Staying consistent with your weight loss goals is the hardest part of maintaining weight loss results for the long term.
In today’s blog, we are going to talk about specific things that can help you stick to your weight loss goals.
When you first start out on your healthy eating journey, you are extremely motivated and you promise yourself that this is it. This time you will stay motivated and consistent and you won’t give up.
After a few weeks, that motivation dies off and you are left feeling bored, tired, and unmotivated.
How to Stay Consistent With Your Weight Loss Goals
Friday planning instead of Sunday planning
I used to plan for my upcoming week on Sundays but Sunday would roll around and I wouldn’t get it done. I like to use my Sundays to relax, do minimal work and spend time with my family. So it felt out of alignment to work on anything that wasn’t those 3 things I just mentioned.
Once I accepted the fact that Sundays just do not work for me or my lifestyle, I decided to change it up.
Every Friday before heading into the weekend, I sit down for 20 minutes and plan the upcoming week’s meals. I don’t always prepare the meals ahead of time – chopping, dicing, cooking – but I will ALWAYS plan the meals.
Just knowing what I am making for lunches and dinners throughout the week relieves me of so much stress and last-minute decision making.
So if you have a hard time planning your week’s meals, then take a look at the day you are trying to get it done.
Sometimes the days you have set to meal prep and meal plan just do not work with your current schedule.
You can plan at any time in the week that best fits your lifestyle.
Choose one day a week to meal plan and meal prep to help you stay consistent with your weight loss goals
Motivation and Weight Loss
Relying on motivation to lose weight and stay consistent with your healthy eating habits can quickly turn into excuse-making.
I talk about this all the time on my Instagram stories.
It’s not that you don’t have the time or resources to stick to your weight loss goals. How do I know that? Because when you WERE motivated, you found the time and resources to show up and do those things.
But the secret to weight loss, improved health and literally every other goal you have is staying focused and consistent no matter what.
Learn to adapt to the struggles and obstacles
Honor the struggle. The struggle and the obstacles are part of the journey.
How you adapt and grow from these struggles is the difference maker between those that find success and those that don’t.
Do not take the struggles and obstacles that you face along the way to mean that you are not worthy or incapable of finding success.
Coming up against obstacles and struggles is simply an indication that you need to learn to get better.
So remembering that the struggle is part of the journey and working your way through it IS the mindset you need to adapt to continue to grow and achieve your weight loss goals.
Strength Train
Studies show that strength training improves mood, energy and it helps you feel empowered. When you strength train, you gain muscle which helps you feel stronger.
That feeling releases happy hormones which makes you want to go back for more.
You can start with a few days a week of strength training and gradually add on to that as you start building your consistency muscle.
Strength training helps you stay consistent with your weight loss goals because when you build muscle, you burn more calories at rest throughout the day. This means that you have more flexibility with your eating habits because building muscle requires you to eat more. The goal of weight loss is NOT to eat less. You can lose weight and eat MORE calories a day when you focus on the right things like physical activity and eating more protein and fiber. Therefore building muscle helps with weight control and can prevent weight gain.
You can take strength training a step further and hire a personal trainer a few times a week in the beginning to help you with your form and help you achieve results quicker.
If you want to read more about how to lose weight by eating more and sustain it, click here.
Take pictures!
I highly recommend taking your measurements & a ‘before’ picture to keep track of your progress. Most of my clients take a picture two times per month to track progress and they are always amazed at how much progress they’ve made. We are human so we tend to forget and downplay how much we have actually accomplished, so taking pictures is a great way to remind you and even empower you.
Finally, take the time to celebrate your victories and all the milestones.
The points mentioned above are not solely for weight loss as you may have noticed. Meal planning, adapting to struggle and strength training are important for overall health and wellness.
Diet and exercise are definitely important when it comes to weight loss but they are not everything. Your mindset is going to play a huge role in your weight loss journey and your consistency. Also, drinking water, aiming for a certain number of steps and doing things you love and enjoy ALL counts!
Remind yourself that weight loss will not happen overnight and the changes made will need to be implemented for life. Therefore, implementing changes that align with your lifestyle and your schedule is going to be extremely important.