Today, I’m going to show you how to lose your first 10 pounds of body fat.
In a world of crash diets, long cardio, and massive restriction, I’m going to walk through a much more sustainable approach. And this approach will be solely focused on not just losing 10 pounds, but losing 10 pounds of fat you can keep off.
By focusing on the right habits, you increase your sustainability which is how you improve your body and health in the long term.
The problem is that most guides focus on extreme approaches for fast weight loss, rather than helping you find an approach that you can stick with.
10 pounds of fat loss you can keep off is better than 10 pounds lost as fast as possible.
There will be zero quick fixes in this guide. Just proven strategies that help you get lasting fat loss. This will mean:
- More energy and vigor
- A smaller waist measurement
- More mobility and ease of movement
- Improved blood work and health markers
Here’s your action plan:
Step 1: Mindset- Fat Loss Not Weight Loss
It is important to understand that when we want to lose weight, it is fat loss we are after. This is one of the main issues with extreme, fast, crash approaches to weight loss. We are losing a bunch of water weight, stomach/digestive system weight, muscle, and some fat.
You see, if you just do a bunch of cardio and do some crazy detox/limit food… yes, you can lose 10 pounds in a week.
But 4 pounds can be water weight, 4 pounds can be simply because we are not eating and have less food in our stomachs and digestive system doing its thing. And then maybe a pound of muscle and a pound of fat.
We then feel really good about seeing the scale down, but the reality is that we can’t keep that stuff up and most of it is temporary. The moment we go back to eating normally, we will gain it all back and end up in a worse spot.
We are after the fat loss part of the weight loss. We want to maintain our body’s water weight (this is healthy and useful). It is also normal and healthy to have contents in our stomach and intestines. We want to gain/maintain muscle.
This leaves us with fat loss. This is what helps us look more tone and improve our health markers.
So our habits and strategies are built around maximizing fat loss and maintaining the good stuff.
We will do this by focusing on these simple habits:
- Resistance Training: This ensures we keep our muscle.
- Eating Protein & Fiber Based Meals: Helps us get the nutrition we need and feel full.
- Walking: Relieves stress, heart health, burns some extra calories.
Executing these habits and dialing in our portions can help us lose 1-2 pounds of fat a week. On average, this is the most you want to lose. So, to lose 10 pounds of weight, in the best way possible, we are looking at anywhere from 5-12 weeks.
Step 2: Weigh Yourself
Weigh in. Record it. And do this daily. What gets measured gets managed.
This can be hard at first, but daily weigh-ins work best for most people for a couple of reasons:
1. We need to just see the number as data. Doing it more often gives us more practice.
2. It also will give us more accurate data. Weighing in randomly or once a week does not account for normal fluctuations.
The most accurate approach is to weigh in daily, then after 7 days you add up all those weight-ins and divide by 7. Giving you your 7-day average. You then record this number, and this is the number you track from week to week.
The day-to-day weigh-ins mean nothing. Don’t get emotional over them. Record and move on.
BONUS: Once you reach your goal, daily weigh-ins are a simple proven habit for maintaining your progress.
Step 3: Your Habits
I see too many people trying to do EVERYTHING and as much as possible when they start. This is a mistake. You want to start with the minimum effective dose. Reaching your goal by doing the least possible is the most likely way for it to stick and be sustainable.
Start Here:
2 Resistance training workouts a week. This can be with a trainer or training gym that focuses on resistance training. Or you can join a regular gym and do their little weight machine circuit. Or get some dumbbells and do a workout at home with the weights and your body weight. The point is, you are doing something to signal to your body, hey, I’m using my muscles. Two full-body resistance training workouts (these only need to take 30-60 mins) is plenty.
Get Your Food Portions Right: Diet is going to take the most effort. And can look different for everyone depending on your starting point. I recommend SOME form of awareness. So tracking calories, or simply keeping a food journal. Written or photo. Doing these even with no calorie goal, often helps us end up eating less since we are being more mindful.
It can also be helpful to have a starting point framework. In general, here is a basic template. I have found a great starting point is focusing on eating 3 protein and produce-based meals a day and cutting out mindless snacking. Something like this:
Breakfast: 3 eggs or 1 cup of greek yogurt and a serving of fruit
Lunch: 1-2 palm-sized servings of meat or fish, veggies, and a serving of fruit
Dinner: 1-2 palm-sized servings of meat or fish, veggies, and 1 fist-sized serving of starch (rice, potato, pasta, etc)
Snack: Have this whenever or with a meal. Pick anything you want, make sure to measure/portion it, and have 250 calories worth.
** You don’t have to overhaul everything at once. Maybe you start by reworking one meal. Or cutting out mindless snacking. Pick something to improve. If you go “off” track, don’t sweat it. Don’t guilt yourself. Just get back on your template the next day. Find the whole foods you enjoy most that make the plan sustainable and realistic for you and realize you can have ANYTHING you want, mindfully and aware.
Daily Walk. Go for a walk once a day. 5 mins. 15 mins. 45 mins. Whatever. Don’t put a ton of pressure on it, do what you can. Often times you will find buy only committing to 5 minutes, makes it easier to get out there and go, and once you start, you are able to do more than you thought.
Step 4: Progress Not Perfection
You won’t be “perfect”. You do not need to be. Do your best. Experiment. Try different foods, meals, and recipes. It will take some time to find your “go-to”: meals and prep. The point is you are working towards the portions on your meal template a majority of the time and simply being more aware than you were before.
You are always one meal away from being back on track.
Fight the urge to do more exercise. Focus on being consistent with the basics. If you miss a week, it is not the end of the world.
You are one workout away from being back on track.
Step 5: Give It Time
Now it is just a matter of time!
Weigh in. Do your habits.
Over time you will get in a groove, things will become automatic, and you will be losing weight!
Stick with it, and before you know it you will be down 10 pounds… of fat!
The scale will show 10 pounds down, but this time it will be different. You will FEEL it. Your pants will be loose, your energy will be improved, and most importantly… you will be able to KEEP doing what got you there.
Ensuring you don’t gain it back.
Summary
Step 1: Get your mind right.
Step 2: Weigh in.
Step 3: Resistance train 2x a week. Walk daily. Eat protein & produce meals.
Step 4: Progress over perfection.
Step 5: Be Patient
Dedicated to Your Success,
Gary
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