I want to give you some practical tips that you can do right now to get your weight loss plan started.
Overweighted Episode 003 Transcript
Malaika Burley: Okay, so I want to give you some actual practical tips that can help you set up your weight loss plan so that you can be successful this year. But I also want to let you know that I have a free webinar. It’s the five keys to simple, successful and sustainable weight loss, you can get it at malaikaburley.com/5keys, the digit five. And of course, that’ll be linked in the show notes for you. But I am going to give you some steps that you can take to lay out your plan that’s really going to help you be successful. And it’s going to make it really simple for you. And it’s also going to help it be sustainable, so that you can keep the weight off. So one of the things I want you to know is that it’s so important that we renew our minds and do whatever mindset work that we need to do in order to really make the weight loss sustainable and successful. Because you can lose the weight. But if you haven’t made whatever mindset shifts or whatever mental changes that you need to make in order to keep it off, you’re just going to end up gaining it again and end up in that cycle. So some of these tips that I’m going to share with you are going to seem really frou frou. But it’s just really important to just do the work so that you’ll be setting yourself up for success. Alright, so let’s get into these tips.
So these are things that I walk you through in my digital weight loss planner. It’s a weight loss planner for like iPads or tablets, you can get it over on Etsy. If you go to cupcakesandcardio.com, it’ll take you straight to my Etsy shop. So these are the things I’ll walk you through on the goal setting page in that planner, so that you can map out how you’re going to lose weight throughout the year.
Set A Goal
So the first thing obviously, is knowing what your goal is. So maybe the goal that you want to set is a certain weight that you want to get to. Or it could even be a certain size in your clothes. Or maybe there are certain measurements that you want to try to attain. Or your goal could even be something just so simple as how you feel. So whatever your goal is, first, you’re going to write that down. And if you’ve ever done any type of goal setting training before, you know they always say make your goal a SMART goal. And I believe that applies to a lot of goals, but not every single one. Because you know with the SMART acronym, it’s specific, measurable, attainable, or Achievable, Realistic, and what the timetable. However, when your goal is something like weight or a certain size, or even how you feel. You can’t really put a time stamp on that you can say that you want to lose 100 pounds, and I can say okay, I want to lose 100 pounds by the end of the year. But if my body only wants to release 75 pounds, even with me doing everything right, then that’s what What it is, so I personally don’t like to put timestamps on those particular types of goals. But the first step, whatever your goal is, is to write that down.
Know Your Why or Why Not
The second thing I want you to do is write down why you want to lose the weight. So for me, in particular, I want to lose the weight one, because I have four kids, and I want to have like the energy to be able to do things with them, I want to be around as long as I possibly can for them, and then hopefully, some future grandchildren. I also believe that it’s a part of my mission, and what I’m called to do to inspire and encourage others through my weight loss story. And as a breast cancer survivor, obviously, me losing the weight is just going to increase my chances of remaining healthy. So that’s my reason why. So just sit down and think of all the reasons that you want to lose the way or, or whatever that goal was that you set on that first step, sit down and write down all the reasons that you want to achieve that goal. And if you’re having trouble with coming up with reasons why, I also like to say, Well, if you can’t think of why think of why not. And so really, what I mean by that is, think of all the things that if you don’t achieve that goal, what’s your life gonna be like? So for me, if I don’t lose 200 pounds in one year, in five years, and 10 years from now, what’s my life going to look like? Honestly, I’ll probably be even bigger, if I don’t achieve the goal, I’m not going to be in the best of health, I’m not going to be able to take care of myself really well. So it’s kind of like looking at rewards versus consequences. So if you think of why you want to achieve that goal, that’s really thinking of the rewards that will come from it. Or if you think of the why not, that’s looking at the consequences side of things. So if you can’t think of why, then think of why not. And that’s step two.
What Obstacles Might You Face
So step three, and this is really important. Write down what obstacles you think that you may face in trying to achieve this goal. And just brain dump, everything that you can possibly think of that may get in the way of you achieving that goal. And so this is like maybe it’s gonna be an issue with schedules. So I know for me and my weight loss journey, when things start to get busier, I tend to focus less on being diligent with my weight loss plan, maybe one of your obstacles is going to be lack of motivation, because we know motivation goes in cycles, you’re not going to be 100% motivated the entire time. So think of all of the obstacles or challenges that you may face while you’re trying to achieve that goal.
How Will You Overcome the Obstacles
And then the very next step is to write down how you’re going to overcome those obstacles. And honestly, you may not have an answer for all of them. But by planning this out, and having some idea of what may come up and what you can do about it is really going to help you be successful when those things pop up. So for me, like with the scheduling and being busy, like I mentioned before, I know during those busy times, if I’m not going to be as diligent with my weight loss plan, then I need to have a plan for when those times come up. So for me, that may look like I make a meal plan and have my meals mapped out for the entire week. So even if things get busier, I already know what I’m going to eat. So I’m less likely to hit the fast food or the drive throughs. So now that you have your obstacles for as many as you can think of how you’re going to overcome them.
