How to stay on the damn wagon.
Does this sound familiar?
We’ve all been there. It’s Sunday morning, you’re getting ready for the week ahead, and after a few days of being “off track” of your diet, you’re finally headed into the grocery store with pure determination in your eyes. This time for real. You walk directly past the snack food aisle and head home with what you’ve been told by an internet stranger, your mom, or friend, is healthy. Check out is complete. We’re feeling good. Now you’re headed home to prep this week’s meals.
And guess what? You absolutely crush the week. You went Monday through Friday completely dialled into your nutrition. Maybe you even saw the scale drop. Day 1 of your fitness journey now feels like a distant memory and you are finally on track.
But then your phone buzzes. Everyone’s going out for drinks and food tonight. Well, the week’s been long, you’ve hit the gym multiple days, said no to the free snacks at work, and feel great. You deserve to go out, and everyone preaches that life is about balance. Unfortunately, when you arrive at the restaurant you have no idea what to order. The salad? A sandwich sounds pretty healthy, right? Just like that, we’re back into our old ways of not knowing the right answer and thinking “What the hell, I’ve been “good” all week, I’ll have my usual.”
Fast forward to Sunday night - a weekend of going out, fast food, a couple cocktails later, and you have a full serving of guilt with a side of self-doubt. The scale is right back to what it was last Sunday and the vicious dieting cycle continues.
Honestly, this is easy to write because it was my own distant memory. Luckily, if you’ve made it this far you’re at the part where I explain how to stay on the damn wagon. As someone who’s been there and broken the cycle, I’m excited to share my secret: There is no wagon.
There is no wagon
Sorry, no refunds.
Just kidding.
There is no wagon because there isn’t one to begin with. If there was a secret tea, magic machine, or a quick fix to weight loss I promise I would be writing it here. However I will never post anything other than facts and hard truths. If you’re still chasing down a magic pill, I’m sorry to say you won’t find one on this website. The big picture, and “secret to weight loss”, is understanding that you can’t fail. What do I mean? You can’t mess something up if there isn’t a deadline. Your health and fitness is a lifelong journey and once you stop trapping yourself in a web of deadlines, you’ll finally be set up to win. While this isn’t to say that you shouldn’t be diligent in a workout plan, nutrition goal, or take your health as option, what it means is not if, but when, you do make a mistake (spoiler alert: you will), your success is based on how fast you can get back on track.
Here’s an example: Your close friend told you they have been working hard to build their retirement savings. So far, they have saved a total of $500 in the last three months. This is the most they have ever saved in their lives. But when you see them today, they tell you they’re planning to stop saving. Why you ask? Because they spent the $100 that was supposed to be put away on a night out. Would you say “Yeah Sally, you should totally stop saving your money because you absolutely screwed this up. In fact, you should go on a weekend trip using the $500 you saved because what’s the point anyways.” No, you would not say that. And if you did, you’re a pretty bad friend. So if we know that not only giving up, but actually going backwards, is a bad idea why should your health and fitness be treated that way?
Countless people get stuck in the mindset that if you go 100 calories over your target, you may as well write the day off. If you can’t eat at home, there is no point in finding a lower calorie option at a restaurant; and if you don’t lose weight immediately, your plan isn’t working. Most of us understand that one day of eating a perfect diet won’t make us lose 10 pounds, many fail to understand that you also don’t gain 10 pounds overnight either. The one burger you had on an unexpected night out will not reverse weeks of hard work. If you just simply got up, dusted off, and got back on track, I guarantee you’d see progress. It might not be as fast as we would like, but being 100% perfect would lead a very boring life.
““It does not matter how slowly you go as long as you do not stop.””
How to break the cycle
If there is anything you get from this article, I hope it comes from this part. The best thing you can do for yourself whether you’re trying to lose weight, build muscle, or just maintain where you’re at is to not put your entire focus and happiness on reaching a deadline. While having timelines is proven to be beneficial for goal setting, there is a big difference in using time as a way to track positive progress vs. using time as an internal fear tactic. Most people, whether they realize it or not, use the time as fear. Where timelines are useful is in process goals rather than outcome goals.
Process vs. outcome goals
Let’s say you want to lose 10 pounds before your summer vacation at the lake. This goal would be considered an outcome goal because that is the end result, or outcome, of your hard work. This is your overall measurable goal. While it’s great to set long-term goals for ourselves and I still encourage having them, the best way to stay on track with weight loss is setting goals you actually have control over. No one can strictly control what the scale is going to read even if you’re perfect with your nutrition, but everyone can control their daily, weekly, and monthly actions that are required to reach said goal. So, rather than simply setting one outcome goal of losing 10 pounds by summer vacation, set 3 process goals that will propel you to your outcome goal:
I will go to the gym 3 times per week. The days I will go to the gym are Monday, Wednesday, and Friday on my lunch break at 12pm.
I will hit a minimum of 8000 steps per day, every day. I typically hit 5000 during my day job, so I will go for a walk every day after dinner for 30 minutes to ensure I hit 8000 before bedtime.
I will be at least 80% consistent in hitting my daily calorie goal during the month of October. This means I will be consistent and not go over my calories for at least 25 days of 31.
Notice how specific I was? The key is that each of these 3 process goals are well defined. There is no room for interpretation. Either you went to the gym 3 times this week or you didn’t. You hit 8000 steps or you didn't. And you hit your calorie goal without going over at least 25 days in October or you didn’t. The beauty in these process goals is they are in your control and all 3 support your outcome goal of losing 10 pounds by summer vacation.
So, the next time you overeat at dinner or miss a workout, I challenge you to see how quickly you can get back on track. Set multiple types of goals for yourself and track them. If you set 3 process goals, make sure you have a physical place you are tracking them.
And remember: there is absolutely nothing special about a Monday. Seriously, Mondays suck. Stop saying next week, next month, or next year. You only fail when you stop trying and there is no wagon to fall off of.