This might sound familiar. You decide to make a change, to get healthy, maybe lose weight. For the first few days, it’s great, and things are going really well.
But then suddenly one day doesn’t go to plan.
Maybe a holiday.
Or a goal achieved.
Some changes in the family.
Or external stresses from work or friends.
Everything can suddenly turn the wrong way … and it’s difficult to get back on track.
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Quickly one day away from your Plan for Weight Loss Success becomes a couple of days, a weekend, then a full week, and then…
… you’re slipping back into bad habits, reaching out for the ready-made food, the takeaway menu, the biscuits, crisps, and chocolates. Instead of planning and preparing and making the right decisions for food and exercise, we feel we’re right off the track.
Back to Square One with weight loss.
That’s another unsuccessful experience to add to all the other failures.
It’s frustrating, disappointing.
It’s a huge blow to your self-esteem and confidence.
Here’s a system that has worked for me, and hopefully will work for you too.
It definitely helps me achieve my goals with everything I do, not just health and weight maintenance.
The secret to Weight Loss Success
The secret to success with weight control is to always have 3 plans.
This will allow you to never set yourself up for failure. Some might say that this is rubbish and a way of getting away with things. But I disagree.
We are all human beings, and unfortunately, things, or life happens.
Let’s give you a concrete example.
Let’s say you want to lose 3st. To get this done you make yourself a Plan, and set yourself the following weekly goals:
- Get up early Monday, Wed, Fri, Sun to get some exercise done – either a walk, a workout, or a swim, in the morning
- Eat breakfast every morning before leaving the house
- Drink 2l of water a day
- Avoid sugar and alcohol except for Saturday evening when you like to meet friends
- Go to bed every evening during the week by 11 pm
But here’s what a normal pattern might look like:
Week 1: You’re doing really well. You’re so motivated that you even managed to say no to the doughnuts going round at work on Thursday.
Week 2: All went well till Wednesday. On Thursday you meet a friend and she’s celebrating her birthday. She invites you out for dinner that evening. The alcohol is flowing, the nibbles are out and you can’t resist reaching for the crisps. Then there’s a delicious dinner and more drinks. And you come home late. No way will you get up early to do exercise. You actually sleep in and forget all about breakfast.
You’re so tired you drink coffee all day long to keep you going and forget about the water.
Then it’s weekend, and you might as well give up, as you’ve blown it anyway. And start again on Monday (hopefully).
Week 3: You get up early on Monday, to find out your mum is poorly. You skip exercise and breakfast, as you’re lucky enough to have an emergency appointment at your GPs.
You have to look after her and you stay home for a few days. The TV goes on, and you spoil her with some biscuits and chocolate. Of course, you’re tempted yourself and give in.
Oh well, here goes another week…
But what if that didn’t happen. What if you had a different sort of structure.
What if you have 3 PLANS. That’s 2 pre-agreed backup plans.
You could have something like:
Plan A
Where all goes to plan, you manage to stick to your plan and goals 100% of the time.
Plan B
Where something happens at work, but you do a deal with yourself. You allow yourself that day only to go off track and skip the exercise the next morning if need be. But you still have breakfast and go for a walk during the day sometimes. There’s a lunch out with a friend, but you decide it’s just a blip. You’ll have only 2 glasses of wine, a handful of crisps, but no dessert/chocolate. Then get back on track with the rest of the week.
Plan C
On weeks where life just happens, you make sure you have your water every day, you go to bed early, and have healthy snacks at hand to keep going until life gets back to normal.
That feeling of “failure” disappears, as you still stick to something, one of your success measures.
You have set yourself up to win regardless of the circumstances.
I’d encourage you to do this for every goal you have. I use it myself as I think it’s fantastic. Decide upfront 3 levels of success, no matter what life throws at you.
Setting yourself up to WIN is key here.
Start thinking about what your A, B, and C days or weeks could look like and set yourself up for success, every day!
If you have failed so many times, and are lost as to how you could do this, and need some help, please do reach out to me for help.
Just email noelle@noellewatsonfitness.co.uk and say “help” and I will be right in touch with a complimentary call.
PS: This post has been adapted from something I read about morning rituals by Dexter Abraham.