Chances are, you’ve gone on some sort of “diet” or quest to find a healthier lifestyle at some point in your life. A new study recently found that 1 in 3 people start a new diet every month, but 50% of them give up after a few weeks. Talking to clients, I find that this is a continuous problem. They aren’t able to find something that will continuously work for them. It usually works for a while but then it stops or they stop. How many times has that happened to you? You start a new program, you are excited and sticking to every day, you’ve told yourself this is it, right? And then it happens…..you get sick, your child gets sick, you go to a party, or out with friends one night. What happens the next day? You are thrown off and decide this plan wasn’t right for you. *Check out our fat-burning guide to jumpstart your healthy lifestyle* I’ve seen countless women over the years struggle to stick with a wellness plan for numerous reasons. Today I am sharing with you 6 of the biggest obstacles I see and how to overcome them so you can jump off the diet roller coaster, stay the course, and achieve sustainable weight loss that doesn’t feel like a daily struggle.

6 ways to stick to a healthy lifestyle

1. Have a plan.

You don’t have a plan in place. Saying to yourself that you are going to eat well and exercise isn’t enough. You have to make a plan and write it down. How will you eat healthy on busy nights if you don’t plan to make it actually happen? It doesn’t matter what you are doing, you need to be able to stick to the plan. If you can’t fit in an hour class at the gym, don’t sign up for the class. You are setting yourself up to fail because you won't be consistent. Find something that you can work into your schedule and that you will be able to consistently make time for. Make a plan for what will happen on your busy nights. You have to write it down and schedule it in your day.

2. Your plan needs to be realistic

When your plan is not realistic, you will have a hard time sticking to it. You might start a workout that may be too hardcore to maintain. Maybe you start a specific diet plan that cuts out specific food groups like low carb or keto. Even if it works short-term if you ask yourself whether or not you can maintain it long-term and the answer is no, find a different approach. When your plan is unrealistic, it will be very hard for you to keep it up consistently. The most likely outcome is that you will be able to do it in the short-term and then something will derail you and you will quit altogether. For example, starting a rigorous workout plan might work for you for the short-term, but then if you get an injury or your schedule fills up, it will come to a halt. Likewise, with eating, certain diets may help you in the short-term through food group elimination, but then you go to a party or a special event or you just want to enjoy eating with your family and the food plan is out. It’s easy to get caught in the cycle of thinking we are failing because we can’t keep these changes up when really they weren’t good for us to begin with.

3. You need sleep.

You aren’t getting the sleep you need to sustain your energy. This is one I hear every week, you don’t start a new plan or can’t continue because you are exhausted. But guess what? You are exhausted because you aren’t sleeping well. We need at least 8 hours of sleep each night. Sleep is essential for fat loss. It recharges your mind, muscles, and allows you to focus. Sleep deprivation weakens our willpower and ability to make the right choices. We want to eat healthy but we are too tired to make the meals. We want to work out but our body isn’t rested and the thought of working out makes us more tired. It’s a crazy cycle we can get stuck on when we don’t get enough sleep. Sleep needs to be the priority. It should be the first thing you start on, and then it will be easier for the other changes you want to make to fall into place.

4. Lose the all or nothing attitude.

One of the biggest barriers to success I see among my clients is the tendency to let one slip-up snowball into a major setback. You’re human and perfection isn’t possible, so rather than beating yourself up or saying, “I screwed up so I might as well splurge all weekend and start again on Monday,” try to keep the big picture in mind. In the grand scheme of things, one "off" meal isn’t that big of a deal. The best thing you can do is figure out what triggered you (stress, not planning ahead, letting yourself get too hungry…) so you can prevent it from happening again. Stumbling sometimes is good because it’s an opportunity to learn how to better set yourself up for success. The BFF program is set up with this in mind. We built in margin for error and the plan is built on flexibility as well. In fact, our motto in BFF is Progress Over Perfection. Our community is built around support. They will encourage you and help you to move on to bigger and better things.

5. Ditch the excuses

You’ve had those weeks. You have events lined up like dinner out, or gathering with friends. Next thing you know there's a holiday around the corner. So you wait to start, or you let those things be excuses as to why you can’t commit to a plan. We start to believe the excuses we tell ourselves. We believe we won't be able to be successful until after the next thing (whatever that ends up being). The reality is, there will always be some sort of holiday, gathering or event ahead. I’m a firm believer in making your wellness mesh with your lifestyle. That's what we do in BFF. We teach you how to leave margin for those events, how to FEAST on your favorite foods and drinks, workout smart, and ultimately LIVE your life fully!

6. Surround yourself with support

I hear stories from my BFF clients all the time about how their husband or other family members try to push food on them or say they don’t want to have any part in their healthy eating. But after you have been making changes and seeing positive results, they typically will come around. The key is baby steps. Start making changes slowly so everyone has a chance to process what is taking place, especially with husbands! You do need a supportive network of cheerleaders in your corner. To lift you up when you need it, encourage you, praise your successes and a community to ask questions, share recipes etc. You must find a supportive network to help you reach your goals. BFF has a community that has over 250+ women who are active in the community who are ready to cheer you on and answer your questions. These women are there for you.

Healthy lifestyle changes that stick

As you age, the cycle of starting and stopping becomes increasingly more difficult. We lose muscle mass as we get older which means every time you stop a healthy lifestyle, you add to your existing fat stores which means you end up three steps back and one step forward. It’s one of the worst things you can do for your health. So when you are deciding what you want to do, it’s so important to make sure it works with your lifestyle. Starting a healthy lifestyle is usually pretty easy. Sustaining a healthy lifestyle is where the problems lie. However, if you commit to make a plan, plan realistically, get enough sleep, strive for progress over perfection, quit making excuses, and find a supportive network, you are well on your way to making long-lasting changes. Don’t forget to grab our fat-burning guide below! [button link="https://burnfatandfeast.com/fat-burning-guide/"] Download Now![/button] If you are ready to join a program that has built-in layers of accountability plus a plan to help you reach your health and fitness goals, check out Burn Fat and Feast. You can also check out the Facebook live I did about sticking to a healthy lifestyle below!

Which of these 6 ways to stick to a healthy lifestyle can you start with right away?