Losing weight can be difficult, your body naturally wants to store as much energy as possible so telling it not to is a challenge. As a personal trainer in Sheffield Darren Johnston, has experience guiding people through their weight loss journey and has set up this guide to help people smash their goals!
No matter what fitness level you’re at, the following points will be key to helping achieve your dream physique.
Define Your Weight Loss Goal
It’s hard to work towards anything in life without setting out a clearly defined goal. Having an exact goal in mind can making results tangible and are key to staying motivated as you lose weight.
The first step is asking yourself what you’re aiming to achieve, are you looking to get too a specific bodyfat percentage or perhaps stay the same weight but change the look of your physique (change body composition), or simply just look better in the mirror.
The next step is setting a clear, measurable and realistic target to hit. Having worked with clients over the years, Darren Johnston has noticed that the main blocker is people setting unrealistic goals and trying to lose too much weight too fast. Set a desired end point and when you can realistically achieve it, remember the bigger the amount of weight to lose the longer it will take.
After you have a realistic goal in place, figuring out smaller milestones is essential, weight loss is challenging and by doing this you can ensure that you stay motivated along the journey.
Create a Realistic Plan
Set a safe and sustainable pace to lose weight, focussing on diet and exercise habits that you will be able to keep up. For most aiming to lose 0.5kg-1kg per week is ideal so set a goal around there.
To do this you will need to be in a calorie deficit the most important thing in weight loss is calories in vs out. To kick off you need to work out your maintenance calories, this can be done by using handy tools like the TDEE Calculator where you input your details and activity and it will estimate your maintenance calories. Darren Johnston recommends aiming for a calorie deficit of 300-600 below your maintenance calories, for sustainable weight loss.
Plan your meals for the week, as you lose weight daily cooking will become a real chore. Similarly plan in your exercise sessions, whether that’s at indoor gyms or outside activity, having a plan with keep you consistent. Make sure your plans fit into your lifestyle, balance is the key, looking after your mental wellbeing will help you stay consistent.
Prioritise Nutrition
Again, balance in nutrition is the best way to stick to diet. Darren Johnston finds that clients who succeed with weight loss tend to balance their cravings with their calorie goal, simply put chicken, broccoli and rice everyday won’t work!
Now that being said you do need to prioritise protein, doing so will support muscle maintenance and help you stay satiated. Often overlooked by people, fibre is also needed, not only keeping your gut healthy but also supporting satiety. Similarly, make sure you get your fruits and vegetables in, during weight loss your nutrient intake may dip without this.
Tracking calories will help you stay on track so to start with you may want to weigh some food items out to help you understand what different numbers of calories may look like. However, make sure you don’t obsess over the scales and once you understand what different food amounts look like, put the scales away.
Finally, linking back to the opening point, the key thing Darren Johnston always preaches is balance. So, if you fancy a cookie, treat yourself. Staying motivated and consistent is number one way to lose weight so cutting out all the things you like simply won’t work.
Staying Active Throughout the Day
When people think about losing weight, they often focus solely on gym sessions, but the amount you move throughout the rest of the day can be just as important. Darren Johnston Sheffield encourages clients to look for simple opportunities to stay active, whether that’s walking instead of driving short distances, taking the stairs, standing up regularly during the working day, or fitting in a lunchtime walk. These small changes increase your daily energy expenditure and, when repeated consistently, can make a meaningful difference to long-term weight management.
For Darren Johnston Sheffield, building an active lifestyle is about creating habits that are realistic and sustainable, rather than relying on intense exercise alone. Increasing your daily step count, spending less time sitting, and finding ways to move more naturally throughout the day all contribute to better cardiovascular health, improved mobility, and greater calorie burn. When combined with regular exercise and a balanced diet, these everyday habits help create a healthier routine that’s far easier to maintain over the long term.
Build Consistent Exercise Habits
One of the biggest mistakes people make when trying to lose weight is doing too much, too soon. Darren Johnston Sheffield recommends building an exercise routine that fits your lifestyle rather than following an intense programme that’s difficult to maintain. Whether it’s strength training, running, cycling, swimming, or fitness classes, choosing activities you enjoy makes it easier to stay consistent and build lasting habits.
Darren Johnston Sheffield also advises combining resistance training with cardiovascular exercise to support fat loss and overall fitness. Strength training helps preserve lean muscle, while cardio improves heart health and increases calorie expenditure. By scheduling regular workouts, allowing time for recovery, and prioritising consistency over perfection, you’ll create a sustainable routine that supports long-term weight loss.
Monitor Progress and Adjust
Make sure that you track all that you can, don’t focus just on your body weight, check your measurements, and generally how you feel about your physique. Review your progress every 1-2 weeks; weight loss isn’t quick so checking daily won’t help your mental health and mood. Also, make sure to celebrate hitting your small milestones to stay motivated and consistent.
Overcome Setbacks and Plateaus
When your weight loss begins to plateau, it means your body has adjusted to the calorie deficit you’re in. At this point you should look at adjusting your calorie intake and possibly increasing output slightly.
When doing this make sure you don’t make too many drastic changes, your body needs time to adjust to avoid injury. Also, only make changes if you have noticed a weekly drop in weight loss, don’t make a change based on one bad day.
Maintain Your Results for the Long Term
Reaching your weight loss goal is a significant achievement but maintaining it requires the same consistent habits that helped you get there. Darren Johnston Sheffield encourages clients to continue exercising regularly, make gradual adjustments to their calorie intake where appropriate, and monitor their progress from time to time without becoming overly focused on the scales. Enjoying occasional treats in moderation is part of a balanced lifestyle, helping to make healthy eating sustainable rather than restrictive. By focusing on long-term habits instead of short-term diets, Darren Johnston Sheffield believes people are far more likely to maintain their fitness journey and enjoy lasting improvements to their health and wellbeing.