Start small for long-term change

People put SO much pressure on themselves to lose weight, and many think it’s going to take a million difficult lifestyle changes overnight to make it happen.

And this is the reason SO many people start a weight loss journey, become overwhelmed, and then quit.

If this is you, you’re certainly not alone.

The very best way to begin a maintainable weight loss journey is to make one small change.

Maybe begin by drinking 2 litres of water a day. Or depending on your current water intake, 2 litres could be too much to start with, so work towards 1 litre, then 1.5, then 2.

Next, time to cut or limit just one unhelpful food from your diet.

Then work on getting enough sleep each night (approx 7-9 hours).

Next, up your exercise.

Then work on another unhelpful food.

The order in which you choose your habits is completely up to you. But I’d suggest making the first couple of changes something you know you can do and maintain – to build your confidence.

Just focus on one at a time, even if it takes longer than you’d hoped, and add a new change when you are ready. Maybe write a list, and tick things off when you’ve turned them into habits. Take your time, you want these changes to last a life-time, so patience is important!

If you try to do too much, like cutting ALL the unhelpful foods from your diet all at once, you’re likely to feel deprived and unhappy. Or if you try to down 2 litres of water every day when you’re used to drinking close to nothing, you’ll struggle. And not only will you struggle, you’ll probably feel like it’a all too hard and almost impossible to maintain. And that’s when we give up.

If this sounds like you, and you’re tired of starting / stopping / starting / stopping – please give this a try. Far too many people get caught in this vicious cycle and not only do we not lose any weight, we sometimes end up heavier than when we started. It’s an on-going knock to both our health and our confidence. Time to break the cycle.

By taking one step at a time, everything will be much easier to manage, and you’ll be putting a lot less pressure on yourself. And most importantly, you WILL stick with it this time and you WILL get those results you deserve. Sure it might take a bit longer than if you changed everything at once, but that’s better than losing 5kg in the first month and putting it all back on (and maybe more) when all those changes wear you down and you quit.

Changes for life take time, there’s no great rush, one maintainable step at a time!

Have a great day

Paula