Category: Steps to Weight Loss

Deciding to start your journey towards change and mentally preparing yourself.

Artice – Fear of judgement

Any time you decide to go on a holiday or travel away from home you usually start by making the decision to go. Once you have decided where you want to go, the next step is to mentally prepare yourself with all the things you will need to organise for your journey. You have a conscious (or perhaps unconscious) list of the clothes and toiletries you’ll need to pack. You’ll think about who to ask to collect your mail or look after your pets. You might also have in the back of your mind things like “I must remember to fill the car with fuel”. All these things form part of your journey, although they are all things that happen before you actually leave home. This is the preparation stage.

The same can be said about starting a journey of change.

The very first step in any journey is making the decision to move from where you are to where you want to be. To decide to change your direction and uncover something new.

The next step is mentally preparing yourself. Thinking about and then organising your support team, and setting yourself up for success by reducing or eliminating all the stumbling blocks.

The key to success is momentum. Continuously taking small steps forward. Setting goals is also an important part of success. Without a goal to aim for, you are not very likely to find yourself achieving what you want.

You have probably heard the phrase “Dream big”. When setting your goals, it’s a great idea to dream big and think about what your ideal picture looks like. But what happens if your dreams and goals seem so far out of your reach at the moment? It is easy to lose momentum and just give up. The secret to gaining momentum towards your goals is little steps. Breaking down a large task into smaller more realistic goals, and then celebrating with each smaller goal you successfully reach.

Your journey of change might be a physical one. It might be a journey of weight loss. Or perhaps it is a fitness journey. Perhaps your journey is one of mental, emotional or spiritual change or personal growth.

No matter what your personal goal is, once you have decided that you want to change, it is important to have support and accountability.

There are many different support systems you can lean on. Common ones includes getting support from your family or friends. Having supportive people around you cheering you on and encouraging you to reach your goals means you will be more likely to succeed.

Another great support resource is inside The Metanoia Journey Community, which has like-minded people supporting and encouraging each other on their journey.

When you are serious about changing your weight, improving your diet and exercise is key. This isn’t new advice. You’ve probably heard it all before. But we’re going to help you to break it down into smaller, more manageable steps.

Starting a weight loss journey can be both exciting and daunting. There are some simple things you should change or can improve on right from the beginning. Increasing your water, increasing your protein, reducing sugars and introducing low level exercises are all important first steps to begin your journey of losing weight. It is important to begin by improving these simple areas of your life, and these improvements are all within your control. You are in the driver’s seat on this journey. You have the keys, and you have decided what and where your ideal destination is. Now the journey begins by taking those first steps.

Let us help you understand how simple these steps can be to put in place at the beginning of your journey. Join us on the Metanoia Community Forum to start or join a discussion on the first steps to take, or to find your own supportive community of friends as you begin your own journey of change.

Now that you have cleaned up your diet, are eating nutritious foods, drinking sufficient water, and have incorporated some simple movement into your day, what’s next?

Decreasing your carbohydrate intake, eliminating processed foods, increasing low intensity cardio exercise, and adding in some weight training.

Now I don’t mean you need to become a body builder. But you do need to strengthen and tone your muscles. Building muscles helps to burn off your excess fat stores.

Low intensity steady state (LISS) cardio exercises are exercises like running, cycling, swimming, brisk walking, and other cardio activities that require low-intensity exercise for longer periods, typically 30 to 60 minutes, where your heart rate remains steady at around 60 percent of your maximum heart rate for the duration of the workout.

You can work out your maximum age-related heart rate by subtracting your age from 220. For example, for a 40-year-old person, the estimated maximum age-related heart rate would be calculated as 220 – 40 years = 180 beats per minute (bpm). For LISS exercises, 60% maximum heart rate for a 40-year-old person would then be 60% x 180 bpm = 108 beats per minute (bpm).

Join us in the Metanoia Community Forum to discover what other people are doing to gain momentum as they work towards reaching their weight loss goals.

For anyone wanting to push a little bit further and reach higher, find a type of HIIT exercise that you enjoy doing regularly.

High intensity Interval Training (HIIT) involves short bursts of intense exercise alternated with low-intensity recovery periods. A good guideline is to strive for 70 to 90 percent of your maximal heart rate during the high intensity periods and 60 percent of your maximal heart rate during the recovery periods.

High intensity gym classes and boot camps are other popular options when you want to push your fitness goals higher.

Outside of the gym, other examples of HIIT exercises you can do include mountain biking, hill sprints, and circuit training.