 Hi friends, welcome back to my channel and welcome if you're new here. My name is Jen. I'm a certified weight loss and nutrition coach and I'm on the WW or the Weight Watchers Blue Plan. It's 2021 so we need to talk about the 20 things that are my must-haves when it comes to my weight loss journey. So if you're excited for today's video please give it a big huge thumbs up and don't forget if you're not yet subscribed I would absolutely love to have you here on my channel so hit the little subscribe button and of course the bell next to it so you're notified when new videos are uploaded. Don't forget to check out the description box where I will link all 20 of the things that I share with you today. You will also find my custom 2021 calendar that was released for the new year. It's a game changer. You can track your monthly goals. There's daily boxes to check off each day for things like self-care and activity and staying within your calories or points. It's just a great tool to have moving into the new year. You'll also find my nutrition coaching website where I offer personalized to you macros and calories so that you know exactly where you should fall every day when it comes to macronutrients and calories. 30 and 60 minute coaching sessions are also available so definitely check out genclaytonnutrition.com. In the description box along with the 20 items that I'm sharing with you today you will find all of my other very very favorite things as well as my Facebook group. Another community we would love to have you join so head on over and join us. So we have a fun video today where we are talking my 20 must haves for weight loss so let's jump in. Barking on a weight loss journey. The first thing that you need to have is a plan. What are you going to do to effectively lose weight? As I mentioned I follow the Weight Watchers or the WW plan. I'm going to link Weight Watchers down below for you with one free month so if you're interested in checking out the program you can do it for free for your first month. You may also think about doing things such as calorie counting or macro counting. You may even gravitate towards low fat, low carb, or even a keto diet. Most importantly what you have to have in place is what plan you're going to follow. If you fail to plan you plan to fail so having a plan or a tool in place of what you're going to do to lose weight is numero uno on this list. Once you know what plan you're going to follow you need to set yourself up for some activity. Whether that is just simple walking around your neighborhood, maybe you want to join a gym, do some online workouts. Have a plan in place for what type of activity you want to do. Remember that weight loss starts in the kitchen and fitness starts in the gym. In fact you don't ever have to go to a gym to lose weight. It just helps build muscle, tone up your body, and just helps you effectively and easier see a weight loss on the scale. But it doesn't have to be a sweaty massive workout. It can be a simple walk around the block. Just have an activity in mind that you would like to start immediately or maybe after you get a little bit more comfortable, get a little bit of weight off where you can move a little bit more effectively. Just have an activity plan in mind. Next you'll need some sort of way to track your progress. There are a lot of free apps out there for tracking calories, things such as My Fitness Pal, Spark People, and the one that I prefer to use which is Lose It. Also when you join Weight Watchers you are given the WW app which helps you track your food. But you also need a way to track other things. What about the activity that you're doing? What about any other health goals that you have? Even things such as self-care or drinking your water. That's where my custom 2021 calendar comes into play. It is customizable to you. You select the goals that you have for the month, you track those on a day to day basis, and it's just a good visual tool to keep you on track and see your progress. Nothing is more rewarding than seeing on paper our progress. My calendar is linked down below for you. It is only $15 with free shipping. Ships same day so definitely set yourself up for success and have a way visually on paper in a calendar to track your progress. Now you need to plan your meals. What are you going to eat? So depending on the plan that you choose, now you need to think about what types of foods are you going to eat. You can do some research on the internet. You can find your favorite recipe blogs or websites. I also offer a WW calorie friendly meal plan every month. That's part of being in my Facebook group. So again I'll put my Facebook group right here for you. Of course we would love to have you, but I develop a meal plan every single month that contains 20 dinners for breakfast, for lunches, and for snacks or desserts. Calories and points are figured out for you for all the WW plans so that you can have a meal plan in place. All you have to do is buy the ingredients, follow the recipe, and prepare healthy meals to help you stay on track. So definitely have a meal plan ready to go. Have in mind what you're going to eat to be successful. We all need support. Whether it is in-person support, online support, we all need support when we're trying to lose weight. Sometimes our friends and family aren't our biggest supporters, so it's great to have a community in place of like-minded individuals. Again that's where YouTube comes in, my Facebook group, Instagram. There's