Before embarking on my health journey, I had a lot of practice runs. Countless “diets” that crashed and burned, a few short-lived stints of exercise, some at-home fitness DVD’s and everything in between. The truth is, anything that I tried that didn’t fit into a lifestyle for me, simply didn’t work. After hearing a lot of others’ struggles, sharing my own, and reading lots of health coaching tips and guidance, I came up with this shortlist of categorized reasons why a new weight loss plan is (likely) destined to fail you.
1- You failed to Plan.
How many times have you woken up, snoozed your alarm a handful of times, then spent the next 45 minutes rushing around your house like a mad person trying to prepare for your day? How many of those rushed mornings have you thought “I should have packed my bag last night” or ” maybe that SIXTH snooze wasn’t necessary…”
Bottom line, if you intend to make a lifestyle change, you need to PREPARE for it. Maybe that means looking up some nutrient-dense (or healthier) recipes to prepare for the week, printing them out, and creating a folder or binder as a “go to”. Perhaps you need to meal prep or portion for the week… or maybe you just need to look up some restaurant menus ahead of time to be sure you have OPTIONS. Either way, If you’re not prepared to embark on this new lifestyle, old habits will begin to seep in.
2- You planned to fail.
I know this one well. The first gym I belonged to as an adult, I chose because it was cheap and I actually thought “well, when I stop going, it’s not like i’ll be losing a lot of money”.
I don’t mean that you’re self-sabotaging intentionally (although, been there-done that!) but, if you start a new health routine that is a drastic change to your current lifestyle and have a defined end date you are setting yourself up for a binge-fest.
After the first few days, your magical-motivation-pixie-dust wears off, you may experience some withdrawal symptoms, and you begin to think about all of the cheesy or chocolaty pick-your-poison CHEAT MEALS you are going to have the MINUTE you wuss out, or as soon as your “diet” comes to an end. At that point, you’re back to square one.
If your goal is to create lasting, meaningful changes to your body it needs to be a slow process. It should become a part of your lifestyle; not just the diet you’re on but the diet you eat for life.
3- You Haven’t Told Anyone
(….and are, therefore, planning to fail)
I know, This is harsh. But hear me out…. if your health goal is intimidating or scary enough that you aren’t willing to admit it out loud, then you haven’t really considered points #1 and #2. I will admit to being a bit hypocritical here. I kept my health journey private for the first few months…but did share my goals with a very close inner circle. Yes, Health goals and weight loss are very personal and sensitive areas to talk about. But, true growth comes not from adding on, but from letting go.
Take ownership of your decision to put yourself first and tell someone!
If you are committing to create this new lifestyle, your support system needs to know about it! So what if you’re social circle isn’t on the “health train” ? If they are YOUR social circle, they care about your goals and will respect your need to make some healthier choices with food, or to be more active.
Sometimes, the support of that social circle is what will carry you through the hard times. If you have a group of people to be accountable to, rooting for you, and helping along the way, it’s another source to keep you moving forward on the path
4- You have an “All or Nothing” Mentality
Alright. You’ve heard this before, but I’m here to echo it for the millionth time: When it comes to weight loss and lifestyle change: consistency. is. key (and also king). I could use a hundred more cliche’s to get the point of cross, but I won’t; i’ll just use one: One bad meal will not make you unhealthy, much like one good meal will not make you healthy.
If you start your new program with the idea that you will have ZERO slip-ups or NO room for error, you’re setting yourself up for some heartache. Do not fool yourself: you are going to want chocolate. You may want to skip the gym. Maybe you’ll want some pancakes at breakfast. Make your choice, and then MOVE ON.
Let me ask you this, if you walked up to your car and realize a tire was flat, would you slash the other three for good measure? HELL NO! You’d slap a spare on there (or say HEYYY AAA!) and move the hell on with your life. Expect that there are going to be some challenges and give yourself grace in those moments.
5- You Fear Failure.
The simple truth here is that, as humans, we have a tendency to expect complication. We expect it so much, in fact, that we often create complication out of fear of failure. Think about that. How often have you started a project: eating better, going to the gym, applying for a new job, or (insert other scary goal here) only to throw in the towel after your FIRST set back ? Did you really fail in that moment, or did the fear or total failure hold you back?
Do not let your fear of failure paralyze your craving for change.
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Not all weight loss plans are equal. It’s important for you to know your body, your limits, your needs, and do your best to stay true to it. Ultimately, the plan you put in place for the goals you want to achieve is simply a tool. Indeed, choosing the wrong tool could mean failure is a reality. Do not let this discourage you, friends: Failure is where resiliency, growth, and strength is forged.
