Healthy eating and exercise are easier to stick to in the beginning when we are extremely motivated. During this time, we feel like we can take on the world, like nothing can get in our way……and then……life gets in the way. In order to maintain this healthy lifestyle forever, it is important to employ strategies to keep yourself on track. The toughest balance with weight maintenance is walking the line between forgiving yourself for mistakes and justifying all of them. Below are some strategies to think about to help you stay on track long-term.
- Log your food for a week once a month. Calorie creep is so easy to fall into. As holidays and special occasions come and go, it is very easy to develop a “new normal” and allow more treats into our regular routine. It is easy to justify a pound or two on the scale, then before you know it, you have 10 extra pounds following you around. To keep this under control, log your food the last week out of every month. It can help you to see where you have strayed and open your eyes to simple places for you to make changes.
- Make a motivation card. Go back and read your article on making a motivation card (under “My Articles”). Keeping this card handy with your motivation picture and statements that keep you on track can really bring your focus back to why you are making this change.
- Set and post a new goal every month. It doesn’t have to be a weight based goal, but something that helps you stay on track. It could be the goal of packing lunch every day at work for a month or having 2 servings of veggies at dinner instead of 1. Whatever your goals, make sure they are challenging but achievable. Make sure to set a new one every month to keep things fresh and interesting.
- Keep a running list of your achievements. In the long haul of healthy living, it is very easy to look back at your “old” life longingly and wish for those days. As humans we WALK IN THE DIRECTION THAT WE ARE LOOKING. If we are looking back, we are likely to walk back that way. So, every time you hit a new weight goal, go a week without sweets, handle a stressful situation without eating, walk up an extra flight of stairs without getting winded, WRITE IT DOWN. It may seem silly to celebrate these small victories, but it is important to remind ourselves of where we are in our journey. When you look back, you can be re-invigorated at all the things you have accomplished.
STEP(S) FOR THIS WEEK:
- Whether or not you are struggling to maintain a healthy lifestyle, employing the steps above can help you to recharge your motivation and stay focused on the road ahead. Try one of the strategies to stay on track or to take your wellness journey to a new level