5 Tricks I Used to Lose 40lbs This Summer

Find your groove and losing weight gets easier

In May 2023, I clocked in at 290lbs.

By the end of summer I’d shrunk down to 250lbs and I’d like to tell you how.

Weeks 1–2 were hard. But once I was through those 14 days, losing weight was an absolute dream.

I found 5 tricks that helped and I’m sharing them all today.

#1 Blocking out the noise

Information on weight loss is everywhere. A lot of it conflicts and most of it doesn’t matter.

Scroll TikTok for 10 minutes and one person will tell you resistance training won’t help you lose fat and the next video will say the opposite.

It’s confusing and the more weight loss content you consume the more likely you’ll be to scrap what you’re doing to chase another trend.

The most important advice for losing weight is and will always be: move more and eat better.

How you go about that is up to you, but I promise you this, the best diet and exercise regime will be the one you enjoy.

So, don’t keep seeking out new trends every other day because the scale hasn’t shifted in your favor.

Find something you enjoy that engages your muscles, raises your heart beat, and eat food you enjoy — just be mindful about it.

#2 Know your macros

About food. Accepting you know little about food is a good start.

I existed on takeaways for years without even though I knew it was bad for me. What I didn’t know was too much about WHY it was bad for me.

Red meat — bad.

Carbs — bad.

Salt — bad.

Well you can’t eat chicken breast and cabbage every day, so what does it matter. (something I’d convince myself of every time I opened up UberEats.)

When I took the time to understand macros, I gained the clarity I needed to make healthier choices even if I ordered in.

Macros are the nutrients your body needs in large quantities: protein, carbohydrates, and fats.

Since my goals are: lose fat and build muscle, it made sense for me to eat a higher amount of protein to facilitate muscle growth and recovery.

Carbs and fats get demonised by certain parts of the weight loss community, but it’s utter nonsense. You need a balanced diet made up of all three nutrients.

Work out your Total Daily Energy Expenditure and plan your meals around your goals. For me it was around 3000 calories per day with a 40/40/20 (protein/fats/carbs) split.

#3 Walk everywhere

My biggest trick for losing weight? Walking.

It’s so simple.

Now, when I say I walked to lose weight I’m talking about 2 hour walks around local parks. I’d burn a 1,000 calories and clock up around 20,000 steps over the course of my day.

Find time in your day to walk. Get off the bus a stop early to work. Take a stroll around the business park on your lunch. Force the kiddies to come with you for 20 minutes after school.

Start getting in the habit of walking more and you’ll be surprised how much this can aid your weight loss journey.

#4 Eating once a day (sometimes)

I am rubbish in the kitchen.

My brain becomes a sieve whenever it comes to cooking, so feeding myself 3 times a day is hard. Especially if I want to eat well.

The only way I’ve managed to tackle this is by reducing how many meals I eat a day.

I don’t make it hard for myself either. No fancy recipes or cooking equipment.

Going basic works for me so I’ll usually do something like this:

• Bowl of oats and scrambled egg (which I’ll eat while I do last nights washing up or while I’m cooking)
• Protein shakes (to help me hit my protein goal)
• Chicken and salad
• Protein bars and yoghurt

I don’t force myself to do it every single day, but that’s a basic One Meal A Day (OMAD) diet for me.

Sometimes I’ll switch things out and have a steak or make a big mac salad so I’m not eating chicken all the time.

I also have a clear whey protein shake when I get home from the gym.

#5 Made time for it

People are busy in 2023. Busier than we’re supposed to be. So often are people sacrificing their well being for all of their commitments.

We can’t make time for ourselves the way we need to.

I have an anxious mind so when I’m finished at work I need to have a 3-hour panic over nothing.

Realizing my work life was the cause of both my panic and lack of time for myself (8 hours of work, 8 hours of sleep…).

I stopped working as much. Here’s my biggest secret behind my weight loss, I worked part time over the summer.

And that’s what I want you to take away from this. If you’re in a position to do the same, you’ll find losing weight much easier.

It can be overwhelming and stressful to lose weight. If you’re anything like me it needs your absolute focus, every day.

Year after year I failed to make any dent in my weight loss journey because I couldn’t stay focused on what I was doing. I’d go to work, come home and feel anxious because I was unhappy at work, struggle to fall asleep, go to work tired, rinse, and repeat.

When I took some of my time back and made weight loss my full-time priority, things changed. And after one summer I lost more than 40lbs. Just three months of reduced work changed my life.

So, if you can, consider how to give yourself those three months.