Things I Wish I Knew Before I Started Working Out

Writer and expert4 years ago

Looking back over the past four years, I can honestly say that my life has taken some amazing changes that I never thought I would see. I have lost over 50 pounds, but more importantly, I have gained self-confidence and I finally feel comfortable in my own skin.My growth hasn’t always been easy, but it has been so worth it. I now know how to live a healthy life, and I love it! Maintaining my weight loss has been a journey, and it’s made me think a lot about how I got here. There are a few things I wish I had known before embarking on my fitness journey. I’m going to share with you my thoughts on losing weight and keeping the weight off!

1. Meal Plans Are Forever

While I was losing weight, I didn’t really think about how I would maintain my weight once I reached my goals. Once I did hit my goal weight, I thought that I wouldn’t have to be as strict when it came to what I ate. Man, was I wrong! I still need to take the time to plan out my meals and prep them in advance so that I don’t eat unhealthy snacks. I want to keep fueling my body with healthy choices, so I will probably never stop meal planning! Even though this came as a surprise to me, it honestly wasn’t that much of a change. To lose the weight, I had to apply healthy eating habits into my life, so sticking to a meal plan wasn’t too much for me to handle.

After all, losing weight, becoming healthier, and living as your best self is a lifestyle change.

2. Self Love is Always Important

While I was working tirelessly to lose weight, I found myself being even harder on myself. I would feel so disappointed if I wasn’t seeing the progress I wanted, and I noticed myself being kind of negative about my current body image. I think I thought that this negativity would drive me to try even harder, but I found it actually left me more discouraged than anything.It is SO important to love yourself no matter where you are along your fitness journey. Regardless of your weight, you are amazing! You are not your weight; you are made up of so many other talents, gifts, and things that make you unique. It’s important to focus on the positive and push out the negative.

3. Little Things Matter

In my experience on my weight loss journey, I have seen how much the little things matter. I don’t have to accomplish something huge and difficult to succeed--sometimes it’s all about just getting up in the morning with a good attitude. If I can do those little things, like getting up in the morning, drinking enough water, and making sure I have time to relax, I can do the bigger things like hitting a workout really hard, or sticking to my meal plan all day.The little things build up to the big things--so you can make small goals that will eventually show amazing success.

4. Enjoy Working Out

When I first started on my weight loss journey, I focused on making healthy changes to what I ate. It wasn’t until a few months later that I started working out. To me, exercising was the hardest part of weight loss. It was so hard for me to force myself to go to the gym.Looking back, it’s amazing to see how much has changed! I now enjoy exercising. I love pushing my body and seeing myself growing stronger. I never would have thought that I would actually look forward to going to the gym, but I do! I genuinely love seeing how strong my body is becoming and how much I have been able to grow.It’s also important to find something that you love to do. If you don’t like lifting at the gym or running on a treadmill, you shouldn’t do it! I don’t love cardio, but I absolutely love strength training and lifting. Doing something I love helps get me to the gym!Find a different form of exercise that you love and you will see much better results.

5. Messing Up Doesn’t Mean Starting Over

We’ve all set goals and failed to meet them. We’ve all felt that sense of disappointment when we’ve actually fallen backwards in our weight loss journey. It can be really hard to stay positive when these setbacks happen, and it can be all too easy to believe you have completely failed. We all need to remember that messing up doesn’t mean that you failed! Maybe you didn’t get your workout in today, but you worked out hard the rest of the week, which is amazing. It’s so important to be patient with yourself. You are changing the entire lifestyle; it’s not going to be an easy transition. Consistency is more important than being perfect every day. One good decision won’t get you to your goal weight, but one bad decision won’t completely ruin your progress.

Start Now

No matter where you are along your weight loss journey, it’s not too late to make some changes for the better! You are doing something amazing, and you are doing this for YOU! Be proud of your decision to make these changes, and give yourself the support and love you need to accomplish your goals.If you haven’t started on your weight loss journey yet, let me tell you this: You CAN do this. I know it’s scary. I know it’s hard; I’ve been there! You are stronger than you know, and you have the power to make change happen!

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Molly Walsh

Writer and expert

Molly graduated from the London School of Economics in 2019. In her spare time you can probably find her golfing or trying to be inventive in the kitchen.