8 tips for losing weight

The fear of failing to lose weight is widespread. Especially if you want to get rid of a large amount of excess weight, just the thought of an upcoming diet and sweaty exercise program can seem pretty scary. However, the right diet and sufficient exercise are the two key factors for successful weight loss. However, there are a few basic things that can make it easier for you to get started and that apply to everyone when slimming down, no matter what your starting weight is and what prerequisites you bring with you.

Weight loss principle: You have to want it – not others!

This is the most important prerequisite for the long-term success of your weight loss project. The decision to lose weight must come from you alone, don’t let others put you under pressure – you don’t have to prove anything to anyone! If you’re only half-hearted about it, you might as well not do it at all. You have to get to the point where you say, “I don’t feel good anymore, something has to change. But maybe something else will motivate you to lose weight, for example, your kids, with whom you want to play soccer without immediately getting gasps.

The following strategies will help you lose weight and maintain your desired weight for the long term. Don’t give up too soon – even if things don’t go so well for a while. Our tips will show you how to overcome the physical and mental obstacles of your new sports and nutrition plan.

1. Set realistic goals and adjust expectations

As mentioned above, the right attitude is the basic prerequisite for a successful “diet” (more on this in a moment in point 2. So don’t expect too much from yourself and be realistic, especially about the number of kilos you want to lose and how long you want to lose them in. (Major) weight loss takes time – the duration varies from individual to individual and can be difficult to predict. If you change your diet and want to lose weight in a healthy way, you will lose about 1 to 2 kilos per week, in the beginning and with a high starting weight it is often more. Some days you might lose weight drastically, on others not so much happens on the scale – this is completely normal.

2. Change diet instead of crash diet

Classic diets with a strict and usually far too large calorie restriction are doomed to failure from the start. Sure, the weight loss may be great at first, but we can promise you one thing: Those who lose weight rapidly with a crash diet will have the kilos back after a few weeks.

You will only have long-term weight loss success if you change your diet. Do not panic: No one is asking you to throw old eating habits out the window overnight and ban everything you love – including pizza and chocolate – from your life. A change of diet takes time and should be done step by step. Here we tell you how you should best proceed.

3. You don’t have to commit to one diet

Low carb or rather keto diet, high protein or low calorie? Or how about interval fasting? Why not just a little bit of everything? You don’t have to stick strictly to a particular nutritional concept to lose weight successfully and also in the long term.

Because basically the basis is always the same: Eat protein-rich foods and plenty of fruits and vegetables, avoid too many and especially unhealthy carbohydrates, industrial sugar and eat healthy fats instead of “only” low-fat. Point.

However, if you’re very unsure about the topic of nutrition and want some kind of guidance that you can follow, we recommend low carb nutrition. Everything you need to know about it, why it works and what low carb recipes look like, you can find out here.

4. This is how big your calorie deficit should be when losing weight

Losing weight is based on a very simple principle: If you eat more calories per day than you can consume, you will gain weight. Conversely, if you reduce your calorie intake and eat fewer calories than you burn, you will lose weight. This is called “negative energy balance. How high your total calorie requirement per day is, you can calculate with one click on our calorie calculator.

The optimal calorie requirement for weight loss is about halfway between your basal metabolic rate and your total calorie requirement. If you want to maintain your weight later, you eat as much as the total calorie requirement permits. You should not reduce your calorie requirement by more than a maximum of 500 calories a day – better: 200 to 300 calories. This way you will lose weight more slowly, but in a completely healthy way.

5. Avoid overzealousness and excessive demands

In the beginning, the ambition to lose weight is often great. This usually leads to the fact that you would like to introduce a variety of new habits already tomorrow. Do more sports, cook healthier, drink a lot. Caution: There is a danger of overexerting yourself. It’s best to start with one thing: For example, how about aiming to drink more water every day (3 liters a day!) and to reduce soft drinks? Or start picking out protein-rich weight loss recipes for a healthy dinner and go shopping for them. Start small and don’t make the next change until you’re really ready. How to avoid unnecessary frustration. If you don’t know where to start, get help from one of our coaches one of our coaches – together it will work.

6. Don’t get stressed and get enough sleep

You have optimized your diet and exercise regularly? Class!

But there are still a few small screws you can turn to advance your weight loss project: Factors such as sleep, exercise and stress are all interconnected. If you neglect one, the others suffer as well. An example of this is suboptimal sleep (less than 7 hours): according to studies, this tempts you to overeat. So try to balance your body – you’ll achieve greater weight loss with holistic changes that go beyond dietary changes.

7. Don’t fixate on the scale

We often make our weight loss success dependent on the number on the scale. But don’t focus too much on these measurable successes; pay attention to subjective changes as well: Do you feel lighter, do you have more energy, is jogging easier now or do your old jeans fit again?

Congratulations, you are making progress. Be aware of these feelings, because they will help you in the future to stay on the ball despite small setbacks. Above all, don’t be upset if your weight stagnates for a week – just keep doing what you’re doing. Fact: Muscle is heavier than fat. That means, who exchanges its fat reserves for muscles, inevitably a little will gain instead of lose weight.

If, however, nothing happens on the scale for several weeks, then increase your training load. Your body will quickly get used to the increased physical activity and will eventually consume fewer calories. That’s why it’s even more important to vary cardio and strength, keep trying new things, and run that one extra mile.

8. Accept slips and keep at it

We all have cravings for a slice of pizza or a greasy burger with extra cheese from time to time. That’s normal and totally okay, as long as you don’t lose sight of your goal and continue to eat healthy. Who sins once, does not destroy immediately its past decrease successes. In addition, strict prohibitions do not help you lose weight; they only make the cravings worse. Accept a slip as such, no more, no less.

On a bad day it helps if you get some distance (for example, do some sports and clear your head) and try to understand that such “cheat meals” are also part of the learning process. But with time you will feel the craving for fattening foods less and less, I promise you

Your individual weight loss path will not always be easy. It is important that you do not let yourself be put off by minor setbacks. It’s worth sticking with it, and once your new principles are second nature, you’ll be able to easily maintain your weight later on. Until then, we support you actively and give you our concentrated knowledge to take healthy and effective – with our nutrition and training plan for beginners. You are a return to work? Then this way.