4 Guaranteed Ways Eat Healthy Consistently

When it comes to losing weight, one of the most important ingredients of success is consistency. In fact, I’m willing to put my name on the line and say that staying consistent is the single most crucial focus when it comes to reaching your fitness goals. Building a routine that you can hit repeat on improves motivation and confidence in your ability to achieve what you want. These 4 strategies are guaranteed to help you eat healthy consistently and make your path to fitness success more enjoyable.

Why Might Healthy Eating Consistency Be A Obstacle For You?

Do you feel like you do great during the week – making healthy choices and staying on track – only to fall apart on the weekends?

Do you make really healthy decisions right up until you get home from work and then your good habits go right out the window?

Does Friday night happy hour turn into brunch mimosas on Saturday, followed by Sunday Funday and then guilty thoughts about starting fresh on Monday?

First of all, if you can relate to any of those statements, know that you aren’t alone. Healthier eating often includes saying no to indulgences. A day or whole week of that can build up to the sense of “I deserve a break”. And it can be hard to pull yourself back on track once you let go.

Second, know that you don’t have to feel this way!

There are a lot of really normal, really common reasons why you might struggle with consistency.

Reason 1: You run out of healthy food by the weekend

A lot of my clients meal prep on Sundays because they have time and it makes sense in order to be prepared for the busy work week to come. But if you plan, shop and prep for a Monday-Friday work week, chances are you’ll run out of readily available (or available at all) healthy options by the weekend.

Reason 2: Celebrations Revolve Around Food and Beverage Indulgences

I have worked in the hospitality industry for years so believe me, I get it. A bit of food and/or beverage indulgence after a long day or a long week feels good. Sometimes it even feels necessary. Celebrations and social events often revolve around food and drink, leaving you feeling like you have to choose: have fun and let loose, or stay home.

Reason 3: You’re Overly Restrictive During the Week

Do you generally enjoy what you eat during the week? Or is the work week your time to buckle down, cut out all of the extras and tasty ingredients that make a meal more satisfying and “be good”? Excluding things like a sprinkle of cheese or a piece of chocolate all week leaves you feeling deprived and more often than not, like you “deserve” that indulgence on the weekend.

4 Guaranteed Ways Eat Healthy Consistently

No matter what the reason is, it doesn’t feel great to flip-flop between super health and over-indulgence. Physically and discomfiting. Mentally it’s throwing the doors wide open for a guilt trip.

So, what’s a girl to do? I’m glad you asked…

Work Backwards from the Obstacle

Start with the obstacle and work backwards. In this case the obstacle is inconsistency. The goal is to eat healthy consistently – no matter the day, the occasion, or the state of mind.

Then, implement an behavioral strategy that can help you achieve that goal. That strategy should be both specific, and action-oriented.

For example:

Let’s say that you have trouble eating well consistently because weekends, starting Friday after work, feel like a time to finally let loose after a long, stressful week. Happy hour on Friday is the only time your work friends with families have to hang out and you always end up at the bar of a local restaurant.

It’s important that you’re able to enjoy time with your friends, but you don’t want it to be the beginning of another weekend down the “eff it I’ll start again Monday” drain.

You have a few options and the one you take really just depends on your preference and environment.

Try these options:

• Suggest another Friday night activity the feels celebratory, like bowling or getting mani/pedis.
• Opt out of Friday night happy hour and instead, schedule a Sunday matinee meet up.
• Agree to meet up after work but commit to going for a walk first, drinking a giant glass of water before imbibing, and announcing your intentions to get home at a specific time (so that you don’t end up staying late and over-doing it).

Plan Two Meal Prep Days

Instead of planning a single day to plan, shop and prep your meals, try this:

1. Plan one major prep day. For a lot of my clients who have Monday-Friday jobs, that’s Sunday. Do most of your prep on this day. Big batch cook. Pre-portion. Stock up on snacks.
   
2. Then, plan a quick-prep day 4-5 days later. Consider this your day to freshen up fresh fruit and veggies, change up your snacks if you’re getting bored, and maybe even big batch cook a 1-pot recipe like soup or stew so that you have healthy, readily-available options done for the weekend.

The Case for Daily (Small) Indulgences

Gritting your teeth and denying yourself a small break might seem like the best way to stick to your plan, but real life suggests that that’s a strategy that backfires. What I’m suggesting is conscious flexibility. Planning in small indulgences here and there can actually bolster your overall discipline and increase your motivation and ability to make healthy choices without ever having to go off the deep end.

Think about flexibility like this…

You could:

For roughly 80 calories you could satisfy your sweet tooth with 2 dark chocolate covered strawberries every night of the week

OR

You could deny yourself that nightly pleasure and devour a giant slice of chocolate cake on the weekend for exactly the same number of total calories.

Keep in mind that “perfection” is not necessary to see progress.

Make a Contingency Plan

A contingency plan, aka a Plan B aka an if/then planning strategy, helps you to continue to eat healthy consistently when your well-intended plans fall through. The purpose of a contingency plan is to help you stay/get back on track and return to life as normal as quickly as possible after an unforeseen event.

For example, what happens if you pack a healthy, well balanced lunch to bring with you to work on Wednesday only to realize (when your stomach starts growling and you’re starving), that you forgot it on the kitchen counter?

What will you do?

Having an if/them strategy gives you a back up plan so that you don’t end up heading to the vending machine, the closest fast food restaurant or skipping the meal all together.

Your Contingency Plan might be a list of restaurants that have healthy options for lunch. Maybe you’ve already browsed through some nearby spots (back when you weren’t so hungry you would literally eat anything) and you know exactly what to order at 2-3 different restaurants that will be healthy and satisfying.

Having a back up plan gives you a sense of confidence and control – knowing that there are other really viable, really healthy options available to you when something is amiss.