take a break if you need it

Let’s take a little step back to day from calories, macros, fats, protein and all that jazz and take a look at the weight loss journey as a whole. See if we take a step back, you’ll see that the journey doesn’t really have an end point. You can find the start point somewhere there, but not an end point.

That doesn’t mean you have to be on a weight loss journey forever, it just means that losing weight is just the first chapter of the journey. When you hit your weight goal, you’ll have to start trying to maintain weight and the effort it takes to maintain weight are roughly the same as losing weight.

I used to think once I hit my weight goal I could quit doing everything I was doing and go back to my old habits and ways. That couldn’t be further from the truth. Our old habits and ways are what got us back at our start point in the first place. There is no “go back to old ways”. Losing weight and keeping it off means changing your ways and keep going with the new way.

Losing weight is a lifestyle change.

You gotta change how you approach your day to day life. Yep, that does mean this will basically be an ongoing journey forever. It’s constant effort. Of course it does get easier over time when you start to get a hang of things, but it’s still something you gotta actively take care of.

Which brings me to the topic of taking a break.

Look, if you ever genuinely think you need a break from your diet or workout just take it. The journey is a long long long one. You’re not expected to be on point 100% of the time. You’re allowed to have days off. You don’t need to justify your days off. Take the days off when you really feel you need it. Success in weight loss comes from being consistent 70-80% of the time.

That’s all it takes.

Don’t torture yourself pushing onward on days you’re really just broken mentally or physically. Take a break if you need it, as long as you need, and after that just get back on track and move forward as per usual. 80% of 365 days is 292 days. If you’re on point 292 days of the year, and take 73 days off, you’re doing pretty perfectly.

You don’t need to be doing 365/365.

I think a lot of times we’re our worst enemy. We push ourselves for perfection in fear of losing progress or getting left behind, but what often happens is we end up pushing ourselves over the edge and fall big time. Pushing ourselves a little for discipline is one thing, pushing ourselves till self destruction is another.

Take breaks.

If there’s a birthday party, take a day break. If there’s a family vacation take a week or 2 break. Live life as it’s supposed to be lived and get back on track during the “ordinary” days.

To successfully lose weight you gotta be consistent, and to be consistent the journey needs to be somewhat enjoyable, you need some kind of breathing room.

Be kinder to yourself, catch your breath when you need to, then keep moving forward. It’s a super long journey ahead.

It’s worth it, and it does get easier over time.

— Po