How to Lose Weight Successfully Even If You Have 50+ Pounds to Lose
How much weight do you want to lose? 10, 20, 30+ lbs?
We help all sorts of people reach different types of goals. We mainly help people who have an injury or limitation who want to lose weight and get in shape.
One of the most common mistakes I see? People trying to achieve
their overall goal
all at once. They set an admirable goal like, "I want to lose 45 lbs."
This is very doable. But they might lose 5-10 lbs, then hit
The Endless Plateau. They still feel like they are on a diet, making no
progress, and constantly feeling guilty. Their weight fluctuates, and
they feel stuck.
It's like doing a running motion at a walking pace. Seems hard!
Ask yourself:
Are you on the endless plateau right now?
When you're trying to lose significant weight, plateaus are inevitable.
Plus, weight loss gets more difficult the less you weigh.
Here is how you get yourself out.
Option 1: Strategic Maintenance
First, you need to assess if you're
mentally ready to push yourself toward a lower weight, or if you need to go into a maintenance phase.
A maintenance phase means you still work out hard and keep your habits, but you eat the same amount of calories you burn. This allows you to enjoy some "guilty pleasures" and not feel like you're constantly dieting. The key:
mentally accept that you're not actively trying to lose weight! Enjoy this phase. You'll likely feel stronger, have more energy, and crush your workouts because you're fueling your body to stay at that weight. Just make sure you don't start creeping back up on the scale.
Option 2: Incremental Pushes
Next,
stop trying to lose all the weight at once! See your weight loss in
10-15 lb increments. You can healthfully lose 1-2.5 lbs per week.
We see the best results when people make a push to lose weight for
4-12 weeks. Pick your timeframe, and be intentional. You can go hard for 4-12 weeks, then purposefully go into a maintenance phase to catch your breath, recharge, and then push for another 10 lbs off.