Welcome to the first day of your journey!
Hello and welcome to the first day of your weight loss transformation, and a brand new healthy life!
Today is all about preparing to start eating healthy, exercising, and to ultimately starting to lose weight tomorrow.
This page is not just a normal, “how to” article.
This page is the first step in the entire Weight Loss Journey program, which is designed to help you start changing your life, habits, and body one step at a time.
This is where and when you will begin taking action, and making a dedicated effort towards reaching your goals.
After today, when you have prepared yourself, you can kick start your weight loss transformation with the 7-Day Weight Loss Challenge.
After that you’ll be ready to progress to the 8-Week Weight Loss Challenge!
The weight loss challenges will help you eat more healthy foods and to exercise more often in gradual steps, which will allow you to actually stick with the changes that you make, and lose weight consistently.
But today is preparation day. Today you’ll set yourself up for success, so that you will be prepared for your transformation and have the confidence that this will be the time when you finally succeed with major weight loss!
Preparing for weight loss can help you have an amazing start to your journey, and give you a great foundation to continually rely upon as you constantly improve your habits and strive to reach your long-term goals.
You may be amazed at how much easier it can make your journey by simply taking the time to make a plan, gather all the materials needed, and motivate yourself for the road ahead.
So let’s get started making preparations!
Prepare yourself to start eating healthy
Tomorrow you will begin changing your eating habits forever, and you will want to prepare everything that you might need to succeed with healthy eating, starting tomorrow morning.
Use this day to identify the healthy foods that you want to begin your journey with, then gather/buy them, and for extra credit prepare them in advance!
Tomorrow will be the day that you start eating healthy with consistency.
This doesn’t mean that you need to be perfect and build an entire healthy diet overnight…
But you should prepare yourself to start eating at least one healthy meal every day starting tomorrow.
If you want to make an even bigger change and lose weight at a faster rate then feel free to eat even more healthy foods, but don’t put too much pressure on yourself.
Simply do the best that you can in each day, and dedicate to a minimum of 1 healthy meal per day to begin with, so that you can go above and beyond but still be able to fall back on at least eating one healthy meal, even on days that are hard to stay on track.
This way, you can keep making progress, and never feel so overwhelmed that you want to give up.
During both the 7-day and 8-week challenges you will be able to constantly improve your diet and make consistent weight loss progress without feeling like you have to eat healthy 100% of the time!
Both challenges will allow to to make your own selections, and also give you the option to follow a specific plan depending on what works best for you, so feel free to begin building your healthy diet in whatever way that you choose.
Whether you customize your own meal plan, or follow one of mine… the important thing is that you prepare yourself to start improving your diet and transforming your body from here forward!
Our main focus will be on eating the healthiest and most natural foods, which will give you the absolute best fat loss results. These foods are called “whole foods” or simply “real foods.” Whole foods are foods that have not been modified since they grew from the earth and were harvested from nature.
Vegetables, fruits, nuts, seeds, whole grains, beans/legumes, and lean meat, are the types of foods which have tons of nutrients, digest slowly, and keep your calorie count low… therefore causing hunger-free weight loss.
These are the types of foods that we will focus on adding into your diet for the 7-day and 8-week challenges, and there you’ll find lots of suggestions for these healthy foods in each different category.
So take a look at the challenges linked below, pick the one you would like to begin with… and make sure that you have the foods that you need, so that tomorrow you’ll be ready to start eating healthy!
Buy the healthy food that you want to eat
If you don’t already have the healthy foods that you need at your house, then you’ll need to make a trip to the store to get them so that they are readily available for you tomorrow.
It’s not just the convenience factor that shopping will help with… but taking this step will help you get excited about your journey and will solidify your intent to make healthy changes.
Bonus Steps to consider when shopping:
Buy a water bottle
A water bottle can make it very easy to drink lots of water throughout the day.
During your weight loss challenges you will not only focus on eating more healthy food (and exercising), but you will also dedicate to drinking more plain water every day, as this will help you burn fat quicker and more efficiently… but more importantly it will replace unhealthy drinks and further reduce your daily calorie intake.
