How to Jump Back on the Weight Loss Wagon When You’ve Fallen Off

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Losing weight and choosing to eat clean is not a short-term goal. It is a lifestyle change that you make the decision to do continuously with no end date. With that in mind, it is important to remember that some days you will mess up. The longer you continue working on eating right, the easier it will become. With continued effort, it will result in fewer mess ups or cheat days.

As you begin working to make healthier choices you may still have a long way to go before reaching your goal, but you will find yourself a lot more mindful of your choices. More often than not you will begin to make conscious decisions to eat right. Creating that habit will also make you think about your mess ups before doing them.

Turning Things Around

Find an accountability partner and create a challenge. Make sure it is doable but challenging enough to push you. A few great examples are eliminating pop, sweets and/or chips, no starchy carbs, commit to doing cardio a certain number of times per week or increase the number of vegetables you consume daily.

If you eliminate food allow yourself 1-2 cheat meals per week. Allowing a cheat meal gives you something to look forward to and helps you stay focused because of the reward that you have coming.

If you increase your vegetable intake and meet your goal for the week reward yourself for reaching your goal. The reward doesn’t always have to be food. The idea is to reduce overeating and eating the wrong foods so find rewards that are not related to food.

Maybe you are eating right but you are not active. Create a challenge that gets you moving and stick with it. If possible find more than one person to do this with as it will push you more. Most of us have a competitive streak in us and don’t like losing. Once you establish a partner, set the rules of the challenge and begin working on it. Determine what the prize is for the winner.

Exercise

Find a workout to do at home, go to the gym, or exercise outside. Exercising can provide many health benefits such as reducing the risk of cardiovascular disease, diabetes, reducing the risk of some cancers. Exercising may also improve your mental health and overall mood, as well as, strengthen bones and muscles, control your weight and boost your confidence.   

I’ve found that a good workout makes me want to eat right. I don’t want my workout to be in vein. In the past when I worked out, I bought something completely unhealthy to eat after my workout. In my mind, I got a great workout in so the food wouldn’t affect me. After so many times of doing that and not seeing the results I wanted I learned the eating right is the largest part of the battle. You can not out train a bad diet, this is something my trainer says quite often.

Fueling your body with healthy food after completing a workout speeds up recovery and provides your muscles with the proper nutrients. Proper nutrition leads to achieving your desired results.

Creating the Clean Eating Habit for Weight Loss

You will find that the more you focus on eating clean, the better you will feel and your body will begin to crave healthy foods. This is something I’ve always heard people say but I didn’t really believe it until it happened to me because I didn’t like water or vegetables.

The only way I could drink water is if I put Crystal Light in it. Now I infuse it with fruit, veggies, and herbs or drink it plain. Green vegetables were out of the question with the exception of green beans. I now eat asparagus and spinach and for the vegetables that I still can’t stand to eat, I juice them. Shockingly I have found myself craving vegetables as well and reaching for water instead of my beloved Sprite.

A combination of raw and cooked veggies in addition to juicing and smoothies provides enough of a variety for all of us to get our vegetables in and begin fueling our bodies with proper nutrients. Protein powder can be added to juice and smoothies to help you feel full longer and increase your lean protein intake daily.

Weight Loss Formula for Success

Losing weight boils down to calories in versus calories out, increasing your water intake and your physical activity. The most difficult part of it is preparing your mind. Once you make up in your mind that you are ready to do what it takes to lose weight you have won half of the battle.

Setting a schedule, being organized, and meal prepping will make things easier and after a few weeks it will become seamless. Remember that you did not gain the weight overnight so it is not going to come off overnight. Allow yourself a minimum of 6-8 weeks of continuous effort to see a noticeable change. By this time you will see a change in your body, you will have created new healthy habits and your taste buds will have changed a little as well.

Come up with creative ways to help you stay on track and small rewards for your accomplishments. Accountability partners are great and can push you on days when you just aren’t feeling like eating right or exercising. Find someone who will not allow you to give up on yourself.

It’s important not to get to happy with your progress and begin to go backward. The progress you have made is great but you are just getting started and keep in mind it gets greater later!!! Keep pushing! Don’t Stop, and like Nike says “Just Do It’ and when you don’t feel like it “Do It Anyway”.

This is your formula to successfully jumping back on the weight loss wagon and stay on until you have achieved your weight loss goal.

How do you stay on the weight loss wagon? What are some creative things you do to stay on track? Please share your comments below.