If You Do These 4 Things, You Will Lose Weight. Period.
But there’s a catch.
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by Audie Metcalf
I know I’m writing a lot about this. Many of you know I recently lost now 50 lbs through small tweaks in my eating and then mostly just walking. Absolutely no coach, trainer, or GLP1. So I know it’s possible.
But I feel like these ideas alluded me for 45 years and so now for anyone who feels overwhelmed by the ENDLESS and CONFLICTING ideas being spewed by experts and non experts and charlatans and influencers, I want to share what I know worked for me, and I feel so deeply confident it will work for you.
But there is a trick.
And the trick is … you have to actually do it. And you have to do it every day.
That’s where I used to screw up. I’d be “good” all week and then “reward” myself by not exercising. Or doing some math about making “perfect” choices for 5 days so if I ate whatever I wanted on the weekend I’d still see a net calorie decrease. But if we were calm all week with our kids and then spent the entire weekend screaming at them, would all that logic make sense? Of course not.
But all of these mental gymnastics are where all of us fail ourselves. Because our goal isn’t just to lose weight. It’s also to be the kind of person who keeps promises to ourselves.
And to keep those promises we just have to commit, every day, to making the choices we know serve our ultimate goals.
And this article is actually to show you that those promises aren’t that complicated, and there’s also not many of them. There’s really only 4, and defacto by committing to these 4, many other things fall into place.
Enough of my lecture. Let’s get to the goods.
1. Eat at Least 30 Grams Of Protein Each Meal
This is legit. And it’s mostly because protein keeps you full. Yogurt, cottage cheese, chicken, fish, egg whites, beef, milk. I build my meals around the protein. Start with it. Make it the star. My new breakfast obsession is this:
It’s just everything you see. And that glistening sauce is honey. Yes honey. I don’t know why it’s so good but it is. 3/4 cup of cottage cheese, 2 eggs, and half a cup of Fairlife milk in my iced coffee, and this breakfast is 40 grams of protein! You can do scrambled eggs with extra egg whites along with Ezekiel toast and turkey sausage. You can do maple blueberry overnight oats with tons of fiber and protein that will keep you full for hours and it’s such a delicious treat I actually dream about it. Should I make a reels for it? I did one for my other fave breakfast which is these breakfast tacos. Scrumpsh.
The point here is that if you focus your meals on protein, you’re naturally just not indulging in most other things. Obviously a calorie deficit is needed and that’s actually the key part of any weight loss. I use THIS app to track my food and THIS calculator to figure out how many cals I need to eat to lose weight.
My very filling chicken salad wrap at 50 grams of protein. See how I make it HERE.
Yes, it’s the viral Tik Tok protein bowl. It’s 64 grams of protein, and it’s addictively delicious. See how I make it HERE.
For lunch, I almost always just do a variant on deli sliced turkey as part a “variety plate.” Orange peppers, strawberries, blueberries, hearts of palm, pickles, tzatziki (Cava brand is unreeeeeal), cottage cheese, seaweed snacks, sauerkraut. If you have a huge appetite, making yourself a plate with a ton of variety is an amazing trick where you feel as though you’ve eaten a lot but you actually just have eaten many TYPES of foods. Genius, no?
For dinner, go very simple. A mound of protein, bountiful green things, a healthy carb—I eat half a sweet potato basically every night. If I don't eat a carb at dinner I become ravenous and I begin to lurk around the packaged goods in my cupboards come 9:30pm.
Pro tip: shrimp is unbelievably high in protein and unbelievably low in cals.
2. Drink an Absurd Amount Of Water
I wrote a thing HERE for ways to jhuhj it up so you don’t gag) but in general I have a giant Stanley* with ice (because crisp, cold water is essential) and I drink two of them a day. Why? Water helps to manage appetite and for the most part when I get snacky and want to mindlessly chomp on something, I’m just thirsty. I know 98 million articles have already told you this and they told me this, too. But I’m here to say it’s actually true. I don’t faff about with salt or lemon or anything wellnessy. Just vats and vats of water. It truly helps me not become ravenous.
3. Sleep 8 Hours A Night. Sorry But It’s True.
I’m going to assume you’re over 35 if you’re reading this. Our demo is over 35, all of our marketing is geared toward over 35, all of our stats tell us you are over 35. Why is this important? Because our hormones are different now. We can’t keep doing the same stupid shit we’ve always done “because we can.” I know I was like, proud of being able to work 16-hour days and run on 4-6 hours of sleep. And I guess there is something impressive about that, but now that I’m deep into my 40s, that kind of mistreatment is no longer in the cards if I want a functioning body that I like the look of. And so sleep also helps to regulate our appetites, improve our metabolism, regulate our hormones—better sleep means fewer cravings. When I haven’t gotten enough sleep I also dread the fourth and final step on this list. Which is a 100% non negotiable. And in fact, if you do only ONE thing from this list, make it this:
4. Walk. Walk. Walk. Walk.
Ok so first I’m going to be very honest with you and admit that my life and set up make it extremely easy for me to do this. I live in a nice, walkable area, in Southern California, I work from home, I only have a child half the time, and I control my schedule entirely. So I get it. This is about as cushy as it gets. There aren’t huge impediments for me to make this happen.
