Results come from consistency.

Our clients are constantly frustrated with the speed of their weight loss. This week I urge all of you to make a weight loss check list and tape it to your fridge, your bathroom mirror, and on a bulletin board near your desk. This list will help keep your eyes on the prize, keep you on track, and proud of your results.

It's JUST a number!

1. Weigh yourself every morning, naked and preferably after a bowl movement. Text or email your trainer or principal support person your number. This is just a number so remove any emotion!

2. Drink 25 oz of water right after you weigh yourself. If you didn’t have a bowel movement, the water should trigger one. With the first 25 out of the way in the morning, you will be more alert and focused and a third of the way through your daily water total (80-90 oz).

Beqir loading up Kip with some extra weight to run with. More EPOC!

3. Train hard: during your workout, give it 100%. The more intense your workout, the more EPOC (post exercise oxygen consumption) you will produce, the more calories you will burn at rest. Caloric deficit is the key to weight loss.

Nothing worthwhile is easy.

4. Visualize: If you can’t see the thinner, stronger, and more confident you, then you will not succeed in creating that person. See yourself as an athlete. Hear the self-talk in your head saying, I can and I will. When you say, “I can’t,” it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy.

Weight loss is nothing more than calories in vs calories out.

5. Hit your target daily calories on the nose every single day. Track your calories religiously and honestly. Those who log their food have a much higher success rate than those who don’t. Keep all meals and snacks balanced and aim for 30% protein, 30% fat, and 40% carbohydrates. Don’t eat processed or fast food.

Invest in a refillable water bottle!

6. More water: when you feel tired in the afternoon and would usually reach for coffee, resist the urge and down another 25 ounces of water. I promise you will freshen up immediately.

Always take the stairs!

7. Stay active: Fitness doesn’t end after your workout. Training is one hour out of a 24 hour day. Use the other 11 waking hours to burn as many calories as possible by taking stairs instead of elevators, walking or biking instead of driving when possible, and standing and stretching if your work is sedentary.

If you are training hard enough, you deserve a massage!

8. Instead of a binge: Permanent weight loss is about cementing healthy habits even during times of stress, family visits, and tragedy. Practice this by unlearning bad habits such as turning to comfort food when you are sad, stressed, and bored. Make a better choice by calling a friend, getting a massage, or going to a movie instead.

Don't sleep near your iPhone!

9. Sleep. Weight loss depends on releasing human growth hormone and letting your muscles recover which happens during sleep. Get seven to eight hours of restful, REM sleep uninterrupted by little screens that light up–iPods, iPhones, and televisions.

Do it now!

Grab a sharpie or a crayon and make this list and check off each item everyday until you reach your goal. You will reach your goal–one day at a time.