About this time every January, those New Year’s resolutions people were so gung ho about are already forgotten… Yet losing weight and eating healthy is still a worthy goal. So how to go about it?
Instead of trying to change your whole diet at once, or add in exercise 5 days per week when you’re not doing any now, take one small step at a time. Yep, one small step. It’s nearly impossible to change your entire routine at once, and is usually a recipe for failure.
Making changes to your diet and/or exercise routine can be stressful for some people, because they “should” all over themselves. I “should” eat healthy. I “should” exercise, etc. Those “shoulds” cause all sorts of unnecessary stress and pressure. Forget the word “should”. Who says you “should”? Usually, it’s “they say you should”… I always wonder who are “they”, and who says they’re right?
Working on losing weight can feel like a lot of pressure. Some of my coaching clients did Weight Watchers in the past and had weekly weigh ins. They said the weigh ins were incredibly stressful, because they were expected to lose some weight every week. In real life, that doesn’t always happen. And a lot of overweight people eat when they’re stressed out… I don’t know about you, but that sounds counter-productive to me.
To make lifestyle changes, it’s about making small changes and sticking with them so they add up to a positive result over time. That’s important. Read that sentence again.
Here’s how to start to lose weight or start exercising, etc.: Make one small, easy change to start, and stick with it. Really. Pick an easy one that you know you can do. Once you do that for a while and it becomes routine, add in another small change. Once that sticks and is routine, add in another one. Then keep going. Once you see that you’ve made small changes and you’re starting to feel better, you’ll have more motivation to tackle some of your bigger challenges.
It’s about making small changes over time, that stick. It’s not about perfection.
I was recently coaching one of my weight loss clients, and she mentioned that she thought she should “do more”, when she was right on track and doing everything right to install healthy new habits. (Did you catch the “should”?) She was putting too much pressure on herself, and it was totally self-inflicted. We talked about reducing the stress and pressure, and relaxing about the process. She was already making positive changes, felt better and had more energy. And five different people even told her she looked like she lost weight! That’s not a coincidence.
How much pressure do we put on ourselves, because of “shoulds”? Please stop “shoulding” all over yourself…
Losing weight doesn’t have to be stressful. Take the pressure off yourself, and as long as you’re making small positive changes, you’re going in the right direction! (You have to actually take action, though – you don’t get credit for just thinking about it!)
Small, consistent actions get you to your goal better than an all-out sprint that burns you out and you can’t finish.
It’s time to get started. What one small thing will you change today?
Accountability can help you achieve it. Send me an email and let me know what one thing you’re going to change. I’m here to cheer you on!