30 Day Accountability Challenge: Day 11

This is long, and it may sound complicated - but I promise it isn't. TL;DR at the end anyway.

You need to start tracking or you're going to give up. Get a scales and weigh yourself regularly - and at the same time of day. I weigh myself 3 times a week, others do it once a week, some do it every day. The important thing is you do it regularly and you do it at the same time of day every time you do it.

I weigh myself when I wake up (after a pee) on Wednesday, Friday and Sunday mornings. Usually Sunday weigh-ins motivate me for the week ahead because I've usually eaten at maintenance or slightly above on Saturday. Then I weigh myself on Wednesday and Friday because Tuesday and Thursday are workout days, and I'm almost guaranteed to see the scale go down on those mornings. Some may disagree with my methods, but it's how I keep myself motivated.

Do not put all your efforts into working out. Working out is great for overall health, but if you want to lose weight you need to know exactly how much you're eating. By the sounds of it you're already getting tired of working out every day anyway, and that's normal. Going too hard too fast is a sure-fire way to get sick of it and give up. Calorie counting is so much more effective than going to the gym every day. It's much easier to not eat the calories than to try work them off. Anyway, there's a few steps involved in this:

  • You need to calculate your TDEE - It's a really simple thing to do, just click here (always set your activity levels to sedentary). Depending on your stats, you'll get a value for your maintenance calories - the amount of calories you need to eat to maintain your weight. Aim to eat 300-500 calories below that and do it consistently and you will lose weight.

  • Buy a food scales. You need to know exactly how much you're eating of whatever it is you're eating.

  • Download MyFitnessPal and log everything you eat as accurately as possible. Try to keep to your 300-500 deficit. There will be bad days! Just be patient and don't beat yourself up about it, but always log them. I can't stress the importance of this step.

Get a workout routine and a regular schedule. Don't go everyday if it's killing you. I do a routine called Stronglifts 5x5, which is only 3 times a week, I combine that with 3 cardio sessions which can be done before/after the Stronglifts session. I'm in the gym for maybe 4 hours a week in total, and I've lost nearly 50 pounds since June-ish.

TL;DR

Weigh yourself regularly Calculate your TDEE - aim to eat 300-500 calories less than that every day.

Weigh your food.

Download MyFitnessPal - log everything that goes into your mouth, including drinks.

It's all in what you eat... you will never outrun your diet, and you'll get sick of trying to.

If there's anything else you wanna ask go right ahead.

/r/loseit Thread Parent