20 Ways to Stick to Your Weight Loss Resolutions in 2022
Yes, we know it is that time of the year again. You are drafting your new year resolutions in a neat, new planner. Colourful pages, probably scented too. Okay, a bit of exaggeration from our end, but we are not entirely wrong at guessing your moves, and yes, we know that the one resolution that’s going on the list is – weight loss.
Don’t be guilty if this resolution has been on your list for a few years, but you have not been unable to achieve your goals or maybe achieved them partially. It is not because you were not serious about it; the best of us fail to stick to our resolutions because somewhere mid-way, we lose focus. We forget that we are committing for 365 days and not just for the first day of the year.
So, here are a few tips to help you stick to your weight-loss resolutions in 2022, read till the end.
1. Journal your efforts:
We know there are various apps that will help you keep track of your progress – calorie intake, heart rate, distance covered, calories burnt and more. But get in the habit of journaling your daily achievements in a diary or a notebook.
You can make columns like below:
You can also write down one hurdle you tackled – food temptations, motivated yourself to do an extra lap of walk or a rep at the gym. Journaling has a positive influence on your thoughts. It helps to stay on track with your goals. So, before going to bed, make the columns for the next day (as we showed) and keep them ready. Studies say that writing a to-do list at night induces better sleep and motivates one to complete the goals the following day. Invest in storage boxes and label them according to days – Monday to Saturday and fill them with veggies and fruits that you will consume for those days. In this way, the burden of meal planning is taken care of.
Keep healthy snack options at your desk – roasted channa, makhana, dry fruits, so you don’t tend to eat cookies and chocolates during work. On Sundays, buy your groceries in bulk and organize for the next week. Also, plan your menu well ahead of time to take away the meal planning stress for the week.
2. Plan your meals:
Not just the menu; organise your fridge and storage boxes accordingly. We often slip from our nutrition plans when we don’t have healthy foods handy or planned them ahead of time. That’s when we are tempted to eat from a box or a packet. So organize things. Surround yourself with healthy foods. Invest in storage boxes and label them according to days – Monday to Saturday and fill them with veggies and fruits that you will consume for those days. In this way, the burden of meal planning is taken care of. Keep healthy snack options at your desk – roasted channa, makhana, dry fruits, so you don’t tend to eat cookies and chocolates during work. On Sundays, buy your groceries in bulk and organize for the next week. Also, plan your menu well ahead of time to take away the meal planning stress for the week.
3. Don’t jump for a fad diet or follow one blindly:
When you think of weight loss, think nutrition not diet. Most people tend to fall for a fad diet and despite quick results gain the kilos back even faster. Wondering why? Following a fad diet is not a feasible lifestyle change. One cannot keep eating carrots & tomatoes or live on liquids forever. At Fitterfly, our weight loss plans focus more on helping one eat healthy in moderation without deviating from the staple foods that a person prefers. For instance, if you are someone who prefers rice over rotis, our coaches help to bring in the right balance of carbs Vs other macronutrients Vs micronutrients through scientific planning and personalization. Read this article to know why fad diets don’t work in the long run.
4. Don’t miss out on micronutrients:
Your weight loss nutrition should not be all about carbs, proteins and fats. You should pay equal attention to the micronutrients like calcium, iron, essential vitamins, potassium, magnesium, zinc et al. They make your nutrition plan complete and ensure that you don’t suffer from any kind of deficiencies that could lead to mood swings, fatigue, lethargy and compel you to give up on your good moves to lose weight.
5. Practice mindful eating but don’t lose your mind:
Mindful eating is an approach towards healthy eating that focuses on various aspects of food and not just calories – chewing food slowly, taste, texture and more. Studies have shown that mindful eating helps in weight loss too. But sometimes, we get obsessed with food so much that we focus only on food and nothing else. This can have a detrimental effect and make one give up healthy eating habits. So, while you are focused on mindful eating, don’t lose your focus on the other aspects of your life – work, relationships, hobbies etc. A fulfilling life helps to reach your weight loss goals faster.
6. Don’t reward yourself with food:
A common mistake we make is to reward ourselves with food after any achievement.
— Walked 10,000 steps….. I need a reward.
— I followed my nutrition plan for a week… I need a reward.
Often these rewards translate to foods that are high in calories – pastries, rasmalai, ice-cream adding more calories to your intake. Instead, change the reward pattern – buy yourself a book, a watch or something you have been waiting to own. Well, your reward doesn’t always have to burn a whole in your wallet. If you follow your plans, you can reward yourself with ‘idle time,’ ‘music time,’ or ‘movie time.’ Anything that makes you happy.
7. Don’t allow cheat meals to cheat you:
If you observe a cheat day, be particular about the foods you consume. You cannot go on a gastronomical adventure of 3000 calories in a day. This will take a week or two to burn off the excess calories. So don’t fool yourself with excess food in the name of cheat day. Instead, if you want to eat a pastry, choose healthier dessert options and adjust your other food intake accordingly to ensure you don’t exceed the required caloric limit.
8. Know your body before you start:
To lose weight you need to know your body well – your weight & waist circumference (for obvious reasons), body fat percentage, your lipid profile, blood sugar levels, BMI, bone density etc. All these help in drafting the right exercise regime along with corrective nutrition. At Fitterfly, our weight loss program starts with a detailed physical analysis that focuses on these aspects along with addressing any pain areas to improve muscle strength, stamina, flexibility with reduced chances of injury.
9. Get help from an expert to stay focused on your goals:
As we mentioned, your resolution is a promise you make to yourself for the next 365 days, so don’t expect that you will fit in your old tees and denim by 30th January 2022. For the same reason, don’t set yourself an unrealistic goal like shrinking your waist from size 40 to size 24 in a year. Achieve small milestones.