If you make a trip to the store, think about about buying a water bottle that you can carry with you.
Or if you already have one in the cabinets somewhere, dig it out!
Get supplies needed to cook and meal prep
Make sure that you have any cookware that you might need to cook your healthy foods and meals.
If you plan to cook in bulk and/or meal prep, make sure that you have pots and pans large enough to cook large amounts, and also any containers you might need to store your leftovers conveniently.
Cooking is extremely important when it comes to the healthiest foods, which are always in raw form and often need to be cooked. Some exceptions to this of course would be nuts, seeds, and fruits… but foods that have lots of protein and take up a large volume of space in your belly such as meat, vegetables, and brown rice… need to be cooked.
Prepare yourself to start exercising
We will focus on healthy eating as the number one priority in your weight loss journey… but exercise is also extremely important for getting amazing results from your hard efforts!
Prepare yourself today to start your exercise routine tomorrow.
This might mean simply choosing your workout and maybe even scheduling a time for it, or you may even want to gather the gear that you need to have a great first workout on the first day of your journey.
If you plan to walk, jog, cycle, or even hit the gym, make sure you have your sporty shoes/shorts ready to go, as well as any other fitness items that you require for your workout of choice.
If you already have the items that you need at home, take them out and make them readily available, not just to make things more convenient, but also to get yourself excited about your new healthy journey, which begins officially tomorrow!
Just like with healthy foods, the 7-day and 8-week challenges will give you specific plans to follow if you want… but here are some early suggestions for exercise so that you can prepare yourself to workout in the way that you want, even if it’s just mental preparation.
If you are new to exercising, I would recommend doing bodyweight exercises. These will be the primary focus of the exercise plans found in the 7-day/8-week challenges.
Bodyweight exercise: These exercises are perfect for when you have no equipment, as they work both your muscles and your heart/lungs.
Examples of bodyweight exercises are pushups, situps, squats (without weight), and lunges.
Whether you decide to follow one of my exercise plans or you make your own, the most important thing is that you dedicate to consistent exercise.
But you decide what works best for you, and prepare yourself in any way that you need, to start exercising 3 times per week.
It may help to take an early look at the challenge that you plan to start tomorrow (linked at the bottom), so that in addition to seeing the foods you may need to buy… you can also choose an exercise plan!
Motivate yourself for the journey ahead
One of the most important parts of successfully transforming yourself, beyond food and exercise… is staying motivated and on track.
Mental preparation is just as important as tangible preparations are.
The amount of willpower that you have and feel on a normal basis doesn’t just have to be left to chance and circumstance… although some days will inevitably be harder than others, you may be amazed at how mentally strong and inspired you can become by actively motivating yourself before you begin, and as needed throughout your journey.
The most powerful way to motivate yourself to lose weight, is to visualize your success, and let the powerful feeling of excitement that it brings continually drive you forward.
Truly envision yourself becoming slimmer in your torso, your face, and every part of you.
Imagine living life at your ideal weight, with your dream physique, and all of the amazing rewards and feelings that it will bring.
In the world of weight loss, the thing that motivates you to improve yourself more than anything else, your deepest source of motivation… is called, your “Why”. Finding your “Why” is something that will motivate you on a deep level, that give you long-lasting willpower.
If you want to connect with your deepest source of motivation and find your “Why”, check out the article linked above or even read the more in-depth, 6-part series on discovering your why.
Think of that one dream or idea that motivates you to lose weight more than anything else, and let it be your driving source of motivation and ongoing willpower!
There is so much information on this website about weight loss motivation, that if you want more motivational help, I’ll let you pick the article which works best for you.
Here is the link to the weight loss motivation center, where you can see lots of articles that are specifically about staying motivated, and also where you can find inspiration from motivational quotes.
Take some time today to build the motivation, confidence, and excitement that you have for undergoing a major weight loss transformation!
