I take weight loss habits to be the engine that maintains your weight loss success, the glue that keeps your weight loss intact, and the security that keeps weight from coming back.

It matters not how much weight you have lost or the method you used. Maybe you have done it slowly and steadily, fast and aggressively, counted calories or accurately eyeballed portion sizes. Or, maybe you joined a slimming club or subscribed to a healthy cooked food delivery service.

Without maintaining the very weight loss habits that got you there, you will struggle and are more likely to head back to starting point. If you lose the habits, the weight comes back. It is as simple as that. Therefore plan your strategy wisely. Start as you mean to continue.

Trust me, I have done a few cycles of many diets and lost weight each time. I wasted time and money diet hopping, only to realise that whenever I stopped following what made me lose the weight, I had nothing to fall back on. I could never free myself from these diets because I lacked knowledge and skills to go it alone.

Why didn’t I carry on with the diets? Because they were restrictive, not personalised, did not teach me to be independent, hence unsustainable. In short, I lacked sustainable weight loss habits to maintain the weight. There is no need for you to waste your time and money by doing the same.

Understanding this right at the beginning of your weight loss journey will help you focus on the things that matter. While it is important to keep your eyes on the price, in this case your goal weight, it is not as important as following the right road that leads you there. For these little weight loss habits are the very ones that will lead to weight loss success and keep you there.

They are your indefinite ticket to your weight loss success, which is, losing weight and keeping it off! It is not yo-yoing all over the place, neither is it reaching your goal weight only to regain it all plus some. Most people are capable of losing weight. However, maintaining it is where the challenges are. Hence the importance of adopting weight loss habits that are sustainable.

They are simple if you commit yourself and not overcomplicate things.

So, let’s dive right in!

1. Weight loss habits require commitment.

A bit about commitment has already been discussed in another blog. Here is the blog if you want to have a read. In the words of Jean-Paul Sartre, “commitment is an act, not a word”. You make a promise to yourself to pursue that which is of value to you, and you pursue it.

Strategy not working? change it. You hate going to the gym? You don’t have to go. Look at alternatives. There are many roads that lead to Rome. You do not have time? Reorganise your priorities and make time. You have no idea where to start from? Learn.

When you commit to losing weight, you must believe in yourself that you can achieve successful weight loss, then take action. This mindset will give you the drive to sacrifice time and channel your energy into learning and practicing weight loss habits that will lead to weight loss success. Save yourself from getting trapped in another diet cycle.

Gaining a bit of weight here and there while trying to maintain it is not diet failure. We all struggle a bit trying to strike that balance. But, when clothes sizes start creeping back up, things have gotten out of hand. This is usually a result of weight loss habits gone wrong. Gaining all the weight back is frustrating. It happened to me a few times before I found my way out.

Commit to learning the right things, change and adopt sustainable weight loss habits. You must give it your all and sacrifice time and energy.

I think I have said enough on this…so, let’s move on!

2. Weight loss habits require learning.

Now that you have committed to losing weight, be prepared for a lifetime of discovery and learning. Keep your mind open but also put yourself in a position which you are able to scrutinise and question all the weight loss noises out there.

Just because a celebrity is promoting a thing does not mean it is true or it works. Just because it’s published does not make it a fact. It could even be from someone who has recently lost weight. Scrutinise that which they say worked for them.

There is useless and sometimes dangerous information out there. Knowledge is the powerful tool that you must possess in order to be able to navigate through all this. You will be able to tell when things do not add up, or when the methods used are unsustainable or even harmful to your health.

For me, learning about calories and macros was very liberating. You can personalise any diet to suit your needs. While diet Apps are useful, they tend to be generalised. I adjust MyFitnessPal to suit my lifestyle and personal preference while staying within my calorie limit. I do not do some of the stuff they suggest that do not help me. One example of that is eating back calories burned during exercise. This never worked for me. The calculations are usually way out.

Improve and increase your knowledge and stick to useful weight loss habits. When you do this, you will soon find out that successful weight loss does not have to involve misery, feelings of deprivation and excluding whole food groups, or targeting one food group as the reason for weight gain.

Whatever new things you learn, be it calorie counting, new ways of meal prep or new ways of exercise, stick with it. Make this new thing a habit which will become part of your life.

A plan that gives you a moderate calorie deficit, and that you can stick to consistently is the plan that is best for you.

3. Adherence and consistency will make weight loss habits stick.

This adds on to what has already been covered in this blog

Sticking to the diet and exercise regime you have planned is one of the important habits for weight loss that will guarantee you weight loss success. Yes, there occasional times we fall off the wagon. These should be far in between and not become a habit. A day of going over your calorie limit will not make much difference to your weight loss, neither is a day of not being active. There is no need of beating yourself up or trying to work the calories off by doing crazy stuff.

Go back to your plan and carry on from there. That said, there is a difference between moderately going over your calories and completely losing it. A day of mindless bingeing can easily wipe off your week’s gains and leave you in a calorie surplus. Do this repeatedly and you gain weight.

4. Self discipline will help you succeed.

I have already covered self discipline in another blog, so there won’t be much to say on here. Clicking here will take you to the blog.

When you have self discipline, you feel more in control. You do not procrastinate because you know the job has got to be done. Discipline yourself to learn and practice those things that will help you achieve your goals.

When positive results start coming in, you feel motivated to carry on doing those things. Being consistent with weight loss habits starts with discipline. Consistency and adherence to this discipline will lead to weight loss success.

You can only ever get anywhere by walking the right path that leads you there. To reach your weight loss goal, you must commit to your cause by taking action. Then, start learning and consistently practice those things that will keep you on the right path. When motivation wanes, self discipline will get you through obstacles.

Don’t be mortgaged to diet fads. Take action today. Have a strategy!