How to Lose 2 Pounds a Week: Just Start

Disclaimer: I am not a doctor, nutritionist, or professional** lifestyle coach

Emotionally or physically sick people accidentally lose weight. The rest of us have to put in some effort. And we won't lose weight by thinking, talking, or reading about it.

Just start. Like, today. Like, now.

No - seriously. Why not right now? If you have reasons why now doesn't work for you, please email me your list of excuses explanations (bhangoes@gmail.com) so I can help you work through them. I've fallen prey to all of them at one point or another. Self-sabotage is my jam, man!

Popular explanations 

I have personally told myself 

inside my own head

Explanation: I don't know where to start.
Debunked: Keep reading. See how easy this is?

Explanation: I don't have the time.
Debunked: From this moment forward, I promise you don't have to invent the time to invest in a healthier lifestyle. We all have 24 hours a day. Aren't you inspired by the woman who has a toddler and five horses and two dogs and some deer and and a husband with a broken hand and a full-time job and a popular blog and a healthy workout schedule? She has just as many hours in a day as you do, and perhaps more enjoyment.

Enlist your ability to multitask (on a limited basis - not to drive and text). Instead of relaxing on the couch with your favorite TV show, watch it while you're on the elliptical. You'd be surprised what amazing programming is on early in the mornings, like The Nanny and reruns of Spongebob Squarepants. While you're out for a walk, take the dog along...

...read a book you've been meaning to start finish, or listen to music you enjoy, or have some FREAKIN' QUIET TIME FOR A CHANGE. Ahem.

Prepare food only a couple times a week, instead of multiple times a day. This will immediately and dramatically cut down on the time you spend making AND CLEANING UP AFTER meals. More on this later, in my upcoming How to Lose 2 Pounds article on meal planning.

Explanation: I don't have the money.
If you're like me, then you may have been diverting plenty of money toward less healthful, if not outright unhealthy, choices. Dinner out? SURE! $30. Drinks with friends? $25. Subs for lunch? $7. And before long... this:

Surprisingly, lettuce is not more expensive than Doritos and a portion of chicken isn't more expensive than a frozen dinner. I buy many items in bulk and now spend less on my monthly gym membership than I used to spend on take-out (read: unhealthy) food.

If you're not doing so already, make your meals at home. Healthy versions of your favorite restaurant foods are generally much less expensive.

Explanation: I'm not done doing weight-loss research yet.

Debunked: I was stuck trying to decide which workout was best, which 'diet' would work... all the while not actually doing any of them. Duh, Bhan. You don't get lean by reading (unless you're walking while reading). Once you start doing it, instead of trying to learn all about it, you will find out what types of health and wellness articles, blogs, and books interest you. This isn't to say you shouldn't learn what's safe and right for you; but don't let the impulse to research it prevent you from actually starting to do it. 

When you're ready, I strongly recommend Dr Bob Arnot's Revolutionary Weight Control Program. (Link: buy the book on Amazon.) This book helps me understand what to eat and when and why. The only issue I take with this book is the word 'revolutionary' in the title. In truth, Dr. Bob promotes a pretty intuitively healthy lifestyle. Eat whole grains, minimize processed carbs, that kind of thing. Revolutionary it ain't. Reinforcing good behavior it is.

Explanation: Ugh, I'll be hungry all the time.
Debunked: No you won't. Pinky swear. It's good to hate that feeling because it's your body saying you're running on fumes. If your car were running on fumes, you wouldn't try to make it go for another hour or two... or more.

Eat breakfast. Fill the tank with the right foods at the right times (which is frequently) and you will avoid the feeling of hunger. I currently eat more and more often than when I was rapidly gaining weight. So there. Debunked. More on how to avoid hunger in my Meal Planning article.

Explanation: I hate diets and they always fail.
Debunked: Can't debunk this one. They do fail. What I needed was a lifestyle change, something to sustain every single day for the rest of my life. So you're not going on a diet, mmmkay? It's not even about nutrition; it's about wellness.

