A couple of weeks ago, I asked on Instagram what you found difficult when it came to health and fitness. I received so many interesting responses and I noticed that a lot of them related to sabotage, in some way, shape or form. As such, I thought that the best way to address a multitude of questions at scale would be to combine them into this one blog post. Read on to discover the 8 ways you’re sabotaging your weight-loss and how to effectively combat them.
Why do we deliberately sabotage our weight-loss efforts?
Before I dive into a couple of different ways that we end up sabotaging our weight-loss and healthy living efforts, it’s important to spend some time on why we do this in the first place. Surely, it doesn’t make sense, right? No, it doesn’t. Self sabotage tends to happen for the following reasons (this is not an exhaustive list, by any means):
- An overall fear of failure.
- Low self-confidence/lack of self-esteem.
- Both physical and emotional stress.
- The desire to fit in (if you’re out with friends at a restaurant, for example).
- A lack of preparation.
Sound familiar? I don’t think that we, as humans, deliberately want to derail our efforts. But at the end of the day, we are all human, and that’s exactly why I wanted to write this blog post. Now that we have pinpointed some common issues that trip up our health and fitness efforts, let’s dive into some specific scenarios that you let me know you struggle with.
8 Ways You’re Sabotaging Weight-Loss Efforts
(and how to stop!)
1. Mad Cravings Strike at Night
ISSUE: Who can resist the almighty call of your Ben & Jerry’s or that delicious box of cookies which is only a short delivery away? I know that I’ve had massive cravings come out to play at night and it can be so frustrating after eating healthy all day. You don’t want to ruin your progress but just a little bit won’t hurt right…
SOLUTION: Night cravings often occur because we feel deprived, for whatever reason that is. Often times, having a small amount of what you crave will eliminate your cravings. Now, if you’re an all or nothing person, this won’t necessarily work. I’ve found that it can be helpful to remove any trigger foods from your kitchen, to fully stock your pantry with lots of lovely, herbal tea, and to prep healthy snacks and desserts ahead of time. Some of my favorite low-carb, high volume desserts are protein shakes, Halo Top, and these tasty cookies that I made courtesy of @HappyandHealthyOlivia’s recipe.
2. You’re Out With Friends And Feel Deprived Because You’re Trying to Eat “Healthy”
ISSUE: You just recommitted to eating healthy after a week of what some would call fairly unhealthy binge eating. So, what’s the problem? You just said yes to a series of lunches and dinners out with friends, and now you’re feeling deprived watching them all eat pasta and French fries, while you’re munching a dressing-less salad. Cue the desire to order your own plate of pasta and French fries.
SOLUTION: It is genuinely tough to watch your friends and loved ones eating foods that you LOVE while you can’t have them yourself. Again, I think this comes down to allowing yourself to have a little bit of what you do enjoy. For me personally, if I can steal a few French fries, I am perfectly happy to go back to my salad. For others, maybe you should allow yourself to have a meaningful indulgence and have that big bowl of carbonara.
It’s all about balance and figuring out when you should go for it and when it’s time to back off. If I know explicitly that I have a meal out coming up, I do my best to eat as healthfully as possible so that I don’t freak out after a mini indulgence.
3. After a stressful, hard day, all you want are high-calorie comfort foods
ISSUE: You know the drill, you had a long, hard day at work, got yelled at a million times and generally feel underappreciated. Or perhaps your kids got sick at daycare, so you had to rush over to pick them up, and deal with an uncomfortable child, throwing up everywhere. Ugh. Who wouldn’t turn to sweet, non-judgmental pizza or whatever other high-calorie food floats your boat?
SOLUTION: This is an “issue” I probably struggle with the most. I’m definitely an emotional eater and the first thing you need to do is pause, and really ask yourself why you want whatever high-calorie food it is you want. Is it because you had a bad day? Or is it really because you haven’t had a delicious, take-out pizza for months, and you’d genuinely enjoy some? While it can be difficult to acknowledge whether your craving is tied to a specific emotion, you must respect yourself enough to do this. It’s not fair to yourself to overeat, feel bloated and upset just because of one bad day. As I’ve recommended above, if you feel like emotional eating is a common issue, I encourage you to make lots of healthier versions of your favorite food. And know that you can always see a professional for counseling.
4. It’s vacation time (yay!) but you’re worried you’ll gain tons of weight (nay!)
ISSUE: This one is pretty self-evident. Who hasn’t felt like their upcoming vacation will undo all of their hard work prior? I know I have. When margaritas, nachos, and gelato are calling your name, it’d be rude to say no.
SOLUTION: Again, this one comes down to balance and accepting what is important to you, and what’s not. For long-time readers of the blog, you’ll know that I rave about the F-Factor diet. I credit this way of living with helping me find true freedom and balance when it comes to vacations and having less of a structured routine.
What I do pre-vacation is ensure that I am stocked up on healthy snacks (think GG crackers, F-Factor protein powder and protein bars, etc). What I do during my vacation is determine how out of routine I am willing to go. I personally like to stick to my usual breakfasts (I’m not a big breakfast person and couldn’t care less about French toast etc), have a healthy lunch and then indulge for dinner. You have to determine what your comfort zone is, and honestly, if you want to indulge for your entire vacation, freaking go for it! Just have an honest conversation with yourself and stick to your convictions during your vacation. Life’s too short to not be fully enjoyed.