Except.
There is always the impediment of my mind.
Because it actually takes something to hoist myself out of whatever comfortable nest I’ve made around the house, wrestle myself into “movement” clothes, slather myself in sunscreen, adorn my body with my 15lb weighted vest* (more on this in a min) and actually commit to walking, full speed, for a full hour. And even though much of my set up allows of it, I promise you, my mind plays the dominant role in whether I do it. And so whether your circumstances are physical or time related or mind related, I’m going to share with you all the tricks and ways I’ve decided to be someone who walks every day, from someone who, well, never did—and I think the way we decide to simply become someone we weren’t before is by using various tricks and making calculated decisions in advance.
Here are mine:
1. When I wake up, I put on THIS top/bra hybrid and THESE joggers. This way, I don’t dread it later. I just do it and it’s done. Btw, I’ve tried potentially hundreds of versions of athleisure to find the most comfortable, cute, not annoying ones I actually like to wear. Those are the only ones. Sometimes I add THIS and THIS depending on weather.
2. Not sure if I can stress enough how C R I T I C A L the right socks and shoes are. Like, once I found this exact combo everything clicked. Yes, there are affiliate links because everything we write about that a product is, but I don’t even care. Go google it on another page. I don’t care if we get nothing from your click. I just want you to experience both of these.
The socks:* so cushiony but not at all tight, my feet feel literally enrobed. All other socks are dead to me. DEAD!
The sneakers:* If you have wonky feet like me, or wide feet, or bunions, or weird arches, or anything that means perfectly comfortable sneakers have often alluded you, these are UNREAL. Like puffy, weightless clouds. The kind of sneakers you put on and just feel like an athlete. They make you walk. But they have to be this exact style from this brand. I’m ashamed to say I’ve bought every other pair they make, and none compare.
PS: Fine, I would prefer you click those links above because then those brands see that we like them and then those brands are more open to working with us and then we keep our jobs and then we keep making this site for you thanks so much.
3. I didn’t start off walking with a weighted vest but once I was about a year into being a walker, I added a 10lb vest*, and then about two months after that I switched to a 15lb vest.*
Adding what is essentially “strength training” to my walk has been LIFE ALTERING. My shoulders are toned you guys. I see shoulder definition for crying out loud. See here for proof:
A weighted vest improves our cardiovascular health, increases calories burned, and weirdly perhaps most importantly, increases bone density. Not sexy but v v important. Carolyn wrote a whole unsexy thing about it HERE.
4. If you don’t have the luxury of working from home in an always-sunny locale, try a walking pad. Carolyn our managing editor said it changed her life.
5. I walk first thing in the morning to get it done, and then I often also walk at night once the heat subsides (I bring my dog) and I find that when I “get it in” in the morning I’m more compelled to walk at night more easily. And when I can’t do the morning the evening becomes harder. Why? I think maybe just making it a habit that happened that very day influences my ability to do it again so quickly. I’m telling you, all of this is just mind games.
6. I push my dog in a stroller for most of the walk and then I have her stroll around for a portion of it because a power walk for a full hour is too much for her. And so because of that, I have a clip that holds my phone on the handle of the stroller and I put on whatever show I’m watching and sort of watch/listen which makes the time flyyyyy by.
Though recently I’ve been listening to Armchair Expert and frankly this works even more effectively. I prefer murderous podcasts but I find they infiltrate my brain too much and I actively notice myself become more suspicious and paranoid in life so it’s become a “garbage in garbage out” situation. I build my days around my walks. I build my plans around my walks. I don’t skip weekends. They’re just part of me now. The way it would be preposterous to skip eat dinner, the same is now true for walking. It’s just a necessary part of my day and life. Which leads me to my final thought:
There is actually one big trick to all of this:
You will never be motivated to do this. Never. So don’t wait for that feeling to come. That feeling isn’t coming. Ever. And no one is coming to force you to do it. No one is coming to save you. You simply decide to do it. And then you decide to do it again. And again. And again. And slowly, but thrillingly, you create something you never had before: discipline. And because you’ve created discipline, other things fall into place. Resisting trash foods that used to make you weak becomes easier. Why? You have discipline. Prioritizing your sleep instead of scrolling endlessly on your phone until 2 am becomes easier. Why? You have discipline. Wriggling into a heavy vest at dawn even when you’re riddled with menstrual cramps becomes easier. Why? You have discipline.
And so actually, I take it back.
There is someone coming to save you.
And it’s you.
Audie Metcalf is the Editor-in-chief of The Candidly, and lives in LA with her family. You can find more of her articles here.
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