A lot of the time when we begin a wellness journey, we strive for perfection. We go into it with an all-or-nothing mentality and we feel guilty when we can’t be perfect every day. However, the key to being successful in a weight-loss or health journey is not to be perfect but rather to be consistent over time. Consistency in everything you do in your life will make you successful in your journey.
Eating Schedule
Being consistent with your eating schedule is the first step in making your metabolism a fat-burning machine. You should aim to go no longer than 3-4 hours without eating. If you have long periods of time between your meals, your metabolism is not going into your next meal working as efficiently as it could be. Eating at least something, even if it is a small snack, to stay consistent with your eating schedule is a very important factor in your journey.
Tracking Your Intake
Every day does not need to be perfect when it comes to tracking your intake. Even opening your tracker and putting down one thing each day will make a difference in your journey. When you track one thing each day, you’re bringing awareness to your food choices and looking at an overview of your day. Beginning to do this consistently with just one or two items will slowly build a habit of going in and tracking additional meals.
Water Intake
Are you drinking a glass of water with each meal? If not, this is a great place to start with your water intake! Consistently drinking water (especially if you are active!) will help with your weight loss. Replacing any sugary beverages you have throughout the day with water will also decrease your cravings for additional sugar. Once you are consistent with a few glasses per day, you will be able to increase your water intake even more to work toward your minimum goal.
Sleep
Sleep is sometimes an overlooked aspect of a weight-loss journey. Sleeping a consistent number of hours per night will affect the results you see. Your body will lack energy and your metabolism will not work properly if you are leaving sleep out of the equation. Staying on a cycle of getting 4 hours of sleep half the week and then 8 hours the other half will confuse your body. Try to aim for 7-8 hours of sleep per night consistently, if possible!
Moving Your Body
Getting on a normal exercise regimen will help you see results in your journey. A walk for 20 minutes a day with your dog is a great first step in working toward moving your body on a regular schedule. Your body will get used to regular movement and exercise will begin to get easier. You will then be able to increase the amount of exercise you do and make it a normal part of your weekly routine.
Choosing a few of these things to focus on can set you up to be extremely successful in your journey. Think about where you could be in three or six months from now if you began to make some of these small changes today. Remember that small, consistent steps lead to big changes over time. Don’t feel like you have to strive for perfection when you can strive for consistency and still obtain results.
