How to transform your body in 60 days.
If you’re looking for a get fit quick scheme, this isn’t it. I’m not here to spew out the newest fad diet or exercise routine, and I can’t think of a single supplement that will do the work for you. Unfortunately, this post will reaffirm what you likely don’t want to hear; You must do the work yourself. However, the process doesn’t have to suck, and it’s likely easier than you think! In fact, I’m confident that you can absolutely see a dramatic change to your body in as little as 60 days.
From my experience, I’ve found that nearly every person who starts a diet does it because they simply want to lose weight. However, when that is the sole focus of your transition, it’s really challenging to stick with it – and there’s a reason for that. Losing weight doesn’t happen overnight- it’s a long, methodical slog to drop body fat, and it can be difficult to do. It requires work, it requires proper eating, and most importantly, it requires time. The issue is time. It’s easy to start a diet and workout routine when you’re motivated, but it’s exponentially more difficult to keep that motivation going for several months. It’s the consistency required that causes most attempts to fail. That’s why I want to focus on something a bit different that is often overlooked. We’re not going to focus on workout routines or diets here, we’re simply going to address how you can set yourself up for success when you start your journey. You need the right mentality before we can achieve anything.
The first thing you need to do, and this may sound weird, but you need to stop worrying about the weight loss. I know it seems counterintuitive but hear me out. Losing weight is not a linear process. Even if you successfully lose all the weight you’re hoping to, you’ll find that day in and day out, your weight fluctuated. Some mornings you’ll wake up and see a new low weight, and other days you’ll be a pound or two heavier than the previous day. This isn’t a bad thing, but psychologically it can be draining. If you’re dieting hard, exercising harder, the last thing you want to see is the number go in the wrong direction. That’s why I firmly believe you should stop worrying about it, and instead, focus on something else.
What you need to focus on are your personal goals, and they can’t be overly generic. We’re not looking for “lose weight” or “get fit.” The goals should be detailed, measurable, and you need more than one – I’d suggest at least four. This is the most important step, because without this, you’ll lose sight on the progress and likely lose your motivation to stick with it.
To give you an example, I’ll break down a few of my personal goals for you:
- Increase my maximum lifts in weight by 15% (If my max squat is 350lbs, I should finish around 400lbs)
- Reduce my 1.5 mile run time by 15%
- Double the distance of what I comfortably run (If I can run 1.5 miles without stopping, I should be able to do 3 miles in 60 days)
- Lastly – lose 20lbs
You can have as many goals as you want, and the more detailed you make it, the better. I wanted to give you an idea of what I’m looking to do without getting super gritty with the details. Now, why would you setup a list of goals the way I did? It’s to help you psychologically stay motivated throughout the process. I genuinely believe the hardest aspect of transforming your body isn’t deciding what exercises to do, when to do them, or how to eat; But Instead, it’s how can you stay focused and make gradual progression without giving up. That’s where these multiple and measurable goals come into play.
Going back to what I said previously, if you only worry about weight, you’ll feel defeated and crushed every time you see a lack of progress. When this happens, it can be hard to get past it and it’ll sit in the back of your mind all day. It feels bad and you might justify an argument with yourself that you should just give it up. If you have several goals you’re working towards, you might not see progress on all of them, but you’ll give yourself more chances. Imagine you’re 20 days into your fitness journey, and your weight has stagnated for the last 3 days. You’re not sure why, and out of frustration, you decide to go for a run. About half way through your run though, you notice something different- it’s not nearly as bad as it was 20 days ago. In fact, it almost feels easy. You push yourself a bit harder and when you complete your run, you realize you did it a full one and a half minutes faster than your day one run time.
When you push yourself to hit new goals, and to constantly try and make progression with your fitness, the weight loss/fat burn will be a natural byproduct in the process. Of course, you still need to ensure you’re eating appropriately, and I realize we haven’t discussed that much here. Rather than dive into that now, I’d like for you to sit back and brainstorm some goals for yourself. Once you’ve done that, and you’re made sure the goals are MEASURABLE (this is key), click here(IN PROGRESS – ARTICLE ISN’T POSTED YET, THIS IS A PLACEHOLDER) and we’ll discuss some strategy around picking a diet that works for you.