Disclaimer: I am not a fitness coach, nutritionist, or doctor of any kind. I am a common dude who lost some weight and likes to share his thoughts on it. This means (1) I’m still learning all the time and (2) I might be wrong. Follow my advice at your own risk.
One of the most underrated factors in successful weight loss is consistency.
When I lost 100 pounds, I didn’t know what macronutrients were. I didn’t prioritize protein or limit carbs or look for healthy fats. I followed intuition, ate foods that seemed healthier, and fell into a routine. A lot of the foods I ate weren’t that healthy. I certainly didn’t have enough protein. But I consistently ate less calories than my body burned and the fat melted off.
I had a bowl of oatmeal every single day for breakfast. I even used white sugar to sweeten it. I had one serving of almonds I would eat about 3:00 PM every single day. I would go to bed hungry every single day.
The other thing I never varied was my workout. I’ve seen a lot of advice online about varying your workouts and preventing your body from getting used to the activity, but there’s a problem with this. You can spend more time thinking than doing.
When I was successful with weight loss, I spent zero time looking up workouts. When I saw it was Monday or Wednesday or Friday, I simply knew I was going to go to my Total Gym and do the same 18 exercises back to back.
It was so simple. I didn’t worry about which parts of my body I was targeting or neglecting. I just knew it was a full-body exercise and it was unpleasant. When it got easier, I would move up a notch and get to work on that next level. (The Total Gym makes this easy.)
Focus on consistency, not variance, until your results plateau. A second-rate workout routine that you execute without fail 3 times a week is much better than a perfect routine you perform once every 10 days.
My advice would be:
- Find a simple full-body routine. (Like this one.)
- Do it 3x a week.
- Time yourself each time. Beat your last time each time without sacrificing form.
- When it gets easy, add another round.
- Repeat steps 2-4.
Don’t change a thing. Don’t do any research at all. Focus on completing the action. Don’t get distracted or bored. Do the exact same thing until the results stop. Only then should you find a new routine and repeat the process.
