Everything includes food!
Julie sank into the chair in my office. “I’m so discouraged,” she said. “I’ve been trying to lose weight for months, and I just can’t get anywhere.
Every event in my life has food attached to it, so I end up going off my program. I get right back on the next day, but something else always pops up and there I go again!”
Does this sound familiar? I think every dieter struggles with having regular events, issues or situations that get in the way of staying on a program. So what does it take to overcome these obstacles?
You already know that it needs to be the “right” time to lose weight. But in your real life, it can seem like there’s never a right time.
I think part of the answer is to stop waiting for the stars to line up, and decide that NOW is a right time, even with the events and challenges ahead.
3 Steps to managing food events
Here is my 3-step method for staying on your program, even with you have a full schedule of tasks and events.
Step 1: Plan it
Call it whatever you want—a diet, a program, a system. But successfully losing weight demands a strategy. And “hoping for the best” doesn’t usually bring results.
As much as possible, plan your meals ahead of time. For some people, it helps to eat a similar meal each day for breakfast or even lunch. Do whatever it takes to stay consistent with your eating plan.
Whenever I’m going out to lunch with someone, I look at the restaurant menu ahead of time and choose what I will order. That saves me from getting caught up in the moment and ordering whatever others are having.
Step 2: Track it
Whether you write in your journal by hand or enter your food details into an online program, tracking tells you where you stand. At the end of each day, you should be able to see whether or not you were within your goal numbers.
You may not need to track forever. I suggest that you weigh, measure, and track your foods until you don’t need to. But any time you sense that you’re getting sloppy, it may be time to pull out the food record and get honest again.
On my website, I offer a couple of free tracking options. Click here to try them out.
Step 3: Do the math
In my weight-loss coaching work, I’ve come up with a magic formula that will predict your weight-loss success. I call it the 95% rule.
To make consistent progress, you need to be on your program 95% of the time. If you do the math, this means staying on your plan 19 out of 20 days!
For most of you, this goal is within your skill set. Rather than assume you have to be perfect for a year, set a goal of 19 days on your plan. Track it, monitor it, and push hard to accomplish it.
Today is a new day. Whether you’ve been consistent for months or you’re still trying to recover from a bad weekend, use this new math to get focused again.