Get help from an expert to know how much weight you should lose over the year and how to do it right. Sometimes when disappointments creep in it becomes difficult to keep going with your nutrition plans and exercise regime. Having a weight loss coach can help to stay on track with your goals. Expert hand-holding becomes essential at times to help you stay on track. At Fitterfly, our coaches help you to look beyond the small failures or quick results and focus on the larger picture for better gains.
10. Focus on behaviour change:
If you have to stick to your resolutions for 365 days you need to change the way you lived this long. You will need to focus on behavioural changes. Make sure you eat on time and eat right, avoid skipping meals or late dinners. Make it a habit to exercise despite the blues you face. It takes around 21 days to turn an action into a habit. However, this transition doesn’t always happen so swiftly and needs some hand-holding and expert guidance at times. At Fitterfly, our coaches ensure that members are able to incorporate behaviour changes at every step of their life and sustain them lifelong. Their behaviour and actions are tracked through the Fitterfly Wellness App through various functions as a food diary, activity tracker etc along with proper counselling too.
11. Meet a psychologist to have a stress management plan in place:
Confused? Probably nobody told you this before, but stress is a prime factor in weight gain leading to a lack of motivation and emotional eating. And we all are guilty of it. We usually fall prey to emotional eating when we are stressed, overloaded with work, or find it hard to interpret and control our emotions. We eat, and then we are overwhelmed with guilt for gobbling up an entire pizza or a tub of ice cream. This is why you need to work on your stress – know what is bothering you deep within – work, relationship, finances or a loss of a loved one. At Fitterfly, we pay attention to one’s mental well-being along with nutrition and physical exercise. Addressing the underlying stress is crucial in achieving weight loss goals.
12. Take up a new hobby (not gymming):
You might have taken up a gym membership for 2022 to compliment your weight loss goals and that’s fine. But take up a new hobby too, like reading, painting, sketching, pottery, gardening, depending on how much time you can spend doing the activity. A hobby is like a stress buster and helps you stay calm and positive in your daily life. It induces some positive vibes that help to stay motivated with your goals (weight loss goals too) and stay productive.
13. Move more, drive less:
We are sure you are trying hard to lift weights, burn calories, do some floor exercises, cardio, along with proper nutrition to lose weight. Another way to aid your weight loss goals is to ditch the car and walk more. Don’t bring the car out of the garage for grocery shopping, dropping kids at the bus stop, picking up laundry, or running errands. A couple of minutes of walking can help you achieve your weight loss goals faster.
14. Break the monotony of exercise & diet:
Monotony can be a spoilsport, and we know that. So always try to bring a variety in your exercises and nutrition plans. If you are a beginner who loses interest in workouts easily, try joining a combination class at first – yoga+cardio+strength training or Zumba+weights+spinning. In this way, you would continue with your routines better. When it comes to food, try making innovative changes to your nutrition plan, and you don’t have to do a lot at times. For instance, sprinkling some pomegranate seeds on your regular salad or even curry can enhance flavor and add zest to it.
15. Sleep more to lose more weight:
Okay, you don’t have to sleep half of the day to lose weight. The idea is to have your 8 hours of shut-eye to help your body lose fat and burn calories better. Studies have shown that lack of sleep, disturbed sleep, or less sleep are all related to weight gain and obesity. It alters the hormonal balance to make one eat more, exercise less, and lead to less calorie burn. At Fitterfly, our coaches take special care to help one develop good sleep hygiene through various tutorials and stress management programs. We know weight loss is not a linear approach and developing good sleep habits is as important as calorie counting, to lose weight.
16. Stay hydrated:
Remember we told you to keep track of your water intake while journaling, (point 1). This is because you cannot miss out on your eight glasses a day while trying to lose weight. Sometimes dehydration can make you eat more. It tricks your brain to think you are hungry when you are thirsty. So make it a point to drink enough water throughout the day.
17. Go for regular medical tests:
If you are over 30 (or even 25) and reading this, make it a point to go for regular health checkups. This will help you to stay informed about your health status and take action if needed. Also, your reports are the best way to gauge how you are faring in your weight loss efforts. If your sugar levels and lipid profiles have come under the normal ranges (or are better than previous readings), you are doing well, even if the weighing scale tells you otherwise. Don’t lose focus.
18. Don’t socially isolate yourself:
Sometimes, fearing temptations, peer pressure and sheer lack of control, many of us try to isolate ourselves from society until we reach our weight loss goals. This works for some people, sometimes; but most of the time, this could backfire, make you lonely and give up all your efforts. The wise way to stick to your plans would be to stay connected with your friends and family but have clear boundaries regarding food and temptations.
19. Teach yourself discipline:
When temptations get the better of you, try to remember how you discipline your kid without giving in to the tantrums to buy that large chocolate pack. No matter the howling and uninvited stares, you just don’t give in. This is because you know it is for a significant cause – to stop your child from eating unhealthy and developing cavities. So, before you give in to that temptation towards cupcakes or pile your plate with a heap of biriyani, be strict with your choices too. Not a parent yet? Try scolding your inner child for the ill-timed cravings, it still works 🙂
20. Enrol in Reset23:
We know losing weight isn’t easy. At Fitterfly, we have come up with a unique DTx weight management program, Reset23, which focuses on helping reduce weight and attain a healthy BMI below 23 while shrinking your waist circumference to a healthy measure. The program offers nutrition, physiotherapy, and psychological support to attain weight loss goals. Weight loss needs a 360-degree approach, and that is what Reset23 promises.
To know more about our program, visit our website https://www.fitterfly.com/reset23 or give us a call on 022 48971077 (Ext 2).
It was interesting to know that dehydration can sometimes make us eat more. My friend wants to reduce her calorie intake. I should advise her to see a weight loss doctor for proper care.