If weight loss was easy everyone would do it.
When we say what we need to do to lose weight it all sounds so simple.
Stop eating so much chocolate
Stop late night snacking
Only drink alcohol once per week
Move more etc
What isn’t simple to change though is human behaviour, our behaviour.
So weight loss actually becomes a skill to work on and improve.
Like any new skill you probably won’t get it right straight away. It could take weeks, months or even years to achieve.
You wouldn’t start learning a new language and just expect to be fluent in a week so don’t expect you will be fluent in the habit of weight loss in a week either.
Your daily habits and behaviours are key and consistency is so important to your long term results.
Below are 5 tips from JW Fitness that will help you to embed new habits, lose weight and change your body.
Tip 1: Learn from your mistakes
You will get it wrong, multiple times in fact. Take a deep breath and learn from it.
Don’t expect to get it right the first time. Instead expect that you may get it wrong 100 times. Just remember that each time you get it wrong it is not a failure but a lesson to learn from. Providing you do actually learn from it and progress forward you were never actually wrong.
Tip 2: Be realistic
You will overestimate what you are able to do. This doesn’t make you a bad person, learn from it and set a more realistic target.
You will have done it in the past and I certainly have. We make the decision to lose weight and improve our fitness and we decide to:
Go gym 7 days a week
Give up chocolate
Give up alcohol
Give up bread
Cook every meal from scratch etc
Only to realise in a week's time we can’t possibly focus on all of that change. So rather than throw the baby out with the bath water, set a smaller target which just gives you ONE focus and nail that.
Tip 3: Adapt your plan
Your first plan will not be your last plan. Just because it works for a time doesn’t mean it will work forever.
You start with a plan and then life, as it always seems to do, throws you a curveball. That does not mean you need to quit. Your first plan will no longer work so change the plan. That may suit until something else changes and then once again you simply change the plan.
As long as you keep the goal, it does not matter how many plans it takes you to get there.
Tip 4: Track your progress
Use a calendar, in a prominent place, to track your habit. Every day you perform the habit mark it off to demonstrate you have stuck with it. Once you can see your 'marked off' days you will be less likely to miss the day as that would break the chain.
Tip 5: Trust the process
Remember, there are principles that govern weight loss. The main principle being calories in vs calories out (energy balance).
The method you choose to get you there is largely irrelevant. So if you are currently working on some habits that improve your day and getting results then just keep going. Don’t suddenly jump ship when a friend starts telling you about this magical diet they have used to lose a stone.
Work the methods that suit you and fit into your lifestyle.
I hope this blog helps and if you have started to make changes then whatever you do don’t stop. Keep pushing forward, keep getting it wrong and keep learning and this time next year you will have a completely different goal to now.
If you would like more help setting up your habits then reach out here:
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