Choose 1 Thing
And the next thing I want you to do, and this is my favorite tip of all of these is I want you to choose one thing that you want to change first. I know for me, when I used to set goals in the past, I would always try to do everything at once I wanted to do it all I wanted to hit my goal, I would be writing out this big old strategy of how I’m going to do all the things, I would just end up getting burned out right away and then do none of the things. So what I’ve learned that works for me is that I will choose one thing to change out of time. So when you’re looking at the goal that you want to achieve, what are things that you’re going to need to do to achieve that particular goal. So look at the list, think of what’s the one thing here that’s going to make the biggest impact and help me take that biggest step forward towards that goal. Maybe it’s a habit that you want to change that just doesn’t serve you and that you want to replace with a better habit. Or it could even be a habit that you’re not doing that you want to begin doing that’s going to help move you forward towards that goal. So for me in the beginning of my weight loss journey, I used to drink a lot of soda. I mean, pretty much as much as I was supposed to drink in water I was drinking in soda. And so I knew for me that one first thing that I wanted to change was to replace my soda with water. And so even though While I was still tracking my food and what I was eating, my biggest concern was drinking more water. So now it’s pretty much a no brainer. And it’s a habit that I built. And I drink at least half a gallon of water a day. And as far as the soda, I rarely ever have it. And so now that I have that habit nailed down, I’m moving on to the next habit, which is actually making out meal plans and being consistent with that. Because again, we can’t control when or how our body is going to lose the weight, if that’s your goal. But you can control the things that are going to lead you closer to getting that goal. So like I said, for me, drinking more water was going to be a good habit that was going to help me lose weight, maybe increasing your steps might be one thing that you want to change. So focusing on your step count daily and increasing that that’s going to be an activity or an action that you can actually do, that’s going to move you forward towards your goal to get you that result.
So when you think of your one thing that you want to change, write down maybe three action steps that you can do to make that happen. So again, with my example, maybe I’m buying a new water bottle, that’s going to encourage me to drink more water, I’m going to fill it up at the beginning of the day, and have the bottle sitting right on my desk, so that it’s staring at me all day to remind me to drink my water. So that would be an example of the action steps. And again, that’s focusing on the activities that you can actually do to get you the results that you want. So after you have that one thing nailed down, then look at your list and pick the next thing that you want to focus on. And you’re going to get to your goal step by step and one thing at a time, and it’s not gonna seem overwhelming. And it’s really going to make it simple and feel like it’s something that you can do and you have control over.
Track Your Progress
And the next thing I want you to do is track your progress, it does not mean that you have to track every meal. If you don’t want to track every meal, you don’t have to track your calories and macros if you don’t want to do that, but track your progress in some way. So if for instance, you’re trying to get a certain amount of water in daily, maybe you’re just checking off each day that you do that. But the importance of tracking your progress is that it’s going to help you see patterns of behavior. And it’s going to show you obviously the progress that you have towards achieving that habit and making that new thing a habit. Like with me, when I will look back at my food journal, I would realize during those busier times, I wasn’t as diligent with staying within my food plan that I had made for myself. So tracking that progress is really going to be beneficial for you, when you need to go back and review and see what’s working for you and what isn’t, or maybe areas or obstacles that may come up that you weren’t aware of. So track your progress, however you decide that you want to do that.
Reward Yourself
And the very last thing that I want you to do with setting up your weight loss plan is write down how you’re going to reward yourself along the way. So think of all the ways that you want to reward yourself along this journey and write down when you’re going to reward yourself maybe at certain milestones that you’re going to reward yourself and write down how you’re going to do that. And it doesn’t have to be anything major, just the little rewards are just going to remind you of the progress that you’re making towards your goal. So maybe there’s a pair of costume earrings that you’ve been wanting to buy. And you decide that once you hit your first milestone, you’re going to reward yourself and buy those earrings for yourself. Or maybe you haven’t gotten a pedicure in a long time. So that’s going to be a way that you’re going to reward yourself along the journey. And you don’t necessarily have to reward yourself for hitting certain weight loss milestones, you absolutely can do that. Or maybe as you go down a size, you can reward yourself for that. But think about even maybe rewarding yourself for building some of these new habits. So again, with me when the water maybe now that I’m drinking the water consistently, I reward myself by buying myself a brand new water bottle that’s really colorful and fun for me to use. So think of all the ways that you’re going to reward yourself along the way and when you’re going to reward yourself and make sure whatever you write down for your rewards that you do that because it’s really going to make this more fun and it’s going to be something that’s a little bit easier for you to stick to because you’re getting rewarded along the way.
So I hope this was really helpful for you. By doing these things and following these steps, this is going to be a way for you to make your weight loss plan really simple. It’s not going to be overwhelming for you. And when you’re in those times when maybe your motivation depths, you’ve already made a plan for yourself and you’re gonna be able to still move forward and stick with what you’re doing. By the way, I want to know how you’re waiting loss planning your goals are going, you can leave me a message at malaikaburley.com/message. So leave me a message. And let me know how things are going on your weight loss journey, I would love to hear it and encourage you along the way, you guys have an awesome day.
🦋 Mentioned in the show🦋:
– 5 Keys webinar: MalaikaBurley.com/5keys
– Weight loss planner (Etsy shop): CupcakesAndCardio.com
– Leave me a message: MalaikaBurley.com/message