You Will Fall off the Wagon

It is not a question of if - it is a question how quickly can you get back on.

You will fall of the wagon because you are only human, but do you get back next morning, next Monday, or a year from now?

When it happened to me, I used this rationalization: Well, I blew it, I might as well just eat whatever I want.

Unfortunately, with this kind of thinking, small lapses can turn into long relapses.

When this happens, we can undo a lot of positive effects of our weight loss efforts. It is key to get back to your weigh loss supporting behaviors as soon as possible.

Do not wait until tomorrow morning, next Monday, or January 1.

There are many ways to avoid success in life

There are many ways to avoid success in life, but the most sure-fire just might be procrastination. Procrastination is simply the process of putting off something that seems difficult. The bigger the challenge, the more difficult it seems and the more likely you will be to put it off. 

Everyone uses procrastination at some point in their life. Procrastination is all about putting it off until later. It is a learned habit that we create for ourselves to avoid something we are not willing or ready to do. Procrastination allows you to read the health magazines and continue to be inspired by others’ weight loss success stories. Then you focus your thoughts on all the reasons why today is not a good day to start. 

You need to adopt a new approach; “do it today”. This is easier said than done but writing the reason why you want to lose weight can really help you to focus on achieving it. When you are procrastinating this means your “why” is not important enough. 

Why do humans often procrastinate and in particular, why do overweight individuals put things off and do not try to fix their weight problem “sooner than later”? What do you think?

Doing it differently

There's this wonderful sense of renewal with the New Year, and it gives us hope that we will turn things around. 

January 1 inspires most of us to dream big. For many the New Year means a fresh start. On January 1 we make all kinds of promises that “starting tomorrow, things are going to be different.”

And while making the resolution to lose weight is easy, keeping it, can be a challenge. New Years’ resolutions rarely bring the lasting change that you hope for.

The number one resolution - losing weight - makes sense considering the epidemic of obesity and related diseases, and our genuine desire to look and feel better.

Take advantage of these moments of clarity at the start of the New Year and take actions that would commit you to making good decisions in the future.

When you are decide that losing weight is more important than what you are giving up, then you are ready for action and you will likely succeed.

Temporary changes = temporary results

Anything that requires change can be difficult. Yet, in order to learn and grow and make progress, you have to change.

Recognize that change is difficult and move on to decide what is more important to you, losing weight or continue to eat only the food that you like (no change).

Losing weight and keeping it off is not very easy. But there are ways to make it easier. It is still going to be hard work. There are no shortcuts. No temporary changes will create permanent results. Which means you need to change your perspective. It means you never get to be “done.”

The bottom line is always the same: to lose weight, we must consume fewer calories than we burn. To keep it off, we must adopt permanent lifestyle changes. Making a lifetime commitment is essential.

Truth, or more precisely, an accurate understanding of reality is essential foundation for any good outcome. Radical transparency is invaluable for rapid learning and effective change.

To begin effective change, you must see the change as being a necessity. If the change is just “nice to have”, it won’t be sustainable because anything “nice to have” is also “ok not to have”. The stronger your desire for the change, the more effective the change will be.

Environment matters

Environment is the invisible hand that shapes human behavior. You don’t have to be a victim of your environment. You can also be an architect of it. 

Do your kitchen clean out. Double check what you have in the fridge and pantry. 

Get rid of the bad stuff - soda, chips, candy, processed and sugary baked goods - and stock up your fridge with healthy food instead. Food like fresh fruit and vegetables, and lean proteins. 

There is something tremendously empowering about physically throwing away the things you are choosing to remove from your life. 

Environment matters, so make sure the best choice is the most obvious one. 

Making a better decision is easy and natural when the cues for good habit are right in front of you.