I see and hear weight loss stories everyday! Whether I am in my office, meeting a friend, spending time with family, or just someone who wants to share their own personal journey. Most people in your life, and maybe even you, have jumped from diet to diet. Who hasn’t? I was always the first to hop on a new diet fad, only to figure out it didn’t work. Was it really the fad diet that didn’t work or was it me? Looking back, I know the answer!
Most people initially lose weight on a new eating plan. It is exciting to start something new, and it is when 100% of people have the most motivation. Unfortunately, they don’t seem to be able to maintain the excitement or weight loss for the long term. Usually because they were not eating enough nutrients, doing some type of cleanse, or trying something that wasn’t meant to be for life. And losing weight and maintaining the loss is the requirement for a successful lifestyle change. Typically, we blame the program we tried for failing, or beat ourselves up for not sticking with it. That is the piece of the puzzle we need to change.
Most people who struggle with weight loss are actually really good at other parts of their lives. They may be extremely successful at their job, amazing at being a parent, do fantastic in school, and the list goes on and on! The frustrating part is why you can be so great at every part of your life except with weight loss! Losing weight and maintenance is a skill you have to develop over a lifetime. You have to constantly be practicing it. There is usually nothing wrong with the weight loss program you choose, it just wasn’t the right time for you to really persist long enough through the hard times to realize you would eventually see fantastic results.
Whenever we learn a new skill, it takes practice! Think back to the last new skill you learned. If you didn’t keep practicing, you would never have gotten better. You figured out why you were failing, and put your mind to it to succeed. The same goes for weight loss programs. It is never about avoiding the struggle. It is ALWAYS about seeing the struggles as opportunities for growth and learning how to navigate them. You have to push forward and you will grow! You find the parts that work for your own personality and lifestyle and then adjust to it. You make the program your own. Then you become the new habits you have created!
So many people expect losing weight to be easy. The second they download a new program or start a new eating plan, they want to see immediate results! So at the first sign of failure they run the other way. I get it! I have been there. But you have to let the perfectionist attitude go and understand that the struggle is a natural part of the transformation process. It takes time to create new habits, and you need to be patient to grow and change. Most of my successful clients are the ones who worked on themselves personally along their weight loss journey. They learned why they were always losing and gaining weight, or focused on what led them to gain weight in the first place.
The best advice I give my clients is to be consistent, be patient, and don’t focus on the scale! If you are fully committed to whatever journey you are on, work through the hard times and never give up! It is going to take time. Weight loss is a marathon, not a sprint. There will always be tough weekends, events, holidays, and just life that can slow your progress; but that doesn’t mean you are not still being successful on your path.
What you do today doesn’t always show up tomorrow! It has a cumulative effect over time! The more good choices you make, the more they become a habit! When you do have a stumble in the road, learn from it, let it go, and then move on! Keep pushing forward until you reach the next opportunity to tweak your program and grow. Every barrier you break through is one step further to success.
As my favorite motivational speaker once said, “FACE THE FEAR AND DO IT ANYWAY!” Losing weight is hard. It is scary. It takes work. And it most definitely takes time! Build a mountain of tools, not a pile of excuses. One of my most difficult clients once said, “It was only after I lost over 70 pounds with TheFittChick program and stopped jumping from program to program that I finally worked through my failures. It wasn’t easy! So many people think it’s as easy as following instructions, but it’s not. You’re going to mess up so just stick with it and work through it!”
I love that! I personally take a habit-based approach to weight loss. I try and work on one single key habit at a time and then layer new ones on top! It isn’t easy for people to face who they really are, and start to share why they may be struggling. Once you form a relationship with someone you can trust to help you, that is when the magic truly happens. Start building your weight loss skills today! Face who you are, and see what changes you can make to see results! Once you can get your mind in the game, everything else just falls into place!
Weight Loss Skills First. Strategies Second.
This is the essential difference between those who succeed at lasting weight loss and those who continue to struggle. Not only does it makes sense, but recent research studies have proven it. Quite simply, the skills you need to maintain weight loss are far different from those you need to lose it in the first place.
And in case you’re wondering, all of the skills needed can be easily learned. All that is needed is some tailored instruction, a little time and a willingness to practice. What skills do you need to develop before any other – and how to go about doing it? That is always the biggest questions! If you want to get started right away, simply give me a call or contact me directly.
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