Are you looking for a healthy and effective way to drop extra pounds? You’re not alone! With the rising popularity of health crazes and fitness workout plans, there are thousands of people around the world starting to develop their own methods for weight loss and overall fitness. However, if you’re just starting your journey, it may be tough to know where to begin. There is so much information out there that it’s easy to get overwhelmed by the advice. What kind of diet is best? What cardio should you focus on for weight loss? Which fitness equipment is designed for your goal?
Don’t let yourself get overwhelmed. The best way to begin your weight loss journey is by learning from other people. Thanks to YouTube, a plethora of informational and inspiring channels exist to motivate and excite others about their personal journey to weight loss. If you’re looking for a place to start, follow this beginner’s guide and then check out some of our favorite YouTube channels for even more inspiration, tips and ideas on how to navigate your own experience.
Where to Start
Set a Concrete, Attainable Goal for Yourself
So, you’ve decided that you want to start losing weight and focus on a healthier lifestyle. While this is an excellent goal to have, sometimes just simply telling yourself that you’d like to lose weight is not enough. The best way to begin your plan is by setting a realistic, detailed goal. You don’t have to come up with the ultimate fitness goal right away—you can always alter your intentions as you progress along your journey. But, when you’re just starting out, it helps to have a specific objective. Do you want to lose 10 lbs., 20 lbs., even 50 lbs. or more? Are you trying to cut sugar or processed foods out of your diet? Once you’ve determined these specific goals, write them down. If it helps, you can create a few goals at once—one specific to the amount of weight you’d like to lose and another targeting changes in your diet.
Make Your Weight Loss Goals A Part of Everyday Life
Now that you’ve established what exactly you’d like to get out of your weight loss journey, it’s time to make this part of your regular routine. Write your goal on a piece of paper and keep it next to your bed so that every morning you’re reminded of it and motivated to keep working towards your objective. Others find it helpful to keep notes near items they use every day or things they want to avoid. Trying to cut down on sugar? Leave yourself a note near your desserts and snacks reminding yourself of your daily limit.
Another helpful method for some is creating a weight loss mantra that they can repeat when they’re tempted to ignore their goals or skip a workout day. Create something simple and personal. For example, fitness author Mitzi Dulan likes using the phrase “delicious can mean nutritious” as a reminder to eat healthy foods. Developing a few easy sayings like this can help push you through tough times or motivate you to continue your journey.
Inspiring Personal Weight Loss Journeys on YouTube
Cody in Progress
A 24-year-old man, Cody started his YouTube channel Cody in Progress at the beginning of 2018 when he weighed 300 pounds and decided that it was time for him to follow through on his yearly resolution to lose weight. In the past, Cody says he weighed about 220 pounds, but as many of us know, over time as life starts to get more hectic and you become less active, it’s easy to let your body gain weight.
In his first video, Cody talks about how he was inspired to start his channel after watching a different personal weight loss YouTube video by someone with the same name. After this experience, he decided it was time to take matters into his own hands and hold himself accountable for his weight loss. Hearing someone else’s story helped Cody commit to his own journey and now he’s lost more than 50 pounds over the course of eight months.
If you’re looking for inspiration yourself, you can follow along with Cody to learn more about his experience. He believes that his channel is different from other weight loss YouTube videos because he began his videos at his baseline weight before he truly committed to change. This makes his story even more compelling as you follow along through the months.
If you’re interested in his channel, you’ll also find tons of other helpful resources, like how to create an at-home gym, the best way to clean barbells and even protein shaker product reviews. During Cody’s weight loss journey, he discovered the Ice Shaker protein bottle and has integrated it into his regular diet, which includes many protein shakes.
Obese to Beast
The Obese to Beast YouTube channel was designed to create an online community for people trying to lose weight. John David Glaude, the owner of the channel, started his journey at 360 pounds when he was 20 years old. At first, he didn’t make his experience public aside from random posts to his personal Instagram, but once his friends started telling him that he was inspiring their own fitness goals, he began posting to the channel in the hopes of helping others.
Now, three years later, he’s dropped more than 170 pounds and has more than half a million YouTube subscribers. For some serious weight loss inspiration, check out his channel, which includes personal stories, topical discussions on fitness-related news and sample workouts.