a lot of places that you can seek support. Now if you are looking for more one-on-one direct support, nutrition and weight loss coaching is a great option. I'll definitely link my website down below for you guys. The same website you pick up the calendar on, you can have one-on-one coaching. But find a friend, find a community, find a support system that you can ask questions to lean on, even to vent when you're struggling, but having support in place is essential. Next you'll need a place to track your food, and again we talked about all of the apps out there. The Spark People, Fitness Pal, Lose It, all the apps of the world, even the WW app. But sometimes having a journal where you write down your food is a great way to kind of be able to look back and see what you ate on the weeks and the months that you were successful at losing weight, or maybe what you ate when you weren't as successful. So writing it down can be very beneficial. You can use anything, you can use a notepad, you can use my 2021 calendar to jot down your food, you can even buy food journals on places like Amazon. I'll link a few options down in the description box for you, but have a place where you can manually track your food or write down what you're eating. Again, it's a way to look back and see what you ate when you were and weren't successful in your weight loss. We touched on having an activity plan, but there are some tangible things for activity that are necessities. Number one is an activity tracker. If it is in your budget to pick up something like a Fitbit or an Apple Watch, it's great to have that on hand. It tracks your steps, your calories burned, your active minutes. So when you do work out, nothing is more rewarding than looking at your watch and seeing that you have 60 active minutes, that you know that your heart rate was elevated into an activity state for a sustained period of time. It also gives you the date, time and can even track your sleep. Now I know that these activity trackers can be a little bit pricey, but there are a couple of dupes on Amazon that are much, much more affordable. I'll link those down below for you guys. But don't forget about the Fitbits and the Apple Watches of the world. Again, if it works into your budget, it's just another nice visual to have to see your steps and your activity. A great pair of workout shoes is essential. Nothing is worse than doing a workout or going for a walk and having blisters or sore feet. Take a little bit of an investment in yourself and pick up a really good pair of workout shoes. There are places like Fleet Feet where you can actually go and they will custom pick shoes for you that fit your foot, the way you walk, the activities that you're doing, or just go to the store. Try on a bunch of different tennis shoes and find the ones that fit your foot that are comfortable and that will make you want to do the activity and won't lead to blisters or sore feet. Now how do you track your progress? How do you track that you're losing weight, gaining weight, staying the same? That's on a scale. So it's important to have a scale available. Now if you're someone who struggles with chronic weighing, that used to be me. No kidding, I used to take my scale with me when I traveled, whether it was to family or on vacation. If you are someone that gets addicted in a sense to the scale, maybe having one in your house isn't the best idea. But have a place where you can weigh in once a week, every two weeks, once a month, whether that be having a scale in your home or again having a place to do that, whether it's at a friend's or family or if you follow the Weight Watchers program, you can weigh in studio every single week. Now if you're someone that doesn't suffer from over weighing, having a weight scale at home is great. You can use it to track your progress. Just be mindful not to step on the scale every day, multiple times a day. Limit yourself to once a week or once every couple of weeks because the number on the box isn't always the best indicator of your success on your healthy lifestyle journey. It's just data. It's a number. There are a lot of other ways that we can see results, but having a scale available to you is essential. Another great way to track your progress, especially if you're someone who works out, is have a measuring tape on hand. There are some great options for measuring tapes. I'll put a few of them down in the description box for you. But when you're not seeing the number change on the scale, take your measurements because sometimes we're losing fat, not necessarily weight. There is a difference between weight loss and fat loss. Or if you're someone who does work out a lot, your body is going to morph and change as you lift weights, as you do cardio. And again, you may not see the number on the scale change, but you may see the measurements change. So it's another great way to track your progress. You don't have to take your measurements more than once a month. But again, use that as a tool in addition to the scale. Water is essential for weight loss. It's very, very important to drink your water. If you follow my channel, you know that I drink a gallon of water every single day, sometimes even more than a gallon of water. Have some sort of a vessel to drink your water from. I will link my favorite gallon water bottle down below for you. I've mentioned before that I just keep that in the fridge and then I fill up a smaller water bottle, like this one, throughout the day so that my water