Do you struggle with inconsistency when it comes to healthy habits? Are you caught in a cycle of dieting/restricting, losing weight, and then quitting your habits and gaining the weight back?
This is such a common struggle in people who are on any type of health journey. So if this is you, you are not alone! Something that I see so often when working with my clients is this pattern of inconsistency. People will start a plan, go all in, and then get burnt out and quit. When they go all in, they might lose 5-10 pounds, they feel good about it, and then they get tired of the “diet” they’re following or the workout schedule that they’re following. When they get tired of it, they quit, and then they typically gain the weight back pretty quickly.
A lot of times people end up in this cycle because they’re wanting to lose weight or look good for an upcoming event or for the summer. A wedding or a big event is coming up, and so they want to lose 5-10 pounds and look their best for it. Or maybe summer is coming and they want to have that “perfect beach body” and so they start a diet/workout plan to look they’re best.
Most times this type of cycle/pattern is not healthy. When I see people stuck in this type of pattern, it is usually coming from a place of either wanting to lose weight, wanting to look their best, or wanting to make an impression on someone.
Now, I’m not saying that wanting to lose weight or wanting to look your best is wrong, BUT, sustainable healthy habits aren’t normally built on wanting to lose weight. Some people do build beautiful, healthy habits because they want to lose weight, but there’s usually something deeper that’s driving the changes. For example, maybe someone who’s struggling with their weight wants to lose weight because they want to feel better, have energy to play with their kids, or they have a history of heart disease in their family.
Do you see the difference? There is such a big difference between just wanting to look your best and having real driving factors to fuel your healthy habits. So, today I want you to think about this. If you are on a health journey, what is driving you? What is your reason for working out, for eating healthy, and/or for trying to lose weight? Is it a healthy and sustainable reason? Or is it mainly focused on how you look/your weight? And then I want you to think through some reasons and some goals that are healthy and sustainable – either to add on to your reasons already, or to re-focus your health journey. Some of these could be: having more energy; feeling confident in your own skin; preventative health care; feeling better physically; feeling better mentally, or being stronger.
Your body – your physical and mental health – deserve to be taken care of in a healthy and sustainable way. In a way that’s not a cycle of starting over and quitting. You are worthy and deserving of strong, sustainable, healthy habits.
Habits and actions that take care of your health in the best way possible and that you can comfortably continue on for years and years to come. Stop focusing on a number on the scale or an only organic diet. Instead, focus on sustainable habits that help you feel your best. And if you need help with that, reach out! You deserve health, and health wants to be your friend!
Abby Horst
A podcaster, wife, health/wellness coach, beach lover, and musician. She specialises in nutrition education, meal planning, and developing sustainable habits. She passionately works with her patients to help them build healthier and happier relationships with food, exercise, and themselves.
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