#1 – Track Your Intake

The first time I made a serious effort to reach my optimal weight and body mass index number, I made what I thought were major changes to my diet. Unfortunately, I didn’t set a baseline of food intake, so I had no proof that I was improving my health through my meal intake. The next time I ventured into the journey, I installed the MyFitnessPal app and I tracked my intake for 10 days before I made any changes to my eating. During the 10 days, I only increased my water intake and added a probiotic but I ate the same foods and portions. For anyone who has increased water intake or added a probiotic, you likely are aware that both can impact total weight and both did for me, dropping 3 lbs with little effort in 10 days. With nearly two weeks of intake data, I was able to identify my meal patterns, carbohydrate, protein, and fat intake, in addition to my total calories. This important information allowed me to add and subtract different foods within my diet and make education adjustments which also allowed me to modify my caloric intake and meal frequency. Knowledge is king, so the more you know, the more informed your approach will be.

#2 – Purchase a Cookbook and Plan Your Meals

Though I recommend purchasing a cookbook, it is not required to be successful in managing your weight. The role of a high-quality, healthy cookbook is simply to provide various ideas for meals to avoid food burn-out. What I have discovered is that repetitive meals tend to lead to a lack of discipline in intake and diet fails. If you prefer not to acquire a cookbook, I recommend that you find 10-14 lunch and dinner meal ideas. Using the recipes you have available, create a combination that allows you to make your grocery list simple by putting together meals that use similar ingredients. Armed with information, you can then plan your meals accordingly and take into account various factors such as protein, carbs, and calories. A meal plan is most effective because it is easier remain consistent when the guesswork of ‘what to eat’ is eliminated. The meal plan is also a continuation of the tracking that was done prior to beginning the intake modification. After an equally time on the meal plan has passed, 10-14 days, you can compare your statistics in MyFitnessPal as well as your weight day by day over the course of the meal modification. With tangible results and important information, you can either shift to maintenance mode or calibrate your meal plan to get closer to your goal.

#3 – Routinely Adjust Your Intake

Depending on the results of your first two weeks of meal adjustment, you may either be at or near your goal and may need to calibrate your intake. No matter the state, at some point in your journey, you will HAVE to adjust your plan to be and remain successful. This tip falls in line with tracking because we are working to understand how our results are being impacted by the meal choices we are making. if you have reached a goal, the focus will shift to ways that allow you to maintain your current weight with very little +/- scale movement from week to week. This will require adjustments to meals and activities. If you have gained weight or haven’t lost any weight, using the information that has been collected will allow you to see where you may have misstepped. If you are on track with your weight loss, clearly the program is working and an adjustment is likely unnecessary at that moment but will be needed in the future when you plateau or reach your goal.

I hope that these few tips will help you all going forward!

Lastly, I have training programs as low as $75/month that will supplement and guide you to your goals.