continues to be cold. I'm very much a cold water drinker. So by leaving the big gallon in the fridge and then filling up a smaller cup, it keeps my water cold throughout the day. But I also know when I've hit my gallon because that big bottle in the fridge is empty. Have something pretty and fun and enticing so that you'll drink your water every single day, whatever your water goal may be. And remember, you can track your water goal on the 2021 calendar. I also mentioned that I have a protein goal every day. Protein is essential for feeling full and satisfied in weight loss. And having a protein powder on hand is a staple. Whether you're putting that in things like oatmeal to make oatmeal or you're mixing that into a smoothie or you're even baking with protein powder to give yourself some protein in your meals, a good powder is very, very important. My favorite is Livewell. It is a plant-based protein. It is not your mom's plant-based protein though. It is not chalky. It doesn't have a weird texture or aftertaste. But what I love about Livewell is it has 17 to 23 grams of protein per scoop, one to two smart points and it's complete protein. So it has all of its nutrients intact and even gives you amino acids, which are another essential nutrient for your body. I'm also going to link a couple of my other non-favorite plant-based proteins for you. But have a protein powder or two on hand when you need protein in a pinch or when you want to just add that little bit of protein to whatever it is that you're making. Let's talk some tools that we find in our kitchen for weight loss. A food scale is number one. Do not, I repeat, do not go on a weight loss journey without a food scale. It is much more accurate to measure on a scale than even in measuring cups and spoons. And believe it or not, you tend to get a little bit more bang for your calorie or points buff when you weigh it out on your food scale. Food scales are affordable. Generally you can find them for $30 or less. I love my Red Rock scale. It has all of the different measurement tools like milliliters, pounds, ounces and grams. And it's pretty, it's a bamboo cover and it works really, really well. Another thing to look for with a food scale besides it being aesthetically pleasing and having all of the different ways to measure your food is find a scale that has a solid battery life. I've had a few scales that I go through batteries every month. Now the one that I like, my Red Rock, I have had for months and have never changed the battery. So again, there's different options for food scales, different price points. Of course, I'll link a few including my favorite down in the description box. And on the line of a food scale, let's talk measuring cups and spoons. Even though my preferred method for measuring is a food scale, I do use measuring cups and spoons a lot in cooking. So have a set or two on hand. You can find really affordable measuring cups and spoons at the dollar store. You can buy some fancier ones. I tend to lean towards the ones that are cute, that I want to gravitate towards. I have at least four to five sets of measuring spoons and cups on hand at all times. You can even leave the measuring devices in the product if that makes your life a little bit easier. Head over to the dollar tree, pick up a whole set of measuring cups for a dollar and leave the one cup or the half a cup in your flour or your oatmeal. That way it's there and it's ready for you to make it convenient. And the more convenient it is, the more likely you're to measure your food. Meal prepping is another great way to set yourself up for success. To have foods within your healthy lifestyle available to you. I meal prep every single Monday and that's what I eat for breakfast, lunch and snacks for the entire week. Meal prep containers are essential. You have to have a place to put your meal prep and if you have these meal prep containers that come in all different sizes including two or three divided containers and bowls, they're microwave safe, they're dishwasher safe. It's just a great way to have your meal prep pre-portioned out and ready to go. I have had these same meal prep containers for about two years. I use them every single week. I bought them on Amazon. They're affordable. I have the two compartment, three compartment and the bowls and again I use them every single week and I've had them for several years and they've held up really really well. Moving into 2021, we may just might be able to go back to work and whether you work from home or work in an office or outside of the home, having a lunchbox is another great tool. It's somewhere to put your lunch every single day to take with you. Even though I don't work outside the home, I am a realtor so I show property so I still have a lunchbox. I spend time in my real estate office. I'm out showing houses, going to closings. I'm out running around, doing shopping so I take my lunchbox with me everywhere. That way I have my lunch with me and that's the key takeaway here. Instead of having to stop at a fast food restaurant or a gas station, set yourself up for success and have your healthy lunch, your meal prep with you when you're leaving home. I just put an ice pack in the bottom of my lunch bag, pop it in the front seat of my car and I have my healthy options with me at all times. I prefer a lunch bag but I'll link a couple different options in the description box for you. Another great tool are smaller plates. I don't know about you but I'm a volume eater. I