Let’s be honest there are a lot of challenges in life at the moment so do we really need another one? In that spirit here at E.L.F. we want to keep it really simple and really easy…by that we mean achievable and enjoyable… the whole essence of E.L.F. is achievability and enjoyment! Well there are other things like living in the moment and knowing yourself but… hey let’s take it one step at a time!
When thinking about the year ahead and resolutions as we do at the end of December and beginning of January every year… number one always seems to be to end the coming year fitter and thinner than we started it… but not only that, also to have had some life affirming experiences and adventures… we all know that our aspirations have to exceed our reality or what are dreams for so let’s aspire again this year and this is what we propose…
Keeping it simple… each month aim to be a lb lighter than the same date the month before… so if you start on 3rd Jan or 9th Jan or whenever suits you, then on 9th Feb you will be a lb lighter and 9th March etc etc until we all end together on 31st Dec 12lbs lighter… It’s a simple concept.
BUT… how do you achieve this… well the overriding important factor in this is constant accountability and steadiness.. in order to stay within a lb of weight for each month involves creating a lifestyle that does not zenith nor nadir… in simple terms slow and steady wins the race… we are going for tortoise not hare… we are making ourselves accountable for our actions every day and gradually achieving something very simple but very significant… in reality it involves cutting out 50 calories a day or upping your vigorous cardio exercise by 1 hour a week .. if all other things were equal this would lead to a minimum of a1lb a month weightloss … if you think how much you eat and drink and exercise in months where your weight plateaus you need to adjust this slightly for the rest of the months to have a net loss… maybe this doesn’t work for you though… it has to work for you not for anyone else…. This sounds so obvious but most diet / lifestyle books almost ignore you and just repeat their mantras as if we were all the same… we are not….
So maybe in January you need to keep a food and exercise diary and count calories. It is probably best to try and have January as a plateau month in order to be able to realise what is needed for the rest of the year… This will help you work out what works for you and what you need.. then you use this as a template…. So if in January you lose 2lbs you can look at the diary and see that if you stick to that type of regime you will lose 2lbs in a month.. if you put on 2lbs or plateau you can similarly use that as your yardstick for future adjustments…. If you can’t face doing a whole month of food and exercise diary and just want to get going quicker do 10 days and multiply it by three… only make sure that you did do things in your life that you normally do.. like hit the pub or go out for meals and drinks with friends…
It sounds so simple “lose a lb a month” and in some ways it is but we all know that in reality it isn’t as “life happens” which means that some months we put on 3lbs and need to lose that as well as the extra 1lb the following month so maybe we need to plan a little more than usual… there has to be some effort… it is never going to be easy to lose 12lbs and keep them off for someone of our age and hormone imbalance!
Look at the year… for you which months in general are your plateaus, net gainers or net losers…. ?
Write them out ..think back over the years ..take into account Christmas, Birthdays, Holidays, particularly busy party time (June/July)
This is mine..
January - Plateau
February - Net Loser
March - Net Loser
April - Plateau
May - Plateau
June - Net Gain
July - Net Gain
August - Net Gain
September - Plateau
October - Net Loser
November - Net Loser
December - Net Gain
So as you can see I have four of each… this should mean that I end up the year pretty flat which in the past year I pretty much have… just a stone heavier than I would like to be or need to be for my health…. If you have a lot of weight to lose you could look at making the target loss 2lbs per month.. again pretty achievable but not a full on restrictive constant diet just a bit more effort here and there…
Another thing to work out is your average net gain or net loss in a month where you are better or worse..for me it is 3lbs… taking into account the weekend/weekday fluctuations… I find it best to weigh on a Thursday to Thursday in order to eliminate the weekend factor… you might not know this yet… maybe you have to go through a better or worse month in order to work this out… keeping a note of things will certainly help you with working out where you are and where you go wrong or right…
So to make a start… find your date in January… weigh yourself.. write down what you think each month is for you (plateau, net gain, net loss) and work out how you are going to balance this then write a target weight for each date of each month… so for me if on 9th Jan I weigh in at 155lbs (very likely to be at least this!) Then as January is generally a plateau month for me I would hope to be 154lbs on Feb 9th… see below… for the rest of the year…
January - 155lbs then Plateau but lose a lb so
February - 154lbs Net Loser and lose the extra lb
March - 150lbs Net Loser and lose the extra lb
April - 146lbs then Plateau and lose the extra lb
May - 145lbs then Plateau and lose the extra lb
June - 144lbs Net Gain but lose an extra lb
July - 146lbs Net Gain but lose and extra lb
August - 148lbs Net Gain but lose an extra lb
September - 151lbs Plateau but lose an extra lb
October - 150lbs Net Loser but lose an extra lb
November - 146lbs Net Loser but lose an extra lb
December - 142lbs Net Gain but lose an extra lb plus the final lb
End of year…143lbs - 12lbs loss for the year……
This might look super complicated to begin with but take it day by day and it will all soon fit into place… eat one thing less per day and be mindful of what you are eating by writing everything down …. Then move a little more when you can… take a note of this too…. The chances are you will start off with a bang, super motivated and lose a couple (maybe even more) lbs very quickly… this is great.. but then don’t be disheartened if you have a big weekend and put some or all of it back on… this is the tortoise approach not the hare… keep going the following week and trust me you will have lost the lb by the end of the allotted month….it just won’t be a straight line…
More tips and updates to the challenge in the next update blog…. Stick with it … slow and steady wins this race….permanent and effective weight loss here we come…. 2022 will be the year to lose that stubborn half stone or even more…..
We’d love to hear about your own experiences of Expanding Late Forties – your successes and failures of shrinking your waist and expanding your mind. Use the form below to get in touch and we might even post it on the site.
