How to Start Losing Weight: A Simple First Week Plan
By Paul Butler · Online Coach & Personal TrainerThe hardest part of losing weight is knowing where to start, closely followed by the office cake rota.
So how do you start losing weight? Eat a little less than your body uses, and get there with a few small changes you can keep up, rather than a dramatic overhaul. Get some protein into every meal, cut down the calories you drink, walk more, and sleep properly. Then ignore almost everything else you read for the first month.
What is the first thing I should do to lose weight?
Pick two or three small changes to what you eat and drink, and write down where you are starting: your weight and your waist, measured once. Don't overhaul everything on day one. The changes you can still be doing in three months are the ones that work, and big changes rarely last that long.
The NHS's own weight loss advice boils down to the same few things: what and how much you eat and drink, how much you move, and how well you sleep. There is no secret fifth thing someone is keeping from you.
The diet matters less than you think
People spend weeks choosing between diets. A study from 2005 suggests that time would be better spent elsewhere. It put 160 overweight adults on one of four popular diets for a year: Atkins, the Zone, Weight Watchers or a very low fat diet called Ornish. On average, each group lost roughly two to three kilos, with no real difference between the diets.
What did make a difference was how well people stuck to them.
"Increased adherence was associated with greater weight loss and cardiac risk factor reductions for each diet group."
"Adherence" just means sticking to it. Only around half to two thirds of people finished the year, whichever diet they were on. So the best way to start is the one you can actually keep going, and that is different for everyone.
Your first week
Here is a sensible first week. None of it needs special food, an app or a gym membership.
| The change | What it looks like | Why it helps |
|---|---|---|
| Measure your starting point | Weigh yourself and measure your waist once, then weekly | You can't see progress without a baseline |
| Protein at every meal | Eggs, Greek yoghurt, chicken, fish, beans or tofu | It is the most filling of the three main nutrients |
| Cut back the calories you drink | Swap fizzy drinks and fancy coffees, count the alcohol honestly | Drinks add calories without filling you up |
| Walk every day | Twenty minutes, at lunch or after dinner | Easy to do, easy to keep, and it all adds up |
| A regular bedtime | Same time most nights, phone out of reach | Short sleep makes you hungrier the next day |
That's it for week one. Once it feels normal, add the next thing, such as two strength sessions a week. If you want to understand the eating side properly, how to stick to a calorie deficit explains what that means in plain English.
What to ignore when you're starting out
The weight loss industry would love you to believe it is complicated. Mostly it isn't. You can safely ignore:
- Detoxes and cleanses. Your liver and kidneys already do that, for no extra charge.
- Cutting out whole food groups. Carbs aren't the enemy, and neither is fat. It is the overall amount that counts.
- Fat burning pills and teas. If one worked, you would have heard about it from your GP, not an advert.
- Waiting for Monday. Monday has no special powers. Tuesday lunchtime works just as well.
Thirty day transformations sell a lie about how bodies actually change. Real change is slower and much less dramatic, and it lasts.
Get someone on your side
Tell at least one person what you are doing, or better still, do it with them. In one weight loss trial, 95% of people who signed up with friends or family finished the programme, compared with 76% of those who joined alone, and far more of them kept all the weight off afterwards (Wing and Jeffery, 1999). The support came from ordinary friends and family, not professionals.
How quickly will I see results?
The first week often shows a nice drop on the scales, and a lot of that is water as you change what you eat. After that, it slows down to a steadier pace, and that is when people tend to panic and quit. Don't. How quickly you can realistically lose a stone goes through what a sensible pace looks like.
Keeping going is the hard part, and how to get motivated to lose weight covers what helps once the early excitement has worn off.
Help that costs nothing
If you want a structured plan, the NHS offers a free 12-week plan through its NHS Weight Loss Plan app. If you have a lot of weight to lose, or a health condition like diabetes or high blood pressure, talk to your GP before you start, because there may be extra support available to you. This is general information, not medical advice.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need to count calories to lose weight?
No, but it helps some people. Counting for a couple of weeks is a good way to see where your calories actually come from, and most people get a surprise. If counting stresses you out, the first week changes above work without it.
Do I have to exercise to lose weight?
You can lose weight through food alone, and food matters most. But exercise helps you keep your muscle, makes you fitter, and helps shift the deeper fat around your organs, which the belly fat post explains. A daily walk is plenty to start with.
Should I cut out carbs to lose weight?
You don't need to. Some people find it easier to eat fewer carbs, and that's fine, but the diet study above found low carb did no better than the others over a year. Bread, pasta and potatoes can all be part of losing weight in sensible amounts.
What if I've tried to lose weight loads of times before?
Then you are in the same boat as plenty of people who start. In my experience, people rarely fail for lack of knowledge. They fail because the plan doesn't bend around real life. Start smaller than last time, and judge yourself on the habits, not the scales.
DM me STARTING on Instagram @paulbutler.coach and I will send you The Starting Point: five days of the fundamentals, then a four week plan built round your real week. No cost, no catch.
If you want someone in your corner from day one, see how online coaching works. Rather just talk it through? Book a free 15-minute call.
This is general information, not medical advice. If you have a lot of weight to lose or a health condition, speak to your GP before you start.
More honest guides on fat loss, nutrition and training
The 2005 Dansinger et al. diet comparison trial in JAMA is linked in the text, along with the NHS weight loss advice and its 12-week plan. Images from Pexels (free to use): Mike Jones, Taryn Elliott, Ketut Subiyanto.