want as much food as I can get for my calories and for my points. So when I have a big dinner plate with a little amount of food on it, it just doesn't seem to be satisfying. So what I will do is I will buy smaller plates, load them up with that same portion of food and I feel like I'm getting a lot more. It deceives my mind in my eye when I'm using a smaller plate. So I tend to eat a lot of my meals on the salad plates versus the dinner plates. The last three items I want to share with you are small appliances or things that I use on a daily and weekly basis to prepare my food. Number one is a blender. I'm a big, big proponent of smoothies and protein shakes. I have two blenders. I have a full-size Vitamix blender and then I have a Magic Bullet or a Ninja Blender, a smaller one that makes a single serving protein shake. So depending on what I'm preparing in my blender, I like to have the option of having a personalized small one and a large full-size high-speed blender on hand. I will link both the ones that I have down in the description box. I find they both serve different purposes. So again, I like to have both of them available to me. Next is an air fryer. I can't tell you how many times a week I use my air fryer. And again, I have two different air fryers. I have a very small personalized one that makes enough air fried food for one or two people and then I have an oven style air fryer, which is better suited for a family or a mass amount of food. So I find myself using my little copper chef air fryer when I'm just warming something up for myself or for just me and my husband. And then I have the Omo Oven Style air fryer, which by the way is also a rotisserie chicken cooker and a food dehydrator. I love my Omo air fryer so much. I have that when I want to make a larger amount of food or when I want to cook a chicken on the rotisserie or dehydrate fruits or vegetables. But I think having an air fryer on hand is super essential. Who doesn't love fried food? And if we can make a healthier version of it at home, whether it's in a small air fryer or an oven style air fryer, having an air fryer is key to having delicious fried food for less calories and point. And last but certainly not least is an instant pot. This is something that I bought a couple of years ago and is another thing I use one to two times a week. It is so easy and convenient. You literally throw everything in the instant pot, set it and within minutes you have a meal. The thing I love about an instant pot is it's a one pot cleanup. All I have to do is clean my instant pot insert and it makes my meals quick and easy. Keep in mind that the meal itself only takes a few minutes to cook in the instant pot, but it does take time to warm up and to release the pressure. So it does take a little bit more than the minutes that are in the recipe. I have a six quart instant pot, which I find is the perfect size for a small or medium sized family. They do make smaller and larger instant pots as well, but my six quart does the trick for me. And again, I use it several times per week. And as an honorable mention, I want to talk about my slow cooker or my crock pot. This is another tool I use a lot, but I didn't include it in the top 20 because a lot of the instant pots these days are dual purpose. There are a crock pot or a slow cooker and an instant pot. So if you don't have either a slow cooker or an instant pot, you can get the one that does both. But I love my slow cooker. I use it again several times a week, definitely in the colder months to make really good hearty meals. Or if I'm super busy and I know that I'm not going to have time to prepare a whole meal, I throw it in the crock pot and when I come home, my meal is ready to go. So highly recommend that as well. I like the ones that have the digital dials that you can set the time and that turn off and turn to the keep warm function automatically. That way you're not burning your food in the crock pot all day. And if you are cooking things like rice or pasta, it doesn't get too mushy. So I will link my crock pot down below for you guys as well. So those are my top 20 essentials for weight loss. I'm again going to link everything down in the description box that we talked about today. And just a side note, make sure that you're staying within your budget. Don't overextend yourself. You don't have to have any of these things to be successful in weight loss. The only way to lose weight is calories in versus calories out. These are just nice tools to have to help keep you accountable, to track your success and to be able to be prepared to create healthy meals. But again, stay within your means within your budget and you can buy a little bit over time. I highly recommend the 2021 calendar. So if you enjoyed today's video, please give it a big huge thumbs up. It lets me know that these are the types of videos I should continue to put out in 2021 here on my channel. And if you're not yet subscribed, I'd love to have you make sure you hit the little subscribe button and of course the bell next to it. So you're notified whenever new videos are uploaded. Check out the description box for again, for all of the items I mentioned today, as well as the 2021 calendar, my nutrition coaching website, links and discount codes to all of my other favorite things. And my Facebook group definitely head over and join us there. Another great source for support. Thank you guys so much for watching. Here's to the best 2021 ever. And I'll see you next time. Bye.