Change your Habits,
Change your Life
Why is tracking so Important?
Could this be getting in Your way to Lose Your Weight for Good?
Hi my friend,
Recently, I was thinking why we all are resistant to planning food ahead of time.
At the beginning of my weight loss journey, I disregarded this habit, and Now, this is a practice that I can’t imagine living without.
What changed?
I experienced a shift from hating to track and plan to becoming a person who rarely misses a day, but more importantly, my relationship with this habit has changed.
I remember many days I thought I should lose weight because I ate the “right” food, and when it didn’t prove out, it meant that something is wrong with me, or the “diet plan” and then I’d rush headlong into looking for the next solution. Scrapping everything and wishing or trusting in a new solution.
This is where I believe diet medication, or diet pills, or surgery comes in. it seems too good to be true, and those solutions never really focus on the core issue which is your relationship with yourself, and with your body, with food, and the scale.
Or the converse was true, if I lost weight, I’d think it was a fluke. I didn’t take time to notice what specific actions I took in order to make the number on the scale move.
What was missing was DATA
I can talk about obstacles and benefits all day long, but it’s not going to work for you unless you can find a way that’s sustainable for you to make this happen.
bottom line… if you want to lose weight, easily, develop this habit.
Tracking your food each day is what grounds you. It takes away all the “I don’t know” and "How did this happen?” thoughts that plague you each time you jump on the scale. For many years I spent time in confusion and did not have any idea how I got that number.
I’d attribute it to specific types of food,(good or bad) or how I was feeling about myself that day, whether good or bad. and most of the time I made so many incorrect assumptions and connections.
Now, when the number on the scale isn't’ what I want, or If my belief for the day is ALL bad, I do my evaluation, and can see the facts. The important thing about facts, is that (unless we have a thought about them) they’re actually neutral. And have so much important information for us.
I was challenged by my coach to create a loving, lush relationship with planning and assessing. I do it for my business now as well. And I learned the hard way….
After each of my coaching sessions, I take a few minutes to evaluate and plan for the next session.
The reason I do this is because a few quick minutes spent in evaluation and planning creates so much more peace, and direction for me that lasts all week long until our next call. When I open up the document to prepare for my calls, I’ve already looked after my future self by having some valuable insights that inform me for my next call.
When I didn’t do this practice I noticed that I was much more stressed and confused, and prepping for coaching sessions felt heavy and burdensome. Now it feels easy and I can sense that my coaching is improving bit by bit.
It's the same with weight loss. When I don’t dedicate the 5-15 minutes it takes me to assess and plan, the cost is confusion, stress, and anxiety and by the way, no weight loss, and even weight gain.
The cost is a few minutes each morning. But the benefit is peace throughout the rest of my day. I think of my daily planning habit as brain maintenance. It helps ground me and center me. It shows my brain what is actually true vs. what stories I’m telling myself, It’s a way to make the rest of my day more smooth and I like to think of it as a way to have my future self’s back.
I’m so grateful for my past self that took a few minutes to plan my meals, so I don’t have to keep thinking about it all day long. It’s a burden that I don’t need to carry around all day because I laid it down on paper.
So Stop carrying around all your unhelpful thoughts about planning and just get to it.
Here are some of my favorite thoughts about planning/ and assessing that you can borrow, or “try on”
5 minutes each morning saves me hours of confusion
taking time to assess helps to ground me
looking at data is power
I look forward to celebrating my wins each day
This is something I do because it’s
This habit enables weight loss to be EASY
If you’re feeling stuck and are convinced it’s too late to change, it’s time to prove to yourself what you’re capable of.
Be patient. This work takes practice, courage, and compassion.
You’ve got this!
Amy
