The Tribune

Health coach Ethan Quant, of Elite Wellness Solutions, has succeeded in his weight loss journey and now wants to share his methods with the Bahamas in an effort to foster a culture of wellness and conquer the obesity epidemic.

I am like most people who are struggling with weight loss. It was so hard for me to stay on programmes, regardless of how foolproof they were. One thing I was good at was setting a start date though. I could come up with the perfect start date to begin my body transformation. Whether that was New Year's, right after Easter, or in time for summer or right after the holidays..:sometimes it was the first of a particular month or a Monday; that was actually most often when I would start, on Monday.

And a funny thing, I started my weight loss journey for the last time on Monday November 12, 2012. I remember that day clearly because that was the day that I decided no matter how long it took, I would get my dream body.

So I shared that to say that the only perfect time to start your journey is right now. You don't need any more time, money or motivation than what you have right now to start.

We get so caught up in all of the reasons why we can't start that we never get started, or we get so caught up in waiting for the perfect time that so much to time passes and we do nothing. I know that you are going to have no shortage of motivational quotes and memes flooding your social media timelines about how you still have the six months left in 2019 to achieve your weight loss goals. So I am not going to add to that.

What I am going to do is remind you of some key and very practical steps that you can take right now to get you moving.

1. Set SMART goals

Remember, SMART stands for Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, Timebound. Make sure your goals touch all of these points.

2. Start small

You can never set the bar too low, so start small by setting targets that you are certain you can hit given your current schedule, budget and motivation level. And once you hit them, celebrate your wins and move on.

3. Don't be too hard on yourself

We really ride ourselves hard a lot of times. I know I do. I have to remember that it's a process and that I will "fall off" sometimes, and that's OK, as long as I get back on and keep moving forward.

4. Be patient

We live in a microwave society now. We want everything fast - money, love, and of course, our dream body. But you didn't build the body you have now in 30 days, so chances are your aren't going to build your dream body in 30 days either, so be patient but be consistent.

Remember the race to good health is a marathon not a sprint. If you need help navigating this or any other aspect of your health wellness and fitness journey feel free to reach out to me.

• If you need help navigating any part of your health, wellness and fitness process, you can contact Ethan Quant at ethan@elite-wellnesssolutions.com or on Instagram at @ethanquant.