenge. The outcome of the battle largely depends on what served as a starting point.

To get the matter done, you need to know where to start losing weight and how to correctly draw up a plan: not only nutrition and training, but also make changes to your usual lifestyle. Making this decision must be done with an awareness of the complexity of the approach to weight loss. From now on, every step should bring you closer to the goal, and you need to think about it carefully at the beginning.

The simplest and most correct solution

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

If you want to start losing weight correctly, 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 advice.
  5. Visit him regularly to modify the plan initially drawn up.
  6. Find a professional fitness instructor who specializes in weight loss and schedule a meeting with him.
  7. Consult him, order an individual training plan, taking into account the recommendations given by the nutritionist.
  8. Follow all his advice.

You will need money to pay for personalized nutrition plans and workouts. The amount is approximate and may vary depending on cities and different specialists. On average, each of these developments costs around $100. Only a nutritionist and a trainer will help you start losing weight correctly and guide you until you achieve the desired result.

Appointment with a nutritionist

First you will receive a detailed survey aimed at collecting your medical history. Be prepared to answer lots of questions:

  • if 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;
  • what diseases have you suffered in the last 2 years;
  • You have bad habits;
  • what is the nature of your work (sedentary or you have to constantly move - on foot or by car);
  • What kind of life do you lead after work?
  • Your parents have overweight problems, etc.

After collecting the data, tests and instrumental studies are prescribed:

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

Based on all the data collected, an individual nutritional plan will be drawn up, which you will have to follow scrupulously. You must also follow all the advice that your nutritionist gives you on the matter (walk in the evening, go to the upper floors without a lift, do exercises, etc. ).

Consultation of the trainer

After the nutritionist with all his advice and nutrition plan, you go to the trainer. You should customize a gym weight loss program that is right for them. It is important to grasp the following point here: as soon as the instructor begins to criticize the actions of the nutritionist, turn around, leave and look for another specialist. Doctors have the proper training and know what they recommend, but in the fitness industry there are too many amateurs who can ruin 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 useful because you do not need to independently calculate BMI, daily calorie intake, BJU ratios, etc. Here errors are excluded, health risks are minimal and the final result is guaranteed. The disadvantages are the high cost of developing 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 spend a lot of time preparing. Regardless of your gender, age and weight, we recommend starting 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 thin and what you are now. You can hang your favorite dress in a conspicuous place, in which you have to "fit". Read relevant literature, watch films. There are plenty of ways to motivate yourself, and they should work during the months you'll be working on your body.

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

  • some diseases cause excess weight and it is not possible to get rid of the latter without treating the former;
  • all diets and some types of exercises have contraindications: with the examination data you will be sure that this or that nutritional system 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 groups on social networks where people share their successes, give advice and support each other. Please contact them for 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 not to eat before going to bed, let your husband distract you from this temptation and prevent you from relapsing. Effective, but it must be thought of from the beginning of the journey.

Purchases required:

  • balance;
  • 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 weight loss can take up to 1 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 some time on this.

Preparing for weight loss means weighing yourself and reducing your daily calories.

Start by calculating your BMI. Determine how many extra pounds you have. Write down three numbers: your ideal weight (your ultimate goal of losing weight) - your current weight at the moment - the amount of kg you need to lose. Then proceed according to the following plan.

The first week

  1. Write down everything you eat during the day and in what quantity.
  2. In the evening, count the number of calories you consume.
  3. On Sunday, determine the average daily calorie content of your diet.
  4. Using a special formula, it calculates how many calories are needed for effective weight loss. Usually for men it varies 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. Think about which foods or dishes to reduce your daily calorie intake (food calorie tables will help you with this).

Second week

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

Third week

  1. Start with a day of fasting.
  2. Study the problem of complex and simple carbohydrates. Leave only the former in the diet.
  3. Create a menu for the week, reducing your 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 day of fasting.
  2. Remove another 100 kcal from your diet.
  3. Increase the amount of water you drink per day to 1. 5 liters.
  4. Avoid fatty foods: meat, fish, milk (more than 2%).

Remember: this is not weight loss itself, although you will probably already lose a few kilograms, but only 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 refuse the express options for 3 days and a week, which promise a loss of 1 kg in 1 day. First of all, it is harmful to your health. Secondly, the peso will return with interest after the end of the hunger strike.

