How to lose weight safely and keep it off

Who is this for?

People who want to feel free of dieting

People who want to create good habits around food

Beginners with modest goals

Calorie counters who want to stop counting

Chronic dieters that haven’t found a way that works yet

People who diet and regain over and over

Those who have tried it all and didn’t work long-term

Those who are patient and want to see real long-lasting sustainable results by following simple basic steps to improve overall health.

If your aim is fat loss, you should be looking into creating habits that will reduce your caloric intake or increase your caloric expenditure by moving more, but a combination of both is recommended.

A variety of foods that you enjoy usually works best for accountability and sustainability, aim for 80% whole foods and 20% of what your soul desires.

Read more smart Grocery Shopping

Pick one habit at a time and stick with it for at least 2 months before adding another one. Once that first habit becomes part of your daily routine, you can add a second habit.

These simple habits can often help you do that without counting calories.

Habits to master:

1- Eat mindfully and make sure to stop at 80% full.

Relax and take your time to enjoy your food and check with hunger frequently.

Make sure to stop eating when you’re about 80% full.

2- Eat protein-dense foods with each meal.

Aim for at least 1 palm-size portion of protein with every meal.

3- Vegetables with every meal.

Add vegetables to every meal. 1 fist-size is a portion, you can eat as many portions as you like with each meal.

4-Carbs.

Smaller portions of starchy carbs, and as many as you feel like of leafy greens and other vegetables with meals. A good practice is consuming the majority of starchy carbs around workouts/exercise.

Again as many vegetables as you want.

(Be mindful of dressings, nuts, and seeds they do not count as vegetables and are often loaded with extra calories)

5-Eat healthy fats daily.

Prioritize fats from whole sources like eggs, meat, fish, nuts, seeds, and olives.

You can add an Omega fish oil supplement.

Last but not least:

If you reduce your caloric intake is not a bad idea to take a daily multivitamin supplement as an umbrella policy but enough whole foods is ideal to make sure your micro-nutrients are covered.

Focus on rewarding habits instead of outcomes, some of these habits take some time to kick in.

Example: “I need to lose 10 pounds” is an outcome, “I need to exercise five times per week” is a behavior; followed this week’s habits 90% of the time and didn’t miss any workouts? That’s worthy of a reward regardless of the outcome because it is this pattern of behavior that will eventually lead to success.

If you rather count calories or macros while working with habits, I’ll put all that together in the next section, how to figure out your caloric balance, how to increase or decrease depending on your goals, etc. But keep in mind that unless you work on habits while you track, your effort won’t be sustainable long term.

Even if you reduce your caloric intake and you are achieving results from eating habits alone, it’s always a good idea to add movement. Any kind of movement counts, even fidgeting adds up to your calorie expenditure, and moving has lots of benefits for overall health.

The best way to approach a behavioral change is by attempting one simple behavior at a time. The best way to succeed is by practicing it every day and making it as easy as possible to make it happen.

Planning for it and getting help to ensure you can get it done is paramount for success. We have created the necessary resources for you to do just that!

If you want weekly meal planner ideas with a grocery list including macros for each meal, we recommend this book to make it easy to reach your protein goals:
https://strengthsisters101.com/product/high-protein-recipesmeal-plannergrocery-list-copy

If you prefer to count calories/macros while working on habits, start here:
https://strengthsisters101.com/nutrition/calorie-counting-where-to-start