5. Being consistent 365 days a year
ISSUE: Wow, when you put it like that (365 days a year), that’s a long time to stay consistent. It’s very easy to commit to eating a certain way, and doing a certain amount of workouts…for a week. But when you have to do it for a year? And then another year, and another year? Well, that just sounds overwhelming.
SOLUTION: Yeah, that is overwhelming and that’s exactly why you need to break it down, and focus on making small, incremental changes. If you’re currently eating in a way that can objectively be called unhealthy and want to transform overnight into a health queen, honey, that isn’t realistic. You must be realistic and kind with yourself. Consistency comes from doing the same thing over and over again, and it comes from making small changes, not big swooping ones.
Here’s a game-plan for you: At the beginning of every week, write down 3 non-negotiables you want to commit to. Maybe it’s to eat one serving of fruit per day, eat 3 salads throughout the week, and go to the gym at least 3 times for 30-minutes each time. Start by understanding what it is you really want to commit to and stick to it. Slowly, but surely, you’ll find that your non-negotiables have become habit, and you can switch up what you want to commit to.
6. #Help me find work-life balance
ISSUE: Ah-yes, a big killer for many folks who have true, genuine intentions to live a healthier, fitter, and happier life. Sometimes you have to get to work early and forgo your yummy, healthy breakfast. Sometimes, you’re in a work meeting and they catered massive, fat-laden burgers (why?). And other times, you’ve had a crazy week and the last freaking thing you want to do is go home and whip up a Martha Stewart-esque healthy meal and go to the gym. Who does that?
SOLUTION: Meal prep. I’ll say it once, and I’ll say it again. MEAL PREP. And planning. Every Sunday, without fail, I will shop for the week ahead, buy quick healthy, frozen meals for emergency dinners, and I will always meal prep lunches for the week. So even if you’ve had the craziest week on earth, at least you have some healthy lunches. I also like to understand my grab and go options around me. If I have to rush into work early one day, where can I stop for a grab and go breakfast? Perhaps you can take some GG crackers and grab some delicious egg sous vide bites from Starbucks. What about healthy lunch options near you? Can you splurge on delivery? Planning and preparation will save you during the craziest of weeks. And when you think about it, groceries and meal prep usually take a maximum of 3-hours out of your Sunday. You can make time for it.
You can find a month’s worth of meal prep thought out for you here, and 5 healthy dinners that legit take less than 30-minutes to make here.
7. Meal prep and planning ahead is cool and all but what if I can’t plan ahead?
ISSUE: Ok, I see you, this is an interesting predicament. I can understand this happening if you perhaps travel a lot for work or are just really busy. Perhaps you have a family, a partner who can’t really contribute because they work 60+ hours a week, or whatever it is. This is a hard one.
SOLUTION: Here are my thoughts on this. Even if you’re travelling for work, you can still look up restaurants, fast casuals, etc in the area you are visiting. 9 times out of 10, there will be a Starbucks and I really can’t recommend their egg sous vide bites haha. These are great paired with GG crackers or a slice of whole wheat toasts. Heck, even McDonalds have salad options – just be sure to only use a small amount of dressing.
Meal delivery/subscription services are another, albeit expensive, option. I personally really like Plated because of how flexible they are. You can skip as many weeks as you want and just use them during your craziest weeks when you can’t, or won’t, think about which healthy meals you want to make. I personally use Plated myself and, if you want, the first 5 people who email me will receive a free week of Plated (I’ll update this once I’ve run out of free meals to giveaway).
8. What do I do when I lose motivation?
ISSUE: This is probably the number one question I get asked: how do you stay so motivated? It can be so easy to feel endless amounts of motivation for a short period of time. Maybe you’ve just signed up for a cool new workout class, or you’re about to embark on a new diet that promises to help you lose those last 5-pounds. And then inevitably, about a month later, that excitement and motivation you felt at the beginning is mysteriously gone. Rude!
SOLUTION: My answer is always the same. Motivation is fleeting. Discipline is NOT. Motivation is great but it’s not a long-term answer. You must find a way to keep yourself going through the hard times when motivation is low. This is really where habits come into play. Before early morning gym sessions, I make sure I know exactly what my workout plan is, I pack my gym bag the night before and I lay my workout clothes on the floor next to my bed. That way, I can’t make any valid excuses not to go and before you know it, you’re at the gym! Same goes for healthy eating, stick to a meal prep schedule – it’s a lot harder to deviate and just eat whatever you want when you’ve spent a considerable amount of time cooking healthful, delicious meals.
However, I do understand that it takes a while to build these habits, and strengthen your discipline. Until then, feel free to read my three top tips on staying motivated.
What are next steps?
Now that you’ve come to understand why you unintentionally sabotage yourself, and you have some solutions to specific scenarios, you have all the tools you need to stay the course.
At the end of the day, it is important to not beat yourself up if you feel like you’ve slipped up. You need to remember that this is a life-long commitment and that it is not realistic to be perfect 100% of the time. Do your best, understand your weaknesses, and slowly but surely work on them so you can live your best life!
Honestly yours,
Alice
Thank you for all of your support! For more Honestly Fitness, check out my Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Youtube & Pinterest and don’t forget to subscribe!
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