We decided that you want to lose ten pounds. We determined that you want to do this in about two months and we know it takes a calorific difference (energy in versus energy out) of circa 3,500 per week to lose one pound of body fat. Now we need to create day to day tactics or rules that we must follow, if we are to be successful.
It will be these daily actions and/or habits that will get us to our goal and therefore achieving these should be where we focus…
So, let’s create some tactics….
I’m going to need to eat less – great, the foundations of this tactic is, ‘I will reduce my current calorific intake by 300 kcals per day, every day.’ So, how are you going to do this? Where specifically can you cut back every day, so that’s it’s not too much of a chore?
Is it taking away the mid-morning biscuits, or the half a bottle wine of an evening? Is it reducing your portion size at breakfast, or limiting the amount of bread you eat at lunch time? Whatever works for you and is sustainable should be where you start.
Remember, you have to commit to this tactic, every day for the next two months. You’ll need to ask yourself whether this is realistic, as commitment means staying true to something, long after the mood you said it in has ended (unknown).
If you can sustain this commitment, fantastic, the tactic now grows to an example like ‘I will reduce my current calorific intake by 300 kcals per day, every day. I’ll achieve this by not eating the five biscuits I have with my morning coffee.’
The good news is, this should hopefully be a simple tactic to execute upon, as often removing a habit is easier than developing a new one. The less than optimal news is that you are still going to need to burn an extra 1,400 kcals per week.
To create the calorie difference, for example, you’ll need to do 3 workoutsper week of almost 500 kcals expended, or walk an extra 5,000 steps every day (5,000 steps is on average an additional 200 – 250 kcals).
The tactic therefore might be, ‘I will burn an extra 1,500 kcals per week, by working out 3 times, over seven days and in each of the workouts I’ll burn at least 500 kcal.’
Once you have created a suitable tactic for this change in habit, you will then have to ask yourself is this achievable and how am I going to track this? To track you have many options. Often our phones have a movement tracker on them, or you can get a free download app to monitor steps. If you want to take it a step further, you may wish to consider purchasing a wearable device or smart watch.
Either way, recording and tracking what you are doing and what you are eating and drinking can be hugely beneficial to your motivation levels. By recording and tracking you are committing to the process and this can also be motivational in the long term, as you will see you daily, weekly and monthly results.
In summary, it is your commitment to completing the daily tactics that you create that will take you day by day, bite by bite or step by step toward your goals. It is the consistency of your behaviours and your focus on the process that gets you to your goals.
Therefore, if you want to be successful in reaching your goals, only dream of the outcome and work each and every day on the process…
