If you’re trying to lose weight, you don’t need me to tell you that it’s no easy feat. With all of the temptations we face daily, it’s hard to stay on track 100% of the time. The best thing you can do is to take steps to mitigate the mistakes in the first place. If you want to sustain a healthy lifestyle, being aware of common weight loss hurdles can help make healthy choices a little easier!
You Eating Out of Boredom or Procrastination
Do you find yourself grabbing for a mid-day snack or perusing through the refrigerator late at night? Most likely, it’s not hunger calling, it’s you trying to avoid doing something you need to do or looking to cure your boredom. This one is probably the most common pitfall for most of us, and I’m guilty just as much as the next person. Next time you find yourself reaching for a snack, ask yourself, “Am I REALLY hungry?”. Nine times out of ten, your answer will be “No”. You won’t find satisfaction in your snack drawer at work, your cupboards or your refrigerator.
If you’re seeking a snack to procrastinate, try going on a quick walk instead. A short walk has been shown to clear your mind and make you more productive (calories burned and a more productive day? Boom!). Find something else to focus your energy on. Call a friend, read a book, paint your nails, clean your house…if you’re not truly hungry, your cravings will pass as soon as your mind is distracted by something else.
If this is common for you, it’s a good idea to keep track of when you get “hungry” to pass time. Is it when you’re tired or stressed? When you’re trying to avoid working on something? Does it go hand in hand with something that you do regularly (watching TV, sitting down to check emails, before you head to bed, etc.)? Being able to recognize when your cravings hit is a great first step at kicking the habit to the curb!
You Feel Obligated To Eat Out With Friends
If this scenario sounds all too familiar, it’s probably best to be upfront with your friends ahead of time about your goals. If your friends are aware of the fact that you aren’t interested in bingeing on an unhealthy meal, they will likely be accommodating. Suggest getting together to do something that doesn’t revolve around eating and drinking. If going out to dinner is inevitable, suggest a restaurant that you know has healthier options. If the restaurant has already been chosen, check out the menu ahead of time to find a healthy option and make a commitment to yourself to order it no matter what. This way, you won’t be tempted when you get there. Once the waiter starts explaining the mouthwatering specials and everybody is gushing over the menu it will be more difficult to get the healthier option you know you should get.
Which leads nicely into our next weight loss culprit…
You Use Meals Out As A “Treat”
It’s easy to see eating out as a chance to “treat” yourself to something you wouldn’t normally eat. The back and forth brain chatter while looking through the menu generally goes something like this: “I know I should get something healthy…Oooo grilled chicken and veggies. Perfect….but, I can make grilled chicken at home….hmmm. I can’t make lobster mac & cheese at home….and it’s practically the same price….and I did make it to the gym twice this week…and I’ve never had it here before…”. By the the time the waiter comes to take your order you have convinced yourself that the lobster mac & cheese is totally acceptable option.
I’m not saying you should never treat yourself, I am a firm believe in the 80/20 rule. Deprivation rarely leads to success! However, if you find yourself in this situation too regularly, it can be detrimental to your weight loss goals. Instead of focusing on celebrating your meal out by eating whatever you want, focus on something other than the food. Be happy that you’re out to dinner with a friend. Take in the decor or the ambiance (or craziness!) of the restaurant you’re at. Be grateful you don’t have to cook or do dishes when you get home. By changing your mindset of eating a meal out, you can help to curb overeating and lessen the chance that you will choose foods that you will likely regret later.
You Can’t Say No To Office Treats
What are you to do? Make a rule that office treats are not allowed (maybe if you want to create enemies at work…)? No. There is no getting rid of the office treats. You have to learn to live with them. But how?
One option is to create a zero tolerance rule for yourself. Make a commitment to yourself that you will not, under any circumstance, eat treats at work. This eliminates your inner battle of whether or not you are going to allow yourself to “just have one”. I once challenged myself to eat zero sugar for two weeks, and I magically didn’t touch an office treat the entire time. It actually made it easier to walk by, knowing not to even look at them because I knew I wasn’t going to allow myself to have even one bite, no matter what delectable looking treat was staring back at me.
If that doesn’t seem plausible for you, another option is to give yourself a limit. If you know there are treats at your office regularly, have a plan ahead of time for how many you are going to allow yourself to eat. For example, make a rule that you can have two treats a week. Allow yourself normal portions (a full donut instead of just cutting off a piece). This way you most likely won’t be left wanting more. If it’s Monday and you’ve already had one donut and one brownie, then you’re done. No questions asked, you won’t allow yourself anything else for the rest of the week. If it’s Thursday afternoon and you haven’t had anything yet all week, you can look forward to seeing what appears on the treat table on Friday (which is notoriously the best day for office treats). This option also forces you to be choosey with your treats. Not crazy about cinnamon rolls? You won’t be tempted to have one since you won’t be willing to “waste” your treat on something you don’t think will be worth it.
You Think You’ve Already Blown It
If you deviate from your plan to eat healthy, do you throw in the towel and say “I’ve already blown it for today. I might as well just keep eating badly and start fresh tomorrow”? This is probably the biggest way to sabotage your weight loss goals, hands down. How are you supposed to get ahead if you’re constantly digging yourself a deeper hole? You can take one mistake and blow it out of proportion by continuing to eat badly or you can minimize the mistake by saying “I’ve eaten something I shouldn’t have. I need to eat well for the rest of the day to make up for it!”.
Think about the work it takes for your body to digest bad food vs. good. If you eat healthy food all day, plus one piece of cake (oops!), your body will likely digest the cake without a problem and the next day will be minimally affected. On the other hand, if you eat one piece of cake and decide that you blew it for the day so you continue to eat two more pieces of cake, polish off a pizza and a pint of Ben & Jerry’s for dinner, your body will need to take some time to bounce back, leaving you in much worse shape than just having the one piece of cake.
“Strive for Progress, Not Perfection”
No matter what obstacles get in the way of your weight loss goals, it’s important to accept that you are not perfect and that mistakes will happen. Getting mad at yourself and feeling terrible will help no one! Try not to beat yourself up, be aware of the circumstances that derail you, and minimize them as much as you can. Little by little, you will get there, but you need to believe in yourself and make a commitment to be firm with yourself when temptation arrises. Be honest with yourself and if something doesn’t go as planned, accept it, move on and do your best to have a better tomorrow. Changing your diet goes beyond weight loss, it’s truly a lifestyle change that can impact the way you view food for the rest of your life.
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