Set goals for yourself to look forward to
Set some goals for yourself today, so that you can envision your future healthy/fit self, and also so that you can understand what to expect as far as short-term results, and long-term results.
Write down two goals that you can look forward to reaching on your journey.
Think of an short-term goal, and then also write down your ultimate goal, at your ideal weight.
Focusing your short goal will keep you excited about what you are accomplishing in the here and now, and looking forward to your longer goal will keep you excited about what’s to come!
Depending on your current weight, this may be different for everyone.
Some people may have an initial goal of 10 pounds lost, and then an ultimate goal of 50 pounds lost…
Or if you are heavier you may want to set a short goal of 20 pounds, and an ultimate goal of losing 100 pounds.
Remember that on average, 2 pounds per week is a great rate of weight loss. But in the beginning you will lose weight much faster when you are initially improving your habits… and bigger people will also lose weight faster.
Also, know that your goals don’t have to be coupled with a deadline.
Personally, I prefer to make consistent progress towards my goals without pressuring myself to reach a certain weight or physique by a certain date.
The most important thing is that you make consistent and constant improvements, and that you reach your goals no matter the pace.
Once you see that your efforts are moving you faithfully towards your goals, you won’t care so much about the “when” you are going to get there, you’ll just be excited that you WILL get there.
Set a short goal that you can achieve quickly
Think of a small goal that you can reach quickly, and that will make a noticeable difference in how you look and feel.
Focus on reaching this goal first, but at the same time keep reminding yourself of your long-term goals.
Set your long-term goal, and believe that you can reach it
After you set a good short goal that you can reach in short time, think of what body weight you ultimately want to reach, how many pounds that will results in you losing, and most importantly what you will look and feel like with your goal physique.
This goes right along with the motivational step of “finding your why” that I mentioned earlier, but in this case you want to actually dedicate yourself to reaching that vision by setting it as a tangible goal to reach.
If you want to track your progress throughout your journey month by month, and also see how much you could weigh over time if you stick you your plan, get your copy of my weight loss progress calculator/tracker!
Final bonus step: Educate yourself
If you already have a good understanding of how eating healthy foods and exercising make you lose weight, and are confident in taking action tomorrow, then you may not need this step.
But if you feel you need to learn more about healthy weight loss before starting your journey confidently, then the following in-depth articles will help you help you gain a strong understanding of how healthy food and exercise cause fat loss, as well as teach you everything else you need to know about undergoing a major transformation:
How to Lose 100 Pounds: The Ultimate Guide
Escaping Obesity in America with Healthy Foods
Even if you are not obese, the articles above will tell you everything you need to know about losing weight with healthy foods and exercise… and much more!
If you simply want a simple list of important weight loss concepts to embrace, along with important action steps to take during your first week of weight loss, check out the weight loss checklist.
Anything else you might want to learn about weight loss can be found in the blog… but after you have educated yourself and have become confident/excited about losing weight with healthy foods and exercise, come back here to start your journey!
Be prepared to begin your journey!
Tomorrow is the day that you start transforming yourself, and changing your life forever!
Be ready to wake up tomorrow morning and start a life filled with more healthy foods and more exercise.
I can never say it enough, to focus on making consistent improvements, instead of trying to be perfect.
This time, you are going to make it the whole way, and I am going to help you get there with the simplicity and power of the 7-day and 8-week weight loss challenges!
Sleep well, and see you tomorrow!
7-Day Weight Loss Challenge
If you have fully prepared yourself and are ready to officially begin your journey, head on over to the 7-Day Weight Loss Challenge to start losing weight, and making real progress towards your transformation! The 7-day challenge will be a great way to get a quick win, lose your first bit of weight, and kick start your new healthy habits.
Or…
8-Week Weight Loss Challenge
If you are feeling super confident and want to take a shortcut, feel free to to start your journey with the 8-Week Weight Loss Challenge! The 8-week challenge will help you build healthy habits step by step, and will help you reach your long-term weight goal.
