"Where the f*ck do I start?"

If you're looking to start your weight loss journey, you have probably thought to yourself "where the f*ck do I start?". It's a fair question, and I totally get the feelings of frustration. I'm going to give you a step by step of the things that are (in my opinion) the most important when getting started, and actually continuing.

When we look at weight loss, the reality is that all we need to do is get our nutrition in order. This is both a blessing and a curse. A blessing because our weight loss doesn't depend on exercise, but a curse because we can't out-exercise poor nutritional choices. While technically we only need a calorie deficit... a deficit won't last long if we don't take care of other aspects of our journey. So I'm going to help you set some goals, set up your nutrition and compliment your nutrition with; training, habits & accountability.

• Being honest about your 'why'

• Identifying a realistic goal

• Setting up your nutrition for that goal

• Complimenting your new nutrition with exercise

• Habits & accountability

And with that, let's get started.

What is your 'why'?

I always ask my clients this question when I first meet them, and I always get the generic answers like "I want to feel good" or "I just want to lose a few kilos". I ask them more direct questions and eventually come out the other side with answers like "My heart dropped when I caught a glimpse of myself after the shower", "I ripped my favourite pants and never want to feel that humiliation again", or the most confronting "If 20 year old me saw me today, they'd be disgusted". (I asked the clients who told me these if I could annonymously share them).

Your why is the real reason you want to get started. It's important you be honest about it, because wanting to lose a few kilos won't keep you going. What will keep you going is the memory of that pivotal moment where you realised you'd had enough of your current lifestyle. These aren't for anyone to be offended by, or for people to find too awful. Your why, is YOURS. Write it down, make a coffee and think about it. Whatever you do, just be honest.

The reason I find this exercise so powerful is because when you honestly and openly acknowledge what is pushing you to get started, the fear and excuses start to fade away. To highlight my point I made earlier, yes, a calorie deficit is all we need for weight loss. It is hard to maintain a deficit, so what do you think would keep you going? The desire to lose a few kilos, or an honest reason for wanting to say goodbye to your current lifestyle?

Now, what is your goal?

Setting a realistic goal is, IMO, the most important step. An unrealistic goal can derail you real quick, because you constantly feel like you're falling short. You know what happens when you fall short over and over? You quit. So how about we set you up for success instead of failure.

On the piece of paper where you've written your why, I want you to write down your overarching goal. This should be the total amount of weight you think you need to lose. I'm going to use 20kg as an example because it makes the maths easier for my small brain.

You have written down 20kg fat loss. That is the big goal. Now we are going to break that down into smaller increments. The first increment is 1kg. You are going to fight for that first kilo, and only once you lose that can you think about the rest. If you can lose the first one, it proves to you that the rest are possible. If you constantly think about your 20kg goal, it's always going to feel so far away, so take it one kilo or 3 at a time. This will help you keep your eyes on the prize, and also help you celebrate the smaller victories.

A weight loss journey isn't just about fat loss. Reaching your big goal might feel like the finish line, but the fat loss is just part of the marathon so let's set some other goals too. You can write down any goal you feel you'd like to reach. A 20kg squat? A push up? A half marathon? Anything that resonates with you is perfect.

The next mini step in our goal setting session is finding an alternate method of tracking progress. Would you want to measure yourself? Take photos/videos? Choose anything that would be a good indication of progress. I've been down this road before with clients, and trust me when I say this - you will have days where your scale weight makes you want to rip your face off. Instead of letting those frustrating days ruin our discipline and drive, we are simply going to swap tracking methods. Leave the scales for a while, and look back on some photos. Sure, the scale might be a little stuck but a photo speaks a thousand words. Having a back up method of tracking progress is a life saver, so please do it.

Now that you've written down your why and your goals, date the piece of paper. The person you are right now, writing all of these things down... you will never be again. Each day you spend trying to reach your goals, you are a day closer to being the version of yourself you want to be so badly.

Let's set up your nutrition

Remember how I said you had to fight for the first kilo? That is going to come mainly from your nutrition. If you can create balanced nutritional habits, you are ahead of 90% of the population. So when I say fight for your first kilo, I mean fight the temptation to restrict yourself to reach your goal faster. The real fight in changing your nutrition is going from 0 - 30 instead of 0 - 100 overnight. Anyone can wake up one day and restrict themselves in order to reach a goal. Only the disciplined can introduce changes incrementally, and create lifelong habits.

The first thing you are going to do is look up a TDEE calculator. Fill in the details about yourself and the calculator will spit out an approximate number for your maintainence calories. What that means is, this is roughly the number of calories you would consume to not gain or lose weight. This is our starting point, and you should aim to eat to this number for a week. If absolutely nothing changes then you know this is your real maintenance level.