Lose it Like Lauren
Documenting her journey for more than six years, Lauren Mae has dropped 147 pounds since the start of her journey. Though her channel usually only adds a few new videos per month now, she has a huge collection of inspirational and informative videos. Her realistic approach to weight loss helps viewers to relate her experience to their own. Intended to motivate others, her videos don’t sugarcoat the process.
On her YouTube channel, you’ll find videos like “I’ve Gained Weight and It’s Time to Change!” to show people that it’s okay if your weight loss plan gets tough and helps encourage people to get back on track. You’ll also be able to watch videos on other topics like nutrition, testing out a vegan diet and easy, healthy lunch meals.
Nichelle Laus
The owner of Optimum Training Centre in Toronto, Nichelle Laus started her own YouTube channel to provide tips, tricks and experienced advice on how to lose weight and stick to a training schedule. As a personal trainer and transformation coach, Laus has a lot of experience working with a range of people who have had all different types of fitness goals.
Check out her channel for instructional videos on mastering specific workouts and techniques. When the Gronkowski brothers and their dad took a trip to Toronto to visit her gym in 2018, she created a video to test out Rob Gronkowski’s personal circuit workout to show people how to apply it to their own exercise routines.
Gravity Training Zone
Gravity Training Zone
Run by a group of fitness experts, the Gravity Training Zone channel is an excellent resource for ideas on workouts. Their videos regularly cover topics like foods to help you lose belly fat, muscle-building mistakes, morning habits to prevent weight gain and KETO diet tips. Along with their helpful advice, the owners of the channel often highlight people who have been following their weight loss plans. These videos allow for insight into the journey of others, which can be both inspiring and useful for your own experience.
Danny Gets Fit
Since 2014, Danny Holding-Mabley has dropped 140 pounds. If you’re at the very beginning of your weight loss journey, you should scroll back to some of his early posts to hear about his intentions and how he motivated himself to stick to an exercise plan and see results. More recently, he decided to shift his focus from weight loss to muscle gain. If you’re interested in learning how to bulk up after dropping extra pounds, he offers sage advice on switching the types of exercises you practice and teaches important lessons about the difference between losing weight and building muscle.
Before and After Weight Loss Success Stories
Possibly one of the most inspiring fitness channels on YouTube, the Before and After Weight Loss Success Stories page posts more than a hundred stories from real people who have journeyed through the weight loss process. Sometimes there’s nothing more inspiring than hearing about other people who have gone through the same experience as you.
This can help you realize that you are not alone in your struggle, and you can make a change no matter how radical it may seem. With so many videos spanning all different experiences, you can work your way through every video from the beginning or select ones that you feel you connect with. Then get out there and start writing your own weight loss story!
The Butterfly Effect—Plant-Based Weight Loss
On this YouTube channel run by Heather Goodwin, you can watch one woman’s adventure to a healthier lifestyle using a method she calls The Butterfly Effect. Each Wednesday, she posts a video titled “Weigh in Wednesday” to update viewers on her progress. If you enjoy her channel, you can join her journey and commit to your own weigh-in Wednesday to track your progress alongside her.
Through her self-developed program, she focused on a plant-based diet and rigorous workout routine that allowed her to drop 238 pounds from her original weight of 436 pounds. Amazing and inspirational, Goodwin’s experience is relative and useful for anyone seeking advice on weight loss.
Even More Weight Loss Tips
While all of these channels are an excellent source of inspiration, motivation and advice, there are thousands of other resources and videos out there for you to discover. We’ve rounded up a few common weight loss tips to help you get started on your journey.
- Start your morning off with a nutritious protein shake to cut calories while fueling your body for the day.
- Commit to a regular workout plan and try to aim for at least four days in the gym, but don’t forget to give yourself at least one to two rest days.
- Try to cut all processed sugar and food from your diet.
- Integrate at least one salad per day into your meal plan.
- Get plenty of rest. Sleep is vital to a healthy, fit lifestyle.
Start Your Own Weight Loss Journey!
After watching some of these amazing personal weight loss journeys on YouTube, it’s time to start your own process. If you felt inspired to document your own experience, create a YouTube channel to share it with the world, or simply start a journal or blog just for yourself. Many people find that writing or recording their experience keeps them motivated and committed to the process, and there’s nothing as satisfying as being able to visibly see your progress.
