If you, like tons of other women around the world, are hell-bent on finally winning the weight loss battle in 2023 then you’re going to have to approach it more deliberately and with tight weight loss strategies.
But first things first: don’t beat yourself up for not staying the course last year. There’s nothing wrong with going right back to the start and taking it from there. As long as you’ve still got time and energy, you haven’t let yourself down yet.
And I don’t know about you, but there’s an extreme sense of newness in 2023 — it feels like the year that we’re all finally going to knuckle down, get our ducks in a row, our goals in order and finally win the wars we’ve been fighting in ourselves. With that said, life coach and author Paula Quinsee reckons that there’s very little you can achieve without the right mindset and the right weight loss strategies in place.
“With the right mindset and a solid plan, there are very few things you can’t achieve — this is the starting point of any goal,” she says.
We asked her to help us unpack some of the most effective strategies we can use to make this year different… to finally get to the finish line of the weight loss race.
1/ Understand your why
If you’re not clear on why weight loss is your goal, then your motivation to achieve it won’t stand firm. “People need to understand the why behind their goals,” Quinsee says.
“Yes, you might want to lose weight but it’s not so much about the goal than it is about what the goal will do for you.”
In a sense, losing weight is only but a vehicle that’s taking to you to where you want to be. And your why can be anything — you might want to lose weight to feel more confident, get healthier, become more energetic for your kids and so on. If it matters to you, it is valid.
2/ Set a realistic time frame
Working towards a goal aimlessly and with no time frame leaves a lot of room for excuses. A deadline, so to speak, not only encourages some form of discipline, but it’s also important for helping keep track of your progress (we’ll get to why this matters in a moment). But in setting those time frames, it’s also vital that they are realistic for the way that your life is set up. “Giving yourself an unrealistic time frame for your goal is setting yourself up for failure,” Quinsee explains.
“You will end up feeling disappointed, let down and the self-blaming and loathing can derail you from the entire goal itself.”
3/ Break your goals down into smaller ones
We’re always told to dream big and what makes a big dream attainable? All the smaller dreams in between and all the little wins that eventually lead us to our big picture.
“Often, people look at the big goal and they get overwhelmed by it. But if you break a goal down into much more manageable bite-size chunks, then you will find that the process becomes a lot less daunting,” Quinsee says.
4/ Set yourself up for success
“If you know that you’re not a disciplined person when it comes to exercise then make sure that you set yourself up for success by getting a personal trainer,” Quinsee says. “In that way, you will know that someone is always holding you accountable. This could even be a Workout buddy or anyone that can help support, motivate and encourage you throughout.”
5/ Always track and measure your progress
A lot of the time we’re so busy focused on the goal that we miss how far we’ve come in our journey, how much we’ve achieved and the progress that we’ve made.
“Every small little step forward is success and it’s so important to not only note, but to celebrate those little victories and small signs of progress,” Quinsee says. “The acknowledgement of these is what will keep you going.”
6/ Put incentives in place
A strategy that works really well is creating a personal rewards system for every time you achieve a small goal or objective.
“You can even reward yourself for just being disciplined and attending all the Workout classes you planned to attend that week,” Quinsee says. “The key is to always seek out the positive sides of your experience and to acknowledge them.”