What do you think is the biggest weight loss mistake that people make?
You may think it's eating too much or choosing the wrong diet.
Or maybe you think it's not exercising enough?
But there is another, far more fundamental mistake people make when trying to lose weight.
We so easily forget that we don't just want to lose weight, we also want to keep it off.
So, if you are trying to lose weight permanently, which I highly recommend, then it's really all about developing healthy habits.
It's not enough to just find a set of diet rules and follow them for a while and lose weight.
Maintaining your weight loss is crucial.
One thing we should all avoid is yo-yo dieting because it results in weight gain and it's also a lot of work and effort followed by disappointment.
So, if your goal is really to lose weight and keep it off (aka permanent weight loss), then if you think about it, following a strict diet is a bad idea! It's just not sustainable.
But developing a pile of healthy habits IS sustainable and it works!
The biggest weight loss mistake people make is failing to develop habits.
When it comes to long-term weight loss and weight maintenance, everything hinges on consistency.
You don't have to eat a perfect diet and you don't have to avoid all the bad foods right away.
You can slowly ease into it. This makes the process much more gentle, enjoyable, and sustainable.
And this is THE formula for developing healthy habits.
Start by ADDING nutritious food before taking away the stuff you want to avoid.
Then slowly remove the "bad" foods. But the goal is to do it VERY slowly.
Reduce the pain of change by moving at a snail's pace.
Jill Cruz
Why is everyone trying to lose weight fast?
I think it's because when we finally decide to take action we adopt an "all-or-nothing" attitude.
I have heard many clients say, "If I don't do it now I'll never do it."
I understand that desire to harness your motivation and I also understand that you are probably frustrated with the extra weight.
But the quick-fix stuff doesn't work for most people. It simply does not work.
And even many so-called "moderation" diets don't work in the long run because they are not about developing habits. They are just about "good" food and "bad" food.
Even if you can use your willpower for some time, eventually, you are going to want the "bad" food!
Eventually, you will get tired of the diet or life will hit you with stress or you will have an injury or you'll go on a long vacation.
Life happens!
And when it happens, those diet plans and "dos and don'ts" are the first to go!
Why?
Because they are not part of your identity.
We have to adopt habits that help us lose weight.
Eating well, being active every day, getting good sleep, managing stress well, and having a positive mindset are all HABITS.
They must become part of who you are and they must feel like natural activities that you don't think about, you just do.
This only comes by consistently practicing that new habit. Over and over and over again until it becomes second nature.
And only a select few rare people can develop more than one strong lifestyle habit at a time.
So, stop thinking of weight loss as a thing you "do".
Rather, it should be who you are.
Start to think of it as a process where you SLOWLY but surely build up habits. With the process being so gradual, you barely notice you're doing it.
And eventually, you think, "Wow, I just do that." I don't even have to think about it.
Now THAT is how you achieve sustainable weight loss!
So, in summary, stop dieting and stop looking for quick fixes for the complex process of losing weight and keeping it off.
Instead, find one easy change you can make and do that every day until it becomes habitual. And then find another easy thing to do and so on until you have a pile of healthy habits.
Sustainable weight loss is a by-product of having a pile of healthy habits and of improved health.
