10 Tips You Need to Know to Lose Weight & Keep it Off

My first diet ever was for my first bikini competition in Florida. It was pretty much the concrete start of a structured fitness journey and I really had no clue what I was doing at the time. When you’re just getting started, there is just SO much conflicting information out there - much of it designed to make money off of you through special weight loss supplements, special meal plans, etc.

I started doing more research behind what truly works for weight loss from a scientific perspective. I wanted to understand WHY certain methods work and don’t work and went through a lot of trial and error along the way.

Here are my 10 no BS tips for losing weight and keeping it off:

1. Do not listen to anyone who tells you that you need to remove certain foods/food groups from your diet.

Big weight loss programs (think any of the programs that have you buy special meals and shakes and pills), will convince you that the efficiency of your weight loss depends on restricting your food choices. They will encourage you to buy their special food to drop the pounds or take out sugar/carbs altogether/fats/gluten/etc. to lose the pounds.

But think about it - what an excellent business strategy on their part. They design a plan that may, in fact, have you losing weight and convince you that it’s because you’re buying their magical products. They don’t explain the real reason the diet works. So you either have to keep buying their products to maintain and improve your results or you rebound.

For those of you that have been to my blog before, you’ve likely already heard me say this so many times you’re on the other side of the screen rolling your eyes - if the diet creates a caloric deficit, you will lose weight. Period.

You could eat only chocolate bars, consume less calories than you burn, and lose weight. Of course, that wouldn’t be the healthiest, most nutrient rich approach to weight loss but you get my point. You would still see the pounds come off because the weight loss is not caused by the TYPES of foods your consuming.

Your BEST, healthiest approach to weight loss is the one that does not require elimination of foods from your diet. You consume foods from every food group each day and keep your calories in less than calories out to ensure both weight loss and the most well rounded nutrient intake for your body’s optimal function.

2. It is healthy to lose 1-2 pounds PER WEEK.

Hopefully, this makes you reconsider some of the crazy weight loss guarantees you see on the internet. I feel sick to my stomach when I see Facebook ads and Pinterest articles advertising “Lose 10 Pounds in 10 Days” or “Lose 20 Pounds Fast.”

First of all, it is my firm belief that the faster you take the weight off, the faster you will put it right back on. If you’re losing 10 pounds in 10 days, your approach likely involves unsustainable, extreme dieting methods. I am sure you are cutting food groups, feeling low energy, and would never commit to this diet for longer than perhaps a month because of the sacrifices you have to make to maintain it.

The strategy you choose to lose weight is more successful as a permanent lifestyle change than a temporary condition you endure to reach your weight loss goals. Why? Because if you come off of your diet upon reaching your weight loss goal and go straight back to your old caloric intake (or surpass that due to deprivation), you will simply load the weight back on.

It is always more effective long term to make small, gradual, sustainable changes to the way that you eat.

3. You might fall off the wagon and that’s okay!

It is okay to fall off the fitness wagon. At one point or another, we all do it. You will never feel 100% and honestly, sometimes you just need the mental and physical rest from the grind. Allow yourself the break!

The trick here is to take the break but be firm about getting back on the plan after. The problem is never in the break itself. The problem occurs when you’re so hard on yourself about having taken the break in the first place that you quit altogether. People get in the mindset of feeling like they might as well give up because they had a small misstep. This is where the real danger happens.

Be mindful of these feelings and remind yourself that the only way you fall short on your health goals is if you totally give up!

4. You do not need to spend hours upon hours each week in the gym.

I WISH I could go back in time and tell myself this. You might be like me and operate with an all-or-nothing mindset. I was either in the gym for hours or I just didn’t go because the idea of spending that much time in the gym that day felt daunting. Realistically, I would have been more consistent if I had lowered my expectations for time spent working out and focused more on just going regularly!

Set a very realistic minimum for how much time you will spend working out each week. Then, if you hit that, you will feel good about sticking to your commitments, and if you surpass this you will feel FAB about overachieving! It’s a much more positive approach for your psyche.

If you’re new to working out, try committing to 2 days a week. If you go more than that one week, awesome! But if you hit that 2 day goal, you’ll feel awesome anyways because you didn’t over commit!

Moreover, you can absolutely experience the same results you would get if you were going more often. You just have to organize your training split to better fit your lower time commitment. In short, the less time you have to spend in the gym, the more muscle groups you will work each gym session. 2 days per week means total body workouts are your best bet!

5. Cardio will shrink your body but it won’t change your shape.

If your only goal is to be smaller, than it is absolutely sufficient to do cardio alone. However, many people begin their fitness regimen expecting that the cardio alone will help them achieve a new shape or look more physically fit. Unfortunately, this isn’t exactly the case. You might have heard someone use the phrase “skinny fat” to describe the look of being small but not firm and “tight” looking.

