Deciding to lose weight can be an important step towards improving your health and wellbeing. However, it’s important to approach weight loss in a safe and sustainable way to ensure that you see long-term results. In this article, we will provide you with 9 important things you need to know before embarking on your weight loss journey. We’ll cover key topics such as the importance of setting realistic goals, how to create a healthy eating plan, why exercise is crucial for weight loss, and the role of sleep in maintaining a healthy weight. We’ll also address common misconceptions about weight loss, such as the idea that fad diets and supplements are effective solutions. By the end of this article, you’ll have a solid understanding of what it takes to lose weight in a healthy and sustainable way, and be equipped with the knowledge you need to make informed decisions about your diet and lifestyle. So, if you’re ready to start your weight loss journey, read on to learn the important things you need to know.

Starting a new diet is the easy part, the much harder part is sticking to it and getting results. Here are nine tips to help you make the most of your new diet plan, knowing what to expect and how to succeed.

Start small

Start with one or two small goals and aim to stick to them for two to three weeks with the intention of making them a habit. Then, when you reach these goals, add more. Or, if you’re still struggling, try another goal, try other habits until something clicks.

The system makes everything easier.

One of the best things you can do to achieve your long-term health and fitness goals is to build a system. A system is a regimen built into your daily life to help remove obstacles and build habits.

Do you want to learn to go to the gym every morning? Grab your gym clothes the night before and put them next to your bed. Want to stop eating out every day? Carve out time to make healthy options each week or choose a meal delivery service that will do all the hard work for you.

Aim for accuracy

If you don’t measure it, you can’t control it. Stop guessing how much you’re eating and keep track with apps. Keeping a daily record of your meals is the best way to make sure you’re meeting your goals. Otherwise, when it comes to your nutrition, you are moving by feel.

To have cravings is normal

As soon as you start restricting something, it’s human nature to crave it. And the more you restrict, the more you crave – especially when it comes to cravings for sweets!

Aside from pure willpower, a balanced diet is a great way to reduce certain cravings. Increase your protein intake, focus on fruits and vegetables rich in nutrients and fibre, and don’t cut calories too low.

You don’t have to be hungry

A slight increase in feelings of hunger is a natural consequence of cutting calories, but if you experience constant hunger, you are setting yourself up for failure and failure. You don’t need to starve yourself to get results, a step-by-step approach to reducing calories is the best approach.

A 15-20% reduction in calories is sufficient for sustainable weight loss results, but you can start with a more conservative cut if necessary. You can spend a preparatory week to establish your baseline maintenance level and get used to keeping track of everything you eat. Then cut your calorie intake by 10% for a few weeks, then by 15% for a few more weeks and so on. This will help you adjust to the reduced intake and manage hunger better.

Sleep is essential

If you don’t sleep well or get enough sleep, you may say goodbye to your willpower and good intentions. Adhering to a diet already requires some self-discipline. But it’s much harder to stick to it and work out well when you’re constantly tired. Rest is also important for muscle recovery and growth. Make sleep your priority by choosing sleep times that you can stick to.

Failure is part of the process

Failure is crucial to your success. Without failure, we will never know how to become better and stronger. Also, only you decide when you actually fail. Learn to see failure as part of the process and change your attitude towards it. Instead of seeing failures as an excuse to get off course, look at what you can learn from them – maybe your goal was too ambitious, maybe you focused on the wrong things, or you need a little more balance in your approach. Analyze and keep going – no one has succeeded the first time. The more you try, the better your chances of success.

Scales can lie

Weight fluctuations are normal, and it’s not always under your control. Depending on your macronutrient intake, exercise, stress, sleep and hormones, water retention can cause dramatic fluctuations in your body weight. Not to mention, if you’re gaining muscle mass and losing fat at the same time, the scale won’t budge even if your trousers fit looser. So instead of getting frustrated by the number on the scale, evaluate your progress in other ways as well.

Consistency is of the utmost importance

Real change is the result of consistency, not perfection. Remember that your health is the result of all the decisions you’ve made in your life, not the last meal. You are what you do all the time, so the more you repeat something, the greater its impact. This is the essence of consistency. Try to do the right thing most of the time, not every time, and you will succeed.