You’ve been putting in the work. You’ve been fairly consistent. You’ve made some progress, but it feels hard. You’ve hit a wall and results have slowed right down. It makes you want to quit. Here’s something to think about in order to help you push through and to remind you why not to give up on your dream of, not just a healthier, fitter and slimmer body, but the dream of – finally – not having to think or worry about your weight anymore.
5 Reasons NOT To Throw The Towel In And To Keep Pushing Through
- Think about just how far you’ve come: think about where you started, at the very beginning. Think about your habits and your mindset. Think about your rapid breathing when climbing the stairs at the beginning, or the way in which you ate too quickly or were addicted to sugar. Since the beginning, you have changed so much. Please give yourself credit for all that learning and all that grafting. And be inspired by others by reading our ‘8 Secrets of Successful Weight Losers’.
- Remember that weight loss is usually not linear: the truth is that the line on your progress chart shouldn’t just go straight down. In fact, the best (and most sustainable) type of weight loss is done in a stepwise fashion – you lose, then stay the same, then lose again etc… here will be days where your scale weightgoes up, just like there will be days where your weight will drop, and there will also be days (maybe even weeks) where your weight will stay exactly the same. Remember that there is more to getting healthier and fitter than just the scales – it’s also about changing habits and losing fat and building more muscle while becoming fitter. Listen to our podcast, The Truth about the Weighing Scales.
- Success usually comes down to persistence: It’s consistency, hard work and focusing on the process (not the results) that see you through to your goal weight. Persistence is crucial in the face of mistakes and slip-ups, which you inevitably will make. The key is getting back on track, without guilt, but with a greater understanding of WHY you went wrong. Persistence means getting knocked down, but stepping back up again – stronger this time and more resilient. You only really fail when you give up on your dreams. Watch this Ted Talk, Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance and learn from the research on persistence.
- Weight loss is a lesson in patience: I am an incredibly impatient person, but losing a stone in weight almost taught me patience. It was slow and steady, and some weeks I lost nothing. I learnt that being positive – even when I wasn’t always getting the results I wanted – was the key to pushing through to success. I had to work hard enough, and for long enough, to see it through. I had to learn to trut the process. By sticking to the calorific deficit and adhering to an exercise regime, everyone will see results. It turns out that, ‘Slow and steady wins the race’ is true. I had to believe in myself – that it was possible – and to be kind to myself along the journey. I hope you will too.
- Run your own race: everybody’s journey is different. For some, it seems easier. For others, it’s a hard slog, but you often don’t hear about the hard work – you only hear (or choose to hear) about the success. Some people make it look easy, but it isn’t. In a world full of perfectly curated lives displayed across various social media, the constant pressure to compare yourself to others can be overwhelming. Remember: “Nothing worth having comes easy” (Theodore Roosevelt). Stop comparing yourself to others. Run your own race at your own pace. You have your own path. Go after your own success and trust your instincts – they are always right.
Have a listen to our podcast on how to push through when you feel like giving up.