If you truly want to change the shape of your body and look more toned, it is necessary to start incorporating resistance training into your routine. This WILL NOT make you bulky! I promise! Women do not naturally have the hormones to build muscle the way that men do. Lifting weights will simply help you tighten up and build your body to look MORE feminine and strong!

Weight training is your best friend when it comes to beating genetics and building whatever shape you wish you had! You CAN conquer genetics and build a butt, have a smaller waist, tone your legs, get rid of arm flab, etc.

6. If you brought your calories down to very low levels to lose the weight, you will need to gradually reverse diet to maintain your weight loss without rebounds.

With new coaching clients, one of the first things I want to know is whether or not they have any dieting history and to what extent. If they recently dieted down, there’s a good chance they’ve brought their calories down to very low, unsustainable levels and have experienced metabolic adaptation as a result.

If you are at this point, I highly encourage you to take the time to reverse diet before continuing on any sort of weight loss program. For the sake of your body’s long term health, you need to ensure you are giving it the energy it needs to function optimally.

Plus, a reverse diet will help you to lose more weight more efficiently by teaching your metabolism to burn faster. Essentially, you can choose to diet now and have to suffer a lot more to lose less weight or reverse diet back to a healthy calorie baseline and then lose more weight on a significantly higher calorie intake. You need to be playing the long game to succeed with your health goals.

7. You should set very specific numerical goals to work towards.

I think we can agree that it’s pretty hard to reach a goal that you haven’t very specifically defined, right? If you haven’t put numbers, dates, and details to it, your success or failure is left up to interpretation. This isn’t an effective strategy for making improvements, and it isn’t the most motivating way to pursue your goals either.

Try raising the stakes by getting extremely specific milestones to work towards. The more detail you include in your goals, the more explicit the criteria for passing or failing. This means that when you fail, it will be incredibly clear to you and, unfortunately, undeniable. You will have to confront your own shortfall.

At the same time, it means when you succeed, there is no denying that either. You are forced to give yourself the well deserved credit and celebration that you’ve earned for living up to your own high expectations! GO YOU!!

8. Find someone or a group to help hold you accountable.

Let me say this: my level of success as a health coach and as a coaching client myself has had very little to do with the plan provided. Does it make a difference? Of course! Giving and receiving good information about how to workout, how to eat well, and what to do to reach your goals is invaluable to your success.

But that plan means nothing if you aren’t adhering to it with your whole heart. It’s the accountability of having a coach, friend, mentor, family member, or community that loves you enough to say, “Hey, remember that hard thing you committed to doing for yourself? Remember when you dreamed of having those results? Remember the reward waiting at the end of all of this? Don’t slow down! Don’t quit! You’re doing it!”

THAT makes the difference. That is the difference between success and failure.

Tell a friend what you’re working towards. Hire a coach that will help you get there faster and check in with you periodically to give you the tough love and encouragement you need. Join a Facebook group with like minded people pursuing the same goals.

9. Get yourself a good multivitamin.

I recommend everyone do this - whether trying to lose weight or not. The first step to living healthier is making sure that your body is functioning properly, which means getting all of the nutrients it needs to regulate and perform its day to day processes. This becomes especially hard when you’re taking away calories in a weight loss phase.

Including a multivitamin in your routine ensures that you’re always getting sufficient vitamins to keep your body working smoothly. You may not even realize you’re suffering from deficiencies until you make this change and see a spike in your energy levels!

10. Drink enough water!

Water is so key for staying healthy! It provides energy and allows food to move through the body more efficiently. And especially important for those trying to lose weight, it minimizes hunger! If you’re feeling hungry, try drinking a glass of water and then seeing how you feel. There’s a good chance that if you’re feeling hungry for what seems like no reason, you could actually just be dehydrated!

I always recommend that clients try for 2 liters of water per day. Try marking your water jug with times at which you have to finish drinking certain amounts of water. You can also set an alarm on your phone to signal your next chug! It can be really hard to just jump into higher water consumption without breaking it down like this initially.

Ready to Lose the Weight? Ready to do it Now?

I've been helping women just like you lose weight, build muscle, and improve their metabolism with an easy to follow flexible diet and FUN training routine. 

If you're ready to say HECK YES to changing your health, your body, and your life, APPLY HERE for 1 on 1 coaching. I will be there to coach you every step of the way so we can get you better, lasting results. 

Not convinced? Check out some of these amazing success stories from women JUST LIKE YOU. If you're sitting there telling yourself you're too old, too far off, too busy, or too tired, STOP RIGHT NOW.

You can do this no matter where you're at in life. Don't hold yourself back from the quality of life you CAN and WILL have if you take the leap. 

No more waiting for the perfect time. There will never be a perfect moment. The time to make a change is always RIGHT NOW! Let me show you what you can do. 

To Your Good Health & Success,