Fallen Off Track? 5 Ways to Instantly Reset Your Weight Loss
Imagine that you’ve embarked on a weight loss journey and have been doing well implementing habits to get healthy. You’ve been meal planning, exercising, and tracking your food. You’ve even started to see the scale go down. But then, life becomes busy and stress increases. You’ve been spending more time at work, the kids have extra activities, and a parent has a health scare that requires you to step up. Everything hits at once, and the first thing to slip is your new habits.
In this situation, there is a tendency to throw in the towel. When you miss meal planning for the week or a workout or two, it’s easy to give up. You swing in the other direction, and before you know it, you’re back to relying on convenience foods and running on adrenaline.
However, there is another way. When it comes to weight loss and the habits that weight loss requires, it doesn’t need to be all in or nothing at all. There is a middle ground. At the first sign of falling off track, you can choose to reset weight loss right away. You can let go of the guilt and perfectionism thoughts, learn from the situation, and make the next choice to support your goals. And you can do this even during stressful or busy times. In fact, your health habits are even more important when stress levels are high.
If you’re working on getting healthy but seem to get derailed, today’s article is about getting back on track. We’ll cover:
- How to reset body for weight loss
- How to optimize sleep
- How to manage stress
- How to increase protein intake for weight loss
- How to stay hydrated
- What is mindful eating and how it helps
Why Quick Resets Can Work
Instead of swinging between extremes of totally on track and then fully off track, practice living in the middle ground. When you falter from your plan (and you will), restart weight loss with your very next decision. Practice giving yourself grace and allowing imperfection. Notice what feelings arise, and then reorient yourself back to the next action you can take to support your goals. Maybe it’s a balanced meal or a walk outside.
Practicing these quick resets allows you to recover from bad decisions and days without losing progress or momentum. It’s part of the journey. And all it takes is this shift in mindset and practice.
Prioritize Sleep for Better Results
We often assume diet and exercise are the most important pieces of weight loss, but sleep is critical, too. Even a single night of poor sleep increases hunger, cravings, and calorie intake, which quickly work against your weight loss goals.
So, when you fall off track, a good habit to start with is sleep. Prioritizing sleep may mean less time for scrolling and setting boundaries with your time (both of which will ultimately help sleep). Make bedtime a sacred ritual by choosing relaxing activities before bed.
Manage Stress to Curb Cravings
Along with sleep, stress management techniques are essential to include in your weight loss plan. Let’s face it: when you fall off track, stress is usually a factor. When stress is high, cravings skyrocket, especially for sugary, sweet, and salty snacks. High stress hormones contribute to blood sugar instability and visceral fat accumulation.
Practicing stress management during times of low stress helps build resilience for when stress is high. It will be easier to access your regulated nervous system when you practice regulation regularly.
There are many ways to manage stress; find what works for you. Some ideas for how to manage stress include:
- Meditation
- Mindfulness practices
- Yoga
- Reframing negative or self-critical thoughts
- Journaling
- Somatic therapy
- Time in nature
- Connecting with friends
Increase Protein to Stay Full
When you fall off track and stress is high, it’s easy to crave carbs and let protein slide. However, this is the perfect time to check in with yourself and ensure you’re getting enough. (If you don’t know how much protein your body requires, Lizzy Swick Nutrition can help!)
Protein, as part of a balanced meal, increases satiety and the feeling of fullness afterward. Protein also takes more energy to digest than other macronutrients, creating a thermic effect, or a brief increase in metabolism during digestion. Further, protein signals hormones such as PYY and GLP-1, which signal satisfaction to the brain and help regulate food intake.
How to increase protein intake for weight loss:
- Ensure protein with each meal and snack
- Choose unprocessed, lean proteins like tofu, tempeh, beans, Greek yogurt, chicken, and salmon
- Track your diet to ensure you’re meeting your needs
- Pair protein with vegetables, fiber-rich starches, and healthy fats
Hydrate and Eat Mindfully Daily
Pay attention to staying hydrated and mindful eating, especially when you fall off course, as these tools can help you reconnect to your body and goals.
Why is it important to stay hydrated? Dehydration can make you feel hungry when you are thirsty. It also affects how your brain functions and food choices. Drinking more water is a simple strategy to course correct. For example, when you fall off track with your weight loss habits, pause and drink a glass of water. Then, make the next decision for your health.
Eating mindfully is another strategy you can use to tune in and realign with your goals. Mindful eating involves bringing awareness to eating and your body’s sensations. Instead of rushing through and multitasking, slow down and sit with yourself as you eat. Not only is mindful eating an excellent tool for weight loss because it helps to prevent overeating, but it also allows you to connect your body and emotions. So, when you feel stressed and off track, take a breath and connect to the present.
With any health journey, including weight loss, there are always steps forward and steps back. The key is not to let the steps back be a reason to stop altogether. Instead, use some of the strategies here to reorient to your goals right away. The process of changing behaviors to promote weight loss is challenging, but you don’t have to do it alone. Reach out to Lizzy Swick Nutrition today for support and guidance every step of the way.
References:
- Chaput, J. P., McHill, A. W., Cox, R. C., Broussard, J. L., Dutil, C., da Costa, B. G. G., Sampasa-Kanyinga, H., & Wright, K. P., Jr (2023). The role of insufficient sleep and circadian misalignment in obesity.Nature reviews. Endocrinology, 19(2), 82–97.
- Mason, A. E., Schleicher, S., Coccia, M., Epel, E. S., & Aschbacher, K. (2018). Chronic Stress and Impulsive Risk-Taking Predict Increases in Visceral Fat over 18 Months.Obesity (Silver Spring, Md.), 26(5), 869–876.
- Rakha, A., Mehak, F., Shabbir, M. A., Arslan, M., Ranjha, M. M. A. N., Ahmed, W., Socol, C. T., Rusu, A. V., Hassoun, A., & Aadil, R. M. (2022). Insights into the constellating drivers of satiety impacting dietary patterns and lifestyle.Frontiers in nutrition, 9, 1002619.
