A few weeks ago I took on the Advocare 24 Day Challenge.  If you’ve been reading my blog for long, you know that weight loss is an ongoing struggle for me.  It’s actually something I have pretty much struggled with my entire life.  During the Advocare 24 Day Challenge, I lost 10 pounds.  I lost 2 more the following week.  Then, things kind of fell apart.  My husband started working REALLY long hours.  I basically have not really seen him in 3 weeks.  This means I’ve been managing my blog, my full time job, my kids, and all of the household responsibilities alone.  I have a HUGE appreciation for single moms and moms whose spouses travel a lot.  I don’t know how you do it.  It has nearly broken me.  I have been absolutely exhausted which means I haven’t wanted to prepare lunches for myself or my kids, I haven’t wanted to prepare meals, and I’m behind on everything else, too.  I talked myself into “sticking it out” and here are some tips I came up with as I talked myself into not giving up.

Six Tips for Sticking with Weight Loss Goals

1.  Get a Weight Loss Buddy – This is probably the #1 key to success!  It’s great to have a buddy to talk you off the ledge when you’re a peanut butter cup (or maybe a tub of ice cream or bag of cookies depending on your “poison”) away from disaster.  It’s nice to have someone who is trying to loss weight, too, because they “get” it.  It’s even better if they can be your work out buddy, too.  The times when I have been most successful with weight loss have been the times when I have had a buddy to stick it out with me.

2.  Plan ahead – For me, planning is everything!  If I plan my meals (including my snacks) and make sure that I have everything on hand, I’m much more likely to stick with things.  If I don’t have snacks on hand and I get hungry, it’s too easy to go to a vending machine and get something that is not healthy.  If I don’t plan dinner, when I get home, it’s too easy to decide to go out to eat.  I plan my menu for the upcoming week on Saturday and then buy all of my groceries for the week.  If there’s “prep” work like cutting up fruits and veggies, I do all of that on Sunday.

3.  Track EVERYTHING – It’s easy to eat too much and not even realize it!  Even calories from fruits and vegetables can add up if you’re eating them all day!  It’s also a lot harder I use the My Fitness Pal app. It’s FREE and I love that you can even figure out calories for recipes!  If you haven’t checked it out yet, download it here–> My Fitness Pal app

4.  Drink your water – Try to drink at least half of your weight in water every day.  It really does make a difference!  Need help tracking your water?  Get the FREE Waterlogged app here–> Waterlogged app

5.  Invest in a good scale – If you’ve got one of those old school scales with the dial and you’re trying to guess from week to week if you’re on the line or below the line, ditch it and invest in a digital scale so you know exactly where you’re at!  I have the Eatsmart Precision Digital Scale and I love it!  Don’t torture yourself by weighing in every day, either.  DO hold yourself accountable and weigh in once a week, preferably at the same time.

6.  Don’t give up – I’m REALLY good at starting diets.  I’ve started most of the major diet plans on the market more than once.  I lose 5 pounds or 10 pounds and then I give in, usually due to stress, which is a HUGE trigger for me.  I end up gaining the 5 or 10 pounds I lost back and sometimes adding more weight to the mix.  If you’re struggling with weight loss, I’m sure you’ve heard it one hundred times, but in the interest of being completely cliche, I’ll say it again.. “You didn’t get this way overnight and the weight isn’t going to come off overnight, either.”  If you’re at a point where you’re ready to give up, find that buddy who is going to talk you off the ledge and keep going!

What are YOUR tips for sticking with your weight loss goals?

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