When you’ve finally decided that it’s time to commit to losing weight, it can be difficult to know what you should do to get started. I’ve had many people come to me and ask how to start. In addition, when I look back at June 2008, I wish someone had told me some thing that would have made measuring my progress easier.
So here’s a definitive list of things I think you should do when you are starting a weight loss, health improvement, or fitness plan.
First, before you start losing weight, set a good baseline.
1) Measure. Besides just knowing your weight, get out the measuring tape and measure a few key parts of your body. Your progress doesn’t always materialize as pounds lost on the scale. However, knowing a few key measurements when you start can keep you motivated if your weight ticks up, but your measurements are down! The following are good places to measure. No measuring tape? Use a piece of string and a yardstick.
- Chest/ribcage*
- Waist at navel*
- Hips at widest part of butt*
- Thigh*
- Waist at smallest part
- Calf
- Bicep
- Neck
*While it’s nice to have all of these measurements, at minimum, please take these four basic ones, denoted with the asterisk.
2) Take pictures. Take your “before” pictures from the front, side, and rear, in something that shows your body (like a bikini or bra w/ undies or spandex shorts). The mirror is unfortunately not a good barometer of progress. When you can compare two pictures taken a month apart, it will be easier to see improvements than it will if you rely on looking in the mirror every day. Ashamed of asking your partner to take your pictures? Use a tripod and a timer and do them yourself! (That’s what I do. Really!)
You can see some of my well-done before and after pictures in What Can You Accomplish in 60 Days. There are also pictures in My Turbulence Training Experience, but I didn’t know enough at the time and took my before pictures in a pair of baggy shorts instead of bikini bottoms or spandex.
3) Develop goals. Write them down. Carry them with you so that you can re-read them in moments of weakness. Share them with others, if you want, but at least make them. It helps if your goals are specific and relatively short-term in nature (3-6 months). These can be goals related to weight loss, fitness, habits, attitude, or getting back into a specific piece of clothing! Some examples of 3-6 month goals:
- Complete a 5K race without walking for any of it
- Do my first chin-up
- Lose 15 pounds
- Fit in jeans one size smaller than I’m currently wearing
- Say something positive every time I look in the mirror
- Drink water with every meal instead of juice, soda, etc.
Now that you’ve set your baseline, we’ll look at how to decide what fitness and nutrition tools you can use to help you succeed in my next post. Stay tuned!
photo credit: Patrick Swint
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