Why You’re Getting Fatter While Dieting - How To Fix It

Here are 5 things I would do if I were to lose 40 pounds today and the one food that must be in my diet plan.

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I tried to lose weight for four years and in that time I felt like a failure because I couldn’t figure out why I was consistently failing to reach my goal.

In those years, I would write in my New Year resolution that my goal was to lose 40 pounds. But every January, year after year, I was nowhere near my weight loss goal.

I kept the cycle for so long that I felt like a continued failure. Now I’ve lost 40 pounds and maintained it eight years later, there have been a few things that I’ve learned that could have made my progress easier.

First, you have to understand that weight loss is about a mindset shift and a cheat code to keep you on track.

I have used this framework to achieve my first pull-up (which was literally impossible for me to do during my weight loss journey), to build a business and help my clients lose weight over a short period of time.

If you have been struggling to lose weight, you might be asking yourself “Why do some people find it easier to achieve their weight loss goal even though they have little to no resources and workout less frequently while those who workout harder and have more resources aren’t able to achieve success in their goal?”

To be able to understand why you are failing to hit your weight loss goal, you have to figure out what the problem is.

So here’s a dilemma that most people face. If you have big goals like losing a hundred pounds, doing 20 pull ups or running a marathon, there is a big gap between who you are today and who you need to become in order to achieve that goal.

For example, when my goal was to get my first pull-up, I sucked at lifting myself up to an inch. I felt too heavy to push myself up the bar no matter how hard I strained my body. It was physically impossible to do one pull-up, let alone 20.

Even though I had the motivation and willpower to do the exercise, I just wasn’t able to do it because I wasn’t the person I needed to be in order to complete that goal.

This was the same problem I had when I was trying to lose 40 pounds. I didn’t know how to be the person who could lose weight and keep it off.

So until you make certain changes in your life, it will be impossible to achieve any goal and maintain the result for a long time.

But how do you become someone who can continually achieve success with their goal?

#1. Split your goals into smaller and easier steps

I know this might sound like a cliché. However, your success will come from taking small actions every day and staying consistent with that mindset over a certain period of time.

The problem is that most people do not take action when they set a goal. For example, if you are supposed to go to the gym today and then you end up Netflixing and eating ice cream instead, then you are not someone who takes steps to become who you want to be.

Essentially, you are setting yourself up for failure because you don’t trust yourself to do difficult things.

But here’s one thing I do to avoid putting off my plans once I have set them. I incorporate small tasks into my daily routine.

Let’s say I needed to do a 30-minute workout before I leave for work in the morning. I do fast walking or squats while listening to my scheduled podcast.

Or I could be preparing my meal and doing walking lunges instead of standing and just walking around the house. And if my goal was to go to the gym, I could pick up your groceries on my way back home from the gym.

The point is to include a simple workout into my regular activity so it feels like a hobby rather than a task.

#2. Make your routines a habit

When you incorporate your weight loss plan into your daily routine it becomes a habit. And one of the easiest ways to achieve anything is through habits.

As you already know, habits die hard. When you make something a habit, you start enjoying doing that thing every day and it becomes a part of your lifestyle.

Let’s say you followed your routine in step #1 religiously for one month, you will notice the process becomes easier and you feel off when you miss doing your exercise for a day.

As your body adjusts to your new habits, you will find it easier to increase the momentum in your routine by adding two or more workouts into your daily routines.

Try to advance at a slow pace so the adjustments you make don’t affect your progress.

I would advise adding more workouts after five to six weeks. Also, keep the total number of workouts you do to 3 per day with 2 reps as a beginner.

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#3. Punish yourself when you fail to follow your plan

The reason we quickly fail to achieve our goal is that we do not hold ourselves accountable for not following our plan.

However, speed and time do matter when it comes to taking action. You don’t want to spend 40 years before you lose 40 pounds. You want to achieve your goal within a year so you can move on to other things in your life.

So set up a commitment device to keep you on track. When I was growing my business I held myself accountable for any failure.

You can say I built an obsession with winning through this step because I would punish myself by spending $50 on a meal for a homeless person every time I failed to stick with my plan.

I would also reward myself by buying one shoe every week I completed my weekly goals without any failure. I chose shoes specifically because it’s the one accessory that boosts my confidence when I walk.

I needed the reminder of where I was headed whenever I wore the shoes. That confidence that I could achieve anything I set my mind to achieve was the only motivation that got me through the rough times when I could have quit.

But more importantly, I had a friend implement the consequences so that I couldn’t cheat myself out of it. You can also post your goal on social media or appoint your trainer as your commitment tracker to enforce that accountability on you.

#4. Control how you act on impulses

Many of us act on autopilot. We react to anything without thinking it through. When we feel sad, we lash out at anyone around us. If we are angry, we put cookies in our mouths. And if we are bored, we overeat to take our minds off the silence we hear.

However, you do have a choice to respond differently to how you feel. For example, if you are supposed to go to the gym today and you don’t have the energy to workout at the gym, you can go swimming instead.

You can also fast walk at home, which is what I usually do on days I don’t feel like working out intensively.

The purpose of defaulting from your autopilot functioning is to mould yourself into someone who actually does what they say they will do.

So if your goal for today is to do 10 barbell curls at the gym but you do jumping ropes instead, you will have completed your goal to do one exercise per day and you will feel good about yourself for achieving your goal.

#5. Eat potatoes every day

I didn’t really like eating potatoes until I learned of their incredible benefits. When I found out sweat potatoes help reduce the risk of type 2 diabetes and increase insulin sensitivity, I started consuming them regularly.

Plus it’s also a rich source of vitamin A and contains more fiber than starch. This made it the perfect diet for me since I’m cutting down my carb intake.

I have discovered that potatoes make me feel fuller than any other food. Eating roasted sweet potatoes is my favorite meal for keeping off food cravings.

I can eat three medium-sized potatoes with green vegetables in the morning and not feel hungry for the rest of that day.

If I’m doing 8 hours of fasting, sweet potato will be included in my salad to keep me satiated then I take fresh juice, not water till the end of my fasting period.

So if you want to speed up your weight loss process start eating more potatoes, your body will thank you later.

If you find these tips helpful don’t forget to leave a comment below because that will encourage me to continue creating content like this to help you live healthier. See you on my next post.