Why is it that whenever I start a new habit, I always make it Monday? As if Monday is the mythical day of life changes.
This is the same for most healthy eating plans, does the following story sound familiar?
Monday Arrives
The alarm goes off. Your eyes open and the realization sets in that Monday has arrived. You have a long and busy week ahead of you, which is going to feel even longer with the nutritional changes you promised your friends you would make after an over indulgent weekend just gone.
That weekend's now a distant memory and Monday seems like it couldn't have come at worse time. So why make Monday even harder?
Time To Go All Out
It's time to declare war on your goals and you go to work on achieving them in a gung-ho fashion. This seems like a great idea......But is it?
With such a busy week ahead is it the best idea to try and make changes to your diet and lifestyle? There is no choice now. You've made the commitment to friends that you are going to change your ways and lose some weight.
Unsure about what diet to follow, especially since googling "diets for weight loss" and finding that there are thousands of diets promising to get you into the best shape of your life, you decide to cut out carbs, alcohol, chocolate and promise yourself that you will exercise for 1 hour a day. Wait, no, make that 2 hours a day, everyday that week.
Are These Changes Sustainable?
You get through Monday without eating anything you told yourself you wouldn't. It wasn't easy but you feel stronger and upbeat after getting through the day, although a little stressed and feeling in need of a glass of wine.
How long are you able to continue these mass changes?
You get through the front door and your partner has a glass of your favorite wine on the table ready for you. You could scream! You've done so well. But this last hurdle could prove to be too much.
You end up having a glass of wine while feeling a little annoyed with your partner for sabotaging your weight loss. The annoyance fades with each sip of wine and you forget about it. All is not lost. Monday will come around again you tell yourself, as you pour the second glass of wine.
One Change At A Time
Taking on too much change at once can be a recipe for failure, especially when you are trying to lose weight.
The all or nothing attitude may work for some people, but for the large majority of people it isn't the best way.
Instead of changing everything and putting a large amount of stress on yourself (increasing the stress hormone cortisol, which causes body-fat storage around your stomach area) there is another way.
Learn To Walk Before You Run
For weight loss it is very important that you are fully hydrated (3 litres generally for men, 2 litres for women).
Try increasing your water intake everyday for 2 weeks until you reach the recommended amount and have have formed a habit of drinking adequate amounts of water daily.
When that habit has been formed, you can move onto the next habit without the stress of focuing on more than one thing at once (incidentally the next best habit for weight-loss would be eating the right breakfast).
Forming habits one at a time will allow you to develop long-term sustainable fat loss. It will also make your Mondays that little bit less stressful :)
