How to Course-Correct Your Weight Loss Journey Until You Succeed

Anyone who is about to embark on a weight loss journey would do well to remember that progress with this goal is NEVER linear. If anything, it’s more of a jumbled up mess where there will be days when you see progress, days when you regress and even periods where nothing changes and you feel like your weight loss has flatlined.

Rest assured, this is all normal and to be expected. As long as you’re at a daily caloric deficit and you’re exercising regularly, you will lose weight and reach your goal.

Let’s look at how you can stay on track with your weight loss… because this is a journey that is fraught with pitfalls, temptations and booby traps (which you may lay for yourself).

* Track your foods

Keeping a food journal where you record down what you eat daily is a fantastic way to stay on track. It will hold you accountable and there will be times when you’re tempted to be complacent.

This usually happens after you lose a few pounds and decide to cheat for a couple of days. Next thing you know, the weight has gone back up and you feel like you’re doing the weight loss cha-cha where you take 2 steps forward and go two steps back.

With a food journal, you can see exactly what you’re eating, how it’s impacting your weight loss, if you’re at a caloric deficit and so on.

This will tie in with the next point…

* Weigh yourself daily

Weighing yourself daily (and recording it down) will show you how the foods you ate the previous day are affecting your weight. You’ll also notice how your weight fluctuates and if you’re dropping the pounds.

You’ll also gain an insight into how a cheat meal or a cheat day affects your progress. You’ll discover what foods cause you to gain weight and which ones have minimal effect. You can then eat more of the foods that don’t push your weight up.

* Track your training

Write down whatever you do during your workout sessions. If it’s cardio, write down the duration and the distance you ran or cycled, etc. The goal is to always train a little bit harder than you did the previous session.

You’re always aiming to beat your personal bests. This will automatically increase your intensity and effort without any guesswork. If you’re working out with weights, record down the weight you used, the exercise you did, the number of reps, sets, etc.

Always do a little more. That’s the key to progress.

* Have you hit a plateau?

Initially, you may lose several pounds over 3-4 weeks… but all of a sudden, just when you think you’re gaining momentum, your body will stop losing weight. Your diet may be on point, your training sessions are hard and everything seems on point, but you’re not losing weight.

Don’t panic. Your body is just adapting.

If you’re training too hard, then tone down your workouts for a week or so and do light cardio. This will lower your cortisol levels and give your body some much needed rest.

If you’re doing the same exercises all the time, switch to new exercises and your body may respond positively and start losing weight again.

If you’re cutting your calories too drastically, aim for just a 200-300 calorie deficit. This will ramp up your metabolism and you’ll start losing weight again.

At the same time, if your calorie consumption is at maintenance level, it may be time to drop your calories by 400-500. You can find out your calorie numbers here: https://www.freedieting.com/calorie-calculator

To conclude, just remember that a weight loss journey is more of a marathon than a sprint. It will always take you longer than you think to achieve this goal. Have patience and aim for a drop of 1 to 2 pounds a week. Don’t strive to lose 10 pounds in two weeks.

You’ll just be torturing yourself and your high expectations will lead to disappointment. Give yourself 8-12 weeks to see a truly visible difference. Stay focused and you’ll be amazed at how far you’d have come in a couple of months.