If you want to lose weight correctly, choose long-term nutritional systems for weight loss, designed for 1-3 months. Mostly these are author's developments: Montignac, Atkins, Dukan, Liepaja. Carefully study everything connected with them, prepare a menu for the first week, look for recipes for dishes and calculate the calorie content.

That's it: in terms of nutrition, you are ready to lose weight.

Sport

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

Thanks to sport, 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 have to do so to lose weight.

The first week

  1. Avoid the elevator: you need to travel 5-6 floors every day.
  2. When working sedentary, 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 10-minute morning exercises, which should invigorate and improve your mood and not exhaust you. Do it every day.
  2. Learn different breathing exercises (qigong, bodyflex, oxysize), try to master one.
  3. Increase the duration 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 brisk pace.
  3. Evening walks are extended by an hour.
  4. Make a training plan.

If you start losing weight by implementing such a plan, your body will be fully prepared for new physical activity. The correction of the figure will occur 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 time to recover, so every other day is the most convenient time.

Consider the question of where the lessons will take place. 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 – they're engaging and won't let you down.

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

Recommendations for particular cases

The right start to losing weight is 50% of the success of your plan. However, the above plans must be adjusted taking into account the individual characteristics of each person. Therefore, some tips for special categories of the population will help to organize the whole process more correctly.

Women over 35

At this age, the body gradually begins to age and adapt to menopause. Metabolism slows down, few people are ready to engage in sports. So even the owners of the slimmest figures begin to get confused. The belly grows, the butt expands, the breasts increase in volume and sag a little.

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

  1. If you can skip the visit to the doctor before the age of 35, at this age it is mandatory before losing weight. Perhaps he will suggest the weight loss methods that are best for you.
  2. Start taking special vitamins.
  3. High-protein, low-fat, low-carb diets are not for you. Choose the most balanced nutritional system with a daily intake of at least 1500 kcal.
  4. Strength exercises are not necessary at this age, but you cannot completely exclude them from your training plan. When filling it out, focus on cardio exercises, but don't forget about dumbbells.
  5. Replace morning jogging with sports or Finnish walking.
  6. Dancing is, of course, beautiful. But, when planning to lose weight at this age, still opt for swimming.

And the most important advice for an older woman starting to lose weight: visit a doctor every 3 months. Any changes in the body during the premenopausal period are important.

Men with beer bellies

Deciding to lose weight for a man with a belly is a real undertaking. Diets are a common thing for women, but they are not ready for food restrictions. What is it like to refuse a can of beer in the evening with salted fish, not to sit in the bathhouse with friends on the weekend?

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

However, the process will have to start from this:

  1. It is not necessary to look for a diet: it is enough to remove alcoholic and carbonated drinks, fast food and snacks from the 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 preference to low-fat protein foods.
  4. Be sure to include morning jogging in your workout plan.
  5. Choose abdominal exercises.
  6. Alternative strength and cardio exercises.

For a man who has set himself the goal of losing weight, the main thing is to start. They get involved in the process itself much faster, without allowing themselves any indulgences, as women like to do. Don't put off your plans. If the four-week preparation described above is too long a journey for you, start immediately tomorrow so as not to 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 to lose weight after 50-60 years, when the body is exhausted and its organs no longer work at full capacity. It is age that often becomes the main reason for impaired metabolism, which is why you gain extra pounds.

Here you should definitely start with a visit to the doctor: it is categorically not recommended to develop plans on your own. After all, any restriction in the consumption of fats or carbohydrates can worsen health. 10 minutes more of sport causes shortness of breath and tachycardia. An exercise performed incorrectly can cause joint pain or even injury.

So, the decision to lose weight after 50 must necessarily be agreed with specialists, without dubious initiatives or experiments.

How much weight do you need to lose?

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

Another question is if you initially have a very high weight (more than 100 kg). The preparation phase also plays an important role here. If you immediately start with express weight loss minus 10 kg per week, in the end, even if you manage to lose kilograms, this will affect your health and the skin will sag because it does not have time to shrink. What is important for 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 start of any task is 50% of its successful completion. Losing weight is no exception. If you're motivated to get to the bottom of it, don't dive in headfirst: the immersion must be slow and gradual. This is the only way to get results.