Top 3 Mistakes Made When Creating a Weight Loss Plan

In sharing my 5-step process for having the health and body you want, I suspect step 4 might be your favorite. Most likely you’ve spent a lot of time on it. But if it hasn’t been working, then it’s time to refine. To personalize.

I’m talking about creating a weight loss plan. This is where people are most comfortable, figuring out the what and the how. But I know lasting habits come from doing the deep work, which is why we started with steps 1, 2 and 3. Once you build that foundation (not perfect, but in process), creating a weight loss plan, and following through, is much easier. 

To start, you’ll want to avoid these 3 common mistakes people make with their plans:

  1. Failing to consider what’s appropriate at this point in your life
  2. Constantly changing the plan, never giving a habit enough time to take hold and start producing results for you
  3. Regularly looking outside yourself for all the answers, not trusting what you already know

The key to avoiding these mistakes is to look inward. Put down the app. The carb counter. The point tracker. The technology fitness partner. You can come back to them, but set them aside for now. 

creating a weight loss plan
Photo by SHVETS production from Pexels

Break it down into steps

Think about the healthy lifestyle you want to live. Go back to what you clarified in step 2. With that in mind, make a list of all the things you would need to start doing and stop doing. Add to it what you need to do more of and less of. And then recognize what you need to continue doing. In asking yourself these questions, you’ll find you know more than you give yourself credit for. (By the way, I have a cool tool to help you brainstorm – email me and I’ll shoot it off to you.) 

Once you have this, pretend you’re not in a hurry. Assume it will take you a year or two to pull it all together and be living that lifestyle. What habits would you start with? Think about your current lifestyle and what makes sense for you. Consider what you learned from past experience and let it help you move forward. Go month by month, gradually layering in changes as you establish habit patterns. Think small steps, big results. And yes, bring back in the apps and trackers, but only if they serve you and what you want to achieve. 

Then, decide what makes sense for you to implement right now. Get good at it. Move on to the next. If you build a solid, personalized plan, you will get results. Yes, it may need changing along the way. But because you’re being thoughtful, not jumping from one thing to another, always in a hurry to get results. 

Need support building a customized plan? Schedule time to talk with me.

 

Do we know what a healthy lifestyle actually is?

For fun I googled “Healthy Lifestyle” and in under a second it found 1.4 billion results.

One point four billion.

The top result was Web MD, offering a summary of advice that won’t surprise you. All good recommendations, including laughter and yoga, but nothing earth shattering.

Buried at the tail end of the article is what I find to be the author’s key takeaway:

“(1) Your list of healthy lifestyle behaviors may be different from mine. (2) The most important thing to remember is that you can make a difference in your health and well-being. (3) Take charge of your life, and be mindful of small behavior changes that can make your lifestyle a healthier one.”

Here’s why:

(1) How you define a healthy lifestyle and how you achieve it will likely not be the same as those around you. Even those in your immediate household, and that’s okay. While looking to others for ideas a support is helpful, you’ll want to have your own plan and strategies that work for you.

(2) Research shows lifestyle factors greatly improve our health. We have control!

(3) It’s like compound interest…small steps lead to big results.

A healthy lifestyle is so much more than freedom from disease. I wrote a book in 2005 called Achieving Physical Wealth, where I said:

But we must each answer the essential question: What does a healthy lifestyle mean to you and why do you want it?

Do you want to travel when you’re 80? Have energy for more than what you’re doing now? Fit comfortably in your pants? Hike with your sweetie? Be free of medications? Let someone carry your groceries because you want to, not because you have to?

You know how it is. Thinking you should do something because it’s good for you isn’t terribly motivating. I found that out myself – again! – just recently.

I want to offer two options to decide what a healthy lifestyle looks like for you, and why it’s important:

  1. Health may be one of your top values, which makes the motivation more obvious. Still, define your motivation, then plan your course. Or…
  2. Health may serve a different value, like adventure. Health allows you to live out the other values that are most important to you.

A healthy lifestyle is so much more than freedom from disease. I wrote a book in 2005 called Achieving Physical Wealth: 8 simple steps to breaking the rules of staying fit, where I said:

“Physical wealth is about your whole life: your energy, confidence, vitality, endurance, strength, health, self-esteem… the way you live your life, how you feel day to day, and how you feel about yourself, and how that impacts every area of your life.  Physical wealth is living the life you are meant to have every single day.

Now that’s a healthy lifestyle!

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