5 Key Factors That Helped me Lose Weight

12^th September 1992, that is the day my life changed! I took the decision to come to England to study, and that was the day I arrived here. After almost 17 years, I am delighted that I took that decision, still living in England and am very happy. But that is not the reason why I am writing this piece today.

Today I am going to tell you about another day...

Another day that radically changed my life, the day that after many months of being called fat, chubby or “Sancho” (my nickname from my housemates as per Sancho Panca, D.Quixote’s loyal servant) I decided to join a gym.

But, this was a different gym...

This gym on the surface looked like any other commercial gym. Had cardio machines, weight machines, a small free weights area, sauna, etc, but there was a big difference, the trainers there were people that loved training and loved to help training others.

And the transformation begun...

Under the guidance, you can even call it mentorship, of Paul, the main trainer there, I managed to lose around 4 stone in weight, my jeans size went down from Size 40 jeans to size 34, my self confidence sky rocketed to levels that I never had felt possible and life was great, and all in 9 months!

For the first time in my life...

I felt absolutely fantastic! After over 8 or so years of being a chubby kid and not feeling comfortable in my own body, I felt great. I would go to the shops and be able to buy normal sizes. I finally would go out at night and be super confident with the ladies as well!

So, how come this change occurred?

Well looking back I truly believe that there were 5 key factors why this happened and I know if these weren’t in place at the time my story would have been very different.

1. Social Support

First and foremost, if it wasn’t for my housemate Luis, I would have never taken the plunge to actually go to the gym. He was a regular gym goer back home in Portugal and he wanted a partner to go to the gym. He became my main “source” of social support, giving me encouraging words and “pushing” me to go to the gym when I didn’t felt like it!

I became accountable...

Having him there made me accountable not only to him as my gym partner but also to myself! Even though I was the only one that was capable of changing my body, having someone there to keep me in check helped me in achieving my goal ten times faster.

2. Guidance

As soon as I joined the gym, Paul was assigned as my trainer. Paul took all my measurements, weighted me, and more importantly, asked me questions about my lifestyle, my nutrition, my physical activity and pretty much every aspect he felt influenced my situation at the time.

After our first session he designed a training plan that we reviewed every 6 to 8 weeks to make any necessary adjustments, always taking in consideration my end goal!

My very first goal...

That was the very first time I set a goal with some “meat” in it. It wasn’t a goal “just because I want to”. He actually asked me what were the benefits I saw of living on that goal, and why I wanted it so much. I am not ashamed to admit it that girls featured highly on the whys J!

Set goals for what you want to achieve and it will make it much easier for you to achieve it!

3. Nutrition

With his help I started a food journal. For one week he asked me not to change my diet and just write down every little thing I ate during the day. At the end of that week we sat down and went through it all.

Blimey that was “eyes opening stuff”...

I was amazed, to say the least, at the amount of, at a lack of a better word, crap that I was consuming in a daily basis. Not only the quantity but also the quality of my food was deplorable, even though I cooked every night, during the day at Uni I would have pizzas or burgers from the student union bar or bean and beef stews from the Caribbean Center in town.

I changed all that...

From that point onwards I started to have a lot of salads and grilled meat or fish, at night. I would prepare my lunch to take to college, which would be home-made sandwiches or salads and fruit. Reduced the consumption of pastas, potatoes and rice and started having a proper breakfast with eggs and toast instead of coffee and air!

Learning “how to eat” was one of my biggest lessons!

Take notice of what you put in your body, make changes to natural foods and start having a balanced diet.

4. Mindset

Once I made the decision to change and go to the gym, I was half way there to success, I realised what I wanted to achieve and how I could achieved it. I stopped making excuses to why I couldn’t do it and put a plan of action in place and followed it.

I felt empowered...

And every time I had a off day I would re-focus on why I wanted to change and how much I had achieved by all the small changes that I made into my life that I knew then that I would never be “chubby” again.

5. Journal

I started a journal, at the time on a notebook. Every month I would weight myself. Every other week would take measurements. I would keep track of the bad foods I ate over the weeks. I knew how much I could lift at all the various exercises and which exercises I was doing at any particular time.

By keeping track...

Of all the variables in my life I was always able to know what was working or, more importantly, not working so I could change and adjust to achieve my goal. It was also a great motivation tool to see how much I had improved in such a small period of time!

Until today I had never realized

I had never realized that way back then in 1992 I already knew the secret to change and to achieve my dream body, and the factors that helped me lose weight then are the same factors that can help anyone achieve their goals, whatever they are!

Remember them and you are on your way:

- Doing it on your own is possible but harder than doing it with someone else. Whoever they are, your best friend, your partner, a personal trainer or a coach, will help you get there faster!

- Set goals for what you want to achieve and it will make it much easier for you to achieve it!

- Take notice of what you put in your body, make changes to natural foods and start having a balanced diet.

- Once you decide you are ready to change, and start taking action, you are half way there to success.

- Keep an updated journal to keep track of your progress and to motivate you to achieve your goal!

Hope this post was of some assistance to you in your quest to achieve your goals.

All the best,

Paulo