In order to lose weight, we need to enter a calorie deficit, which means expending more energy than we consume. Now that you have your maintenance calories, start with a 10-15% reduction. This is a safe deficit to start with, and by following this, you should see a difference in 2 weeks. Just because we are utilising a calorie deficit to lose fat, doesn't mean all you need is a calorie deficit. This is just one piece of the puzzle that is fat loss. Without discipline, a deficit won't last - so keep this in mind.

Calories are important, but so are macronutrients. I don't care how you divide your carbohydrates and fats, but I want you to treat your protein target like a baby. Nurse it, take care of it and give it attention each day. To find your protein target, you can do the math manually (1.2-2.6 x bodyweight in kg = daily protein target in grams), or you can look up a calculator. The James Smith calculator is great because it gives you a calorie + protein target at the click of a button.

I want to say something in the middle of this before I move on. Calories In Versus Calories Out (CICO) is the scientific principle we follow for weight loss/gain. However, there are many conditions such as PCOS and menopause that makes CICO extremely hard to apply and maintain. If you have issues with your hormone levels or feel you may have an undiagnosed/untreated medical condition, I am not the person to be taking advice from. Please seek help from a medical professional e.g. GP, dietitian etc.

I also want to give you a reminder that if you're in a deficit, you can lose weight by eating whatever you want, as long as you stay within your calorie target. 2000 calories worth of cheeseburgers? You'll lose weight if 2000 is your deficit. I'm not saying to only eat cheeseburgers, but I am saying that satisfying your cravings and keeping the foods you love is more likely to get you to lifelong adherence and balanced nutrition, than restriction.

Start moving

I already said that exercise isn't 100% necessary for fat loss, and that's true. However, we do have these things called organs and muscles that we should be taking care of. Exercise is vital for leading a healthy life, but you don't need to do it 7 days per week. Start with small amounts that you can maintain, and increase as your desire & fitness increases. It's important that you start with an amount of exercise that matches your current fitness levels, and you gradually build on this.

I recommend starting with walking. It sounds super easy but setting aside time in your day to go for a 20 minute walk is great for your health, and your discipline. For other forms of exercise, you need to choose what you can adhere to.

If running on a treadmill sounds horrific, don't do it. My rule is IF YOU CAN'T SUSTAIN IT, DON'T START IT. So you're going to choose a type of exercise that YOU enjoy or you feel you can maintain. Not your mum, not your pet goose, you. Again, introduce small amounts and then increase this as your desire and fitness increases. Whether you want to do; gym training, cardio, roller skating, or all of the above, just start. Don't worry about what is more optimal for weight loss, because they are all shit options if you end up quitting, true?

Part of this section is calorie burning. Do not get into the habit of basing your exercise on the amount of calories you think it burns. I will start by saying that smart watches are widly innacurate when it comes to energy expenditure in a workout. Exercise only accounts for around 5-10% of our energy expediture in the day, the rest is our metabolism, digestion and incidental movements. Exercise can increase our metabolism, so if you need motivation to move, let it be this: Exercising can help increase our metabolism, which means we'll use more energy while laying on the lounge watching Netflix. Do not exercise for calorie burning potential, or I'll find you... I will.

Lastly, habits & staying accountable

People think that our huge actions are what have the biggest effect. Going for a 10km run, or doing 30,000 steps. The biggest impact comes from our daily habits, and that is a promise. So identify some habits that you think would have a positive effect if you completed them daily.

Drinking more water? Making your bed so you don't get back in? Having a coffee with a friend after the gym so you associate the two things positively? Calorie tracking? Anything.

Habits are life changing, so make them non-negotiable. Set 2-3 habits that you're going to complete each day. Absolutely anything... as long as they have a positive effect for you.

As for accountability, this is hard. You need to hold yourself accountable to your goals, and ask your friends or partner to as well. You don't need to embark on this journey with someone, but telling your closest people what you want to do can be powerful. It can be a simple text like "Hey ***, I have realised that this *goal* is really important for me. I have put *habits, nutrition, exercise* in place to get me there. I would love it if you could hold me accountable to my goal and just support me". Instead of hiding it from people, involve them in the process. A supportive friend or partner will make it so much easier to stick to, because a good person will help you reach your goals even when you want to quit.

By the way, all of my clients use an accountability tracker. If you want a copy of it (it's super basic), message me on any platform and I'll send you a copy.

I hope this helped

That is it for now. I hope this helped you even just a little bit. It might seem really basic but don't overlook the basics when it comes to your health. The basics work, and my clients have proved that over and over again.

I want to leave you with one last thing. Compare yourself only to yesterday's version of you. You're not in a race against anyone or anything, only yourself. I can't remember the exact quote but in a book called the 5am club, the author spoke about how 1% may not seem like much each day, but if a ship turned 1% each day, it would eventually be facing the other way. Apply this to your fitness. It's a slow journey, but it's possible.

Your coach & friend,

Maddy