5 Things I’d Do Differently If I had to Lose Weight from Scratch

Afrogirlfitness before and after weight loss

My Before and After Weight-loss

When I first started trying to lose weight, I thought it meant strict diets (broccoli and chicken breast!), intense workouts, and constant discipline. Over time I realised that many of the things I believed about weight loss weren’t actually the most effective or sustainable.

as someone who has lost quite a bit of weight, here are the top things I’d do differently if I had to lose weight from scratch.

I’d Walk More — Because Walking Is Underrated

For a long time I thought weight loss had to mean intense workouts or long gym sessions. But walking is easily one of the most underrated and sustainable ways to burn calories and move your body. Now I realise that consistent daily movement like walking can make a huge difference over time.

If I had known then what I know now about walking, I would have started my fitness/weight-loss journey sooner.

Looking back to the weeks leading up to my wedding (15 years ago), I remember friends commenting on how much weight I’d lost. I just put it down to wedding stress. There was a lot to plan and coordinate, no doubt. But in hindsight I also spent a lot of time power walking around sourcing clothes, jewellery, and vendors during my lunch breaks and office hours.

The stress of getting back to the office in time and speed walking between shops for weeks did the trick. I’d literally feel sweat trickling down my back.

When I went on my weight-loss journey years later after having two kids, the common misconception I bought into was that unless I was running or doing high-intensity workouts, I somehow wouldn’t burn fat or lose weight.

It’s not that high intensity is bad. It’s just that when you’re starting out, you need to build your physical capacity first.

If you’ve been sedentary — or a self-certified couch potato — going straight into highly intense exercise can very quickly make you feel like the fitness lifestyle is not for you. Meanwhile, you’ve simply rushed into it.

Walking allows you to build up your fitness in a way that doesn’t have your body screaming stop.

Walking builds your cardiovascular capacity, muscular endurance, and motivation to keep going. With walking you recover faster, and faster recovery allows you to show up more consistently.

And the more consistent you are, the faster you’ll see results. When you see results, you want to keep going.

It becomes a positive feedback loop that then leads to better choices like:

“Hey, this walking thing works… what if I start eating more vegetables?”

You see where I’m going with this.

So yes, walking would definitely be my starting point. It’s accessible, low-stress on your body, and something you can do every day.

2. I’d Focus on Nutrition, Not Just Eating Less

Weight loss, in my mind, used to be synonymous with eating less… actually going hungry.

But weight loss cannot be sustained in a hungry body.

Your body will fight back and demand those calories the moment you give in. You’ll become ravenous and probably end up gaining the weight back because your body isn’t sure when you’ll eat again.

We’ve seen this many times with women who put themselves through overly restrictive diets, only to end up piling the weight back on — and sometimes more.

This is biology. The basic function of your body is to keep you alive.

What people often mean when they say “eat less” is really portion control and increased nutrition.

So instead of eating less food, you need to eat more nourishing food and then measure your portions.

If I were starting again, I would have approached dieting as “more nutrition” — eating foods that help my organs work optimally — because I want to be healthy, not just smaller.

The former is empowering because you are at the centre of the process. The latter often centres an arbitrary body ideal that may not have any real connection to your health at all.

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Now I see it differently. Instead of focusing on eating less, I focus on eating better.

More vegetables.
More fibre.
More balanced meals.

Tip: Choose a few healthy meals that are easy to make and you don’t mind repeating.

Weight loss becomes much easier when you’re properly nourished because you’re less likely to feel deprived or overeat later.

3. I’d Shift My Mindset to “More” Instead of “Less”

The language we use with ourselves matters.

Instead of thinking in terms of restriction, I’d focus on strength-based habits.

The idea of strength-based habits comes from my background as a behaviour change practitioner. Strength-based habits focuses on what people are building, not what they are lacking.

And it works in the same way with weight loss.

The language you use is either motivating you or demotivating you. So instead of saying “I want to lose weight,” try saying “I’m gaining health.”

Even that small shift in language makes you sit up a little straighter.

Tune your mind to the person you’re becoming — your new identity — and let that motivate you.

Your habits shift to:

More time moving
More vegetables
More awareness of how my body feels
More consistency with healthy habits

And in the process you become:

More disciplined
More confident
More aligned with your internal messaging
Stronger
More ambitious

It can also help to consume the kind of content from people you want to become like. Vision-board the highest version of yourself: what outfits she wears, the lifestyle she leads, how she eats.

Another exercise I find helpful when setting a new goal is choosing three words that describe how I want to feel once I’ve achieved it.

Because for many people — including myself — we may start off wanting to lose weight, but we keep going because of who we become in the process and how it makes us feel.

4. I Wouldn’t Wait to Strength Train

A lot of people think they should lose weight first and then start strength training.

I was in this boat too — hence the HIIT workouts, treadmill sessions, running, and P90X.

Now I realise that approach is a bit like taking the stairs to weight loss when you could just take the lift.

If I were starting again, I’d absolutely devote two to three days a week to strength training from the beginning.

So if we apply the 80/20 rule, I’d start with daily walking and add 2–3 days of strength training each week.

Don’t worry too much about hitting 5k, 10k, or 20k steps. That can become a distraction. Just build the habit of daily walking and you’ll eventually find your own sweet spot.

The thing with strength training is that it helps you build muscle, which increases your metabolism and helps your body burn more calories over time.

It also shapes your body in ways cardio alone simply cannot.

Cardio burns calories during the workout, but strength training continues to support calorie burn even after the workout as your body repairs and builds muscle.

And beyond weight loss, it’s incredibly empowering to realise that you can sculpt your body through strength training.

No need for Dr. Miami.

5. I’d Plan My Meals and Workouts

Failure to plan is planning to fail.

When you set out to lose weight, you need to go into it like you’re preparing to win a war. Have a goal — and have a plan.

Have you ever found yourself throwing away vegetables midweek because you never had a plan for them?

Planning doesn’t guarantee you’ll never waste food, but you’ll likely waste much less if you plan ahead.

Evidence also shows that people who plan their habits are far more likely to follow through with their goals.

So plan your meals and plan your workouts for every day of the week. It helps to have it written or printed somewhere visible.

One thing that makes healthy habits easier is removing the guesswork.

If I were starting again, I would:

Plan my workouts for the week
Plan meals in advance
Focus on balanced nutrition across the week

Every meal doesn’t have to be perfect. Instead, I’d think about balance over time.

For example:

Some days could be meat-free.
Some meals could focus on beans or plant protein.
Some days could prioritise walking.
Other days could focus on strength training.

Just like training, nutrition works best when it’s balanced across the week.

To round up…

If I were starting my weight-loss journey again, I wouldn’t chase extremes.

I’d focus on simple habits I could repeat consistently — walking more, eating better, building strength, and planning ahead.

Because dropping a dress size isn’t about doing everything perfectly.

It’s about building habits that actually last.

5 Things I’d Do Differently If I had to Lose Weight from Scratch

I’d Walk More — Because Walking Is Underrated

2. I’d Focus on Nutrition, Not Just Eating Less