Be honest, how well did you stick with your New Year’s weight-loss resolution this year?
If you couldn’t keep up with it, don’t worry. You’re not alone.
Most people start the year with high hopes and motivation. Unfortunately, most of them give up on their resolutions by February.
About 50% of women are constantly trying to lose weight but with little success. (1)
But not you… Not this year! This coming year will be the one when you finally focus and reach your goals.
Here are 9 tricks to stick with your New Year’s weight loss resolution.
1. Focus on Smaller Daily Goals
If you have a lot of weight to lose, the simple thought of doing so can be discouraging.
Instead of focusing on the bigger picture that can often be overwhelming, focus on smaller daily goals that’ll lead you to the bigger one.
Setting smaller goals will make you feel accomplished each day and motivate you to keep going.
For example, you could focus on just going to the gym today and eating 1 serving of vegetables at each meal. This seems less scary than saying “I have to lose 100 pounds.”
You can check out these 18 science-based tips for weight loss.
2. Habits Don’t Change Overnight
What advice would you give me if I told you that I wanted to eat healthy?
You’d probably tell me to eat more vegetables and cut down on sugar, right?
Chances are you don’t need an “expert” to tell you what to eat (unless you have a medical condition).
So why is it then that you have problems losing weight?
It’s because of your habits, it takes hard work and consistency to build healthy eating habits.
Most people think that once they decide to eat healthily the planets will align and everything will flow smoothly.
Unfortunately, that isn’t the case.
In fact, here are 4 horrible habits that could be preventing you from losing weight.
Let’s look at an example.
Let’s travel back in time to when you were learning how to ride a bicycle. Did you get it on the first try? Probably not.
It took months for you to get the hang of it, the same thing happens with eating healthy, it’s about practicing and being consistent.
You can explore these 7 small habits that make weight loss easier.
3. Begin Searching for Programs Now
A common mistake people make is waiting until January 1st to plan how they’re going to lose weight.
This can make you feel like you’re late to the game, which can leave you unmotivated and discouraged.
It also adds pressure and makes you jump on the first weight loss program that you find so you can “just get started.”
Taking the time to find a program that fits your needs, genetics, metabolism, and schedule is crucial if you want to keep the weight off long-term.
Since we are all different, the best programs are programs that are tailored to you specifically.
I recommend checking out flexible dieting or adopting the 80/20 rule for weight loss.
Start your journey to losing 10-21 pounds in just 21 days.
Get the free 21-Day Fat Loss Challenge training guide!
4. Start Eating Healthy Now
A great way to stick with your New Year’s weight loss resolution is to begin eating healthy as soon as you can.
Not only will this help you build good eating habits so you can start the year right but also prevent you from gaining weight during the holidays.
Starting to eat healthy now will let you enjoy holiday parties without feeling guilty.
You won’t feel that regret when eating at a party because you know that you’ve been eating healthy during the week.
You can explore these 15 tips to prevent gaining weight during the Holidays, and these other tips to keep your calories low when eating out.
5. Start Exercising Now
January and February are the busiest months for gyms.
Figuring things out at the gym while dealing with the new years’ crowd can be a little overwhelming.
Start going now so you can get familiarized with the equipment and get a better feeling of how the gym really looks like.
Most people go to the gym in January and think that that’s how the gym is all the time (crowded) and stop going.
Some others might use the “busyness” of holidays as an excuse to not exercise, but the truth is you don’t have to exercise 7 days a week for 2 hours to see results.
Again, this is about building habits, working out for 30-45 minutes 2-3 times a week is progress.
Which brings me to my next point.
6. Ditch the “All or Nothing” Mindset
There’s nothing wrong with wanting to give your best all the time, however, this isn’t realistic.
Having an “all or nothing” mindset can create an unhealthy relationship with food and increase procrastination.
For example, if you have this mindset and eat a donut at a party, you’ll think that all your progress is ruined and binge eat.
After binging you’ll then feel depressed because you fell off the wagon.
This mindset will also make you procrastinate as you’ll always be waiting for the “perfect” time to start something.
Chances are, the time will never be perfect, so start now and strive for progress, not perfection.
Check out these 6 mindsets to avoid if you want to lose weight.
7. Set Realistic Expectations
Obese people who show higher weight loss expectations also show a higher failure rate, this study found.
Having unrealistic expectations and falling short of them can make you feel depressed and lead to quitting.
Another issue is weight loss programs that promise quick results.
While these programs will make you lose a lot of weight fast (most of it being water), they’ll leave your metabolism in a bad spot and make it easier to gain the weight back.
If you have a slow metabolism, here are a few things you must stop doing.
8. Figure Out Your “Why”
Be clear about why you want to lose weight.
Is it to be healthier when you’re older? To set an example for your kids? To feel more attractive (based on your own standards, not other people’s)?
After finding your “why,” I’d encourage you to write it down and hang it in a place where you’ll see it every day and say out loud upon waking and before going to bed.
For example, you can put it in your bathroom mirror.
9. Track Your Progress
It’s easy to get discouraged when you don’t see progress. But how can you see progress when you’re not tracking it?
Here are a few ways I suggest you track progress:
Weigh yourself every day upon waking, take weekly progress photos upon waking, take weekly body measurements upon waking.
Weighing Yourself
A scale is just a tool used to measure progress, but it is not always accurate.
Many things, such as water, meal timing, and building muscle can affect the number of the scale.
So even if you’re not losing weight, you might be losing fat.
That’s why I encourage you to weigh yourself every day in the morning. After writing down your weight, you can then get the weekly average, which is a better indicator than your daily weight.
You can explore more in my article about why you’re losing inches but not weight.
Weekly Progress Photos
Since the scale isn’t always accurate and it’s difficult to notice changes when you see yourself every day, a good idea is to take weekly progress photos.
Try taking these photos the same day every week, at the same distance from the camera, and with the same lighting.
You can then start comparing those photos and see how much you’ve changed.
Weekly Measurements
Another great tool to track your progress is to take weekly measurements. Here are a few body parts you might want to measure:
- Waist: relaxed
- Biceps: flex and measure them at the peak.
- Quads: flexed
- Calves: flexed
It’s also possible to be losing weight without losing inches, you can learn more about it in this article.
To Summarize
Don’t wait until January 1st to figure out how you’re going to lose weight.
Focus on creating long-term healthy habits instead of finding short-term satisfaction.
Set realistic expectations so you don’t get discouraged.
Find your reason behind wanting to lose weight and repeat it out loud every morning upon waking and every night before going to bed.
Track your progress and don’t rely only on one method.
Apply all of these tips and you’ll see how sticking to your weight loss goals becomes easier.
And remember… You’ve got this!
Are there any other tricks you plan on using to stick with your New Year’s weight loss resolution? Share them in the comments section below!
If you’re ready to start your weight loss journey, Avocadu’s 21-Day Fat Loss Challenge is the place to start!
This plan helps men and women lose 10-21 pounds in just 21 days and can be repeated as many times as you want.