When presented with a delicious-looking cupcake, don't say "I'm on a diet"; instead, say "no thanks" out loud and, to yourself, think 'That's not part of my wellness plan' and 'Leslie, you are a bitch for putting those on the counter right behind my cube so I have to hear about how delicious they are all day long.'

Explanation: I am (literally or figuratively) addicted to something unhealthy.
Debunked: The old me couldn't comprehend a world without burritos. God help me and my thighs if they came with a side of tortilla chips, rice, and beans. And a pitcher of margarita.

To literally - not figuratively - reset my physiology, I spent three weeks on a very restrictive no-carb diet (link: Mayo Clinic review of the Atkins diet). If you feel like you can't live without something unhealthy, try Atkins or South Beach for just a short period of time to get over the physiological cravings from which you're suffering.

To help you just start, 

Here are five simple steps that worked for me

Step 1
Join a website which offers nutrition and exercise tracking a community forum-like setting. Choose one with an accompanying smartphone app if you have a data plan.

Throughout every day I use MyFitnessPal (my username is bhangoes so friend me!). I also registered with Livestrong (username: bhangoes) and LoseIt to see which one works best for me. The community support at MyFitnessPal compensates for a few pieces of missing functionality, like more granular reporting and more user-friendly GUI. WHOA! SaaS project manage much, Bhan?

Step 2

Effective immediately, as in the next thing you consume, read all nutrition labels. With the exception of fruits and vegetables, if it doesn't have a nutrition label, don't eat it. (Sorry, Leslie, those cupcakes did look delicious....)

Just because I didn't look at the nutrition label on the back of a bag of Doritos doesn't mean they didn't have a detrimental impact on my lifestyle. I ate the whole bag. THE WHOLE BAG. I ate it in one binge session. Similarly, I used to also think if you eat a brownie while standing up, or if you shake off the crumbs, it had no fat or calories. Also not true.

I guess, in general, stop kidding yourself.

Step 3

Share the news with the world! Saying makes it true. Tell everyone, or tell a confidant, but make it be known to someone other than yourself that today you're making a change. Tell him/her/them what you weigh today and what your goal weight is, or tell them you're working on getting fit. Don't be surprised when your loved one(s) rally behind you. And that feels awfully good. You might even inspire your friends to make positive changes, too... and then end up writing a blog about your successes and struggles. But again, tell as few or many people as much or as little as makes you comfortable.

Don't get me wrong: this step isn't about accountability. It's about making this change an indelible part of your thoughts. Just like writing something down helps you remember, saying it aloud will reinforce the new path you're on.

Step 4
Document it. Even if today you don't actually make any different food choices, today start tracking your food. Paper is good. Websites are better. Smartphone Apps are best. Worst case, write it down and transfer your intake later to a website of your choice. Do this at least once a day.

Every morning I pre-load my app with what I know I'll eat for most of my snacks and meals. It's like looking at the hour-by-hour forecast so you have a general idea of what your day will look and feel like.

Step 5
On your next trip to the grocery store, shop only the perimeter. Nothing actually edible can be found down the aisles. Keep a running grocery list on your phone rather than on paper, if possible. This way it's always with you when it occurs to you in the middle of a work meeting that you're out of orange juice. Organize your grocery list by section of the store you visit most often.

Try to buy ingredients rather than pre-processed foods. More grocery list and meal planning ideas in my upcoming articles.

A bit of debunking

And a few steps to get you started

These aren't unattainable goals. You can implement each of these today. Like, now. You probably know me personally and know it's working for me. None of this is rocket science, and none is time-consuming or expensive. You can fit any or all of these changes into your life. Like, today. And now that you're officially done reading about wellness (for the time being)...

JUST START.

**Unless by 'professional' you mean 'gets paid' in which case you might make the argument that I do get paid in beer sometimes and am therefore at least an unprofessional lifestyle coach.