January 20th is statistically known to be the day of the new year that most will give up on their new year’s resolutions. Having that be a day behind us, where are YOU with your weight loss right now? (I’m assuming you’re resolution is weight loss… I mean, why else are you here reading this?!). If you have been struggling to keep your resolve lately, if you have flirted with the idea of giving up, if that bowl of ice cream is just too goddamn difficult to say “NO” to, then this entry is written with you in mind! I am writing this begging you to remember why you started this journey in the first place.
Let’s get down to it. Losing weight is hard. It’s hard to find time to get to the gym, making healthier eating choices can be more costly and take more time to prepare, the list of excuses goes on. I’ve said them all to myself at one point or another. The thing you have to remember when it comes to significant, consistent, and life-altering weight loss is that consistency is always key. One of my favorite motto’s to live by is that “one meal won’t make you fat, just like one meal won’t make you thin”. It has never been about ONE meal you have eaten, its about all the meals you’ve eaten collectively that have gotten you to where you are now! The point of this entry is to help remind you that one indulgence will not (repeat) will not ruin your progress if you remain committed. (NOTE: This is not me giving you permission to go sugar crazy and still expect positive results). The important thing to remember is that you need to keep your decision to indulge to only ONE meal. How many times have you given up because you’ve already broken the ice? It was an all-time favorite excuse of mine! Consider this scenario:
I ate a decent breakfast, had a healthy morning snack, then lunch would come around and i would go through the drive-thru and order a couple of McDoubles. At that point, I felt so guilty- i had worked all morning and I really thought that this time was different. Well, now that I’ve broken my diet…I might as well REALLY enjoy myself now, right? It’s fine. I just wasn’t ready this time. I’ll try again on Monday.
WRONG!!!!! One poor food choice would not have affected my overall weight loss if I had limited it to that one trip to McDonald’s. It only affected my weight loss because I used it as an excuse to give up. Indulging at a meal or as a treat will not harm your weight loss unless you use it as a reason to sabotage yourself. That piece of chocolate will not halt your progress- giving up on yourself is the quickest and most efficient way to halt progress. Chalk your need for indulgence up to the fat kid inside you (if you must) but please never ever give up.
These poor choices can create a snowball effect- packing on more and more until it can become so overwhelming that it is easier to let go rather than fight against it. One of the reasons I believe i have been successful in my weight loss quest is because I will not allow myself to become victim to the snowball effect. I will constrain one bad eating choice to one meal, make better choices the next couple of meals, and work that much harder the next day to even the score. It’s a constant battle, but a battle worth fighting. Until next time, keep your snowballs at a minimum, friends!
