- What is your finish line? Do you want a smaller waist? Do you want to feel less tired? Do you want to lose 15 pounds of body fat? Without knowing what you are specifically trying to accomplish, you don’t have a way to figure out how to get there. Once you know your destination, then you can start figuring out the most efficient route and begin planning.
- Have a plan on how to get there. Once you have a well-defined goal, next you need to commit to taking the necessary steps. All choices made should have the end goal in mind. Your diet, training style, supplementation, etc should all be pushing you in the same direction.
- Make lifestyle changes you can live with permanently. And be honest with yourself about what you are and aren’t willing to change. There’s always a way to accomplish your goal if you know your limits. You don’t need to give up everything all at once, and if there is something you just can’t live without, work around it. There is always a solution.
- Make small adjustments at first, and as long as you are consistent, you will see results. In a lot of the cases that people jump in with both feet and change too many variables at once, it becomes a shock to the body, and it’s only natural to go back to what you know, which is your lifestyle before you decided to lose body fat.
- Count calories. By far the most common mistake I see is people not counting calories, or worse, estimating how many calories they are consuming and making decisions off of that. I say worse, because it is almost never an accurate estimate in the beginning. Count calories even just for the first 3 to 4 weeks and you will be a lot more aware of the foods you commonly eat, and also have a better idea on how to make better decisions in the future.
