How Changing Your Eating Habits Keeps the Weight Off

If you’ve dieted before, you know it’s only a matter of time before the weight creeps back on.

You put in all the work up front, going into a moderate to severe calorie-deficit, eating the foods you know you “should” be eating. You get excited as the number on the scale drops. Then…life gets in the way, you lose motivation, hit that weight loss plateau, and give up.

And the next thing you know, you’re either back (or almost back) to your original weight, or worse, more than your original weight. So what went wrong? Not you…you put in the effort.

It was the method. The method to lose weight was for a unicorn, not a human. The method to lose weight didn’t account for normal human emotions, experiences, and challenges.

Which is why changing your eating habits for the long-term is the better method. I’m sharing how changing your eating habits keeps the weight off, so you never have to go on another diet again.

• LISTEN OR READ: Getting Out of the Dieting Cycle (Podcast Episode)

What Does Changing Your Eating Habits REALLY Mean?

Changing your eating habits does not mean temporary change, such as a 6-week or 3-month diet. It means changing your eating habits for life. The “for life” is the key part here.

In fact, I even have a podcast show called “Eating Habits for Life”, which is all about changing your eating habits…yep you got it… for life. Both for the duration of your life, and for the benefit of having MORE life.

You can check out the podcast here: Eating Habits for Life Podcast (PRO TIP: Create a shortcut to the page, so you can return to it later.)

So, the really great news is that after you make the small changes, you gain momentum and the changes get easier. They become automatic, as habits do, which makes it easy to maintain them for life.

You automatically choose the healthier option. However, if you want the less healthy option (because sometimes we want the cookies or chips), you tend to be intentional and deliberate about that, so that it feels very much in your control.

This all makes keeping the weight off super easy. Your whole being sort of shifts into the person who generally eats healthy foods and healthy portions. You don’t even have to think about it anymore, it’s just who you are.

Speaking of your being, your identity, that’s partly how changing your eating habits keeps the weight off. I’ll explain next.

• LISTEN OR READ: Habit Change for Weight Loss (Podcast Episode)
• GET WEEKLY TIPS: Eating Habits, Weight Loss, Mindset (Weekly Email)

Your Identity Shifts

So if you’ve been the person who has certain eating habits that have led to weight gain, when you change your eating habits for life, your identity shifts. You start seeing yourself in a new way.

Since you get used to your new eating behaviors that have become habit, you’re no longer the person who had poor eating habits. As you lose weight, you’re no longer the person who weighs _____ lbs.

You become the person who chooses the healthier option most of the time. You become the person who no longer emotionally eats, but instead eats because she’s hungry and stops when she’s full.

You become the person who doesn’t get bothered by cravings, who isn’t afraid of social situations involving food, who actually enjoys looking at her figure in the mirror.

You become a happier, healthier version of yourself. Your identity shifts into one that works better for you.

When you go on a diet to lose weight, none of that good stuff occurs, because the results never last long enough. You also don’t change the way you think or feel. Which is what I’m going to talk about next as far as how changing your eating habits keeps the weight off.

• LISTEN OR READ: 5 Mindset Shifts to Help You Lose Weight (Podcast Episode)
• LISTEN OR READ: Thought Habits and Your Results (Podcast Episode)

Changing How You Think and Feel

To change your eating habits, you must change your eating behaviors (actions, reactions, inaction) repeatedly. Changing your eating behaviors requires changing how you think and feel.

If you’re not eating because you’re hungry and stopping when you’re full, then that means your thoughts and feelings are driving your eating behaviors.

If you just try to change your eating behaviors without identifying what thoughts and feelings caused the “bad” eating behaviors in the first place, the changes will never last.

That’s something I help my clients with when we work together. I help them with their actions, but also their thoughts and feelings behind the actions.

Often, a change in mindset does the trick and makes it way easier to change the actions. Also, when I show them how to identify and just feel their emotions, they learn to stop emotionally eating in response to their emotions.

So thoughts and feelings plays an important role in changing your eating habits to keep the weight off. Without addressing the ones keeping you stuck in current eating habits, you won’t be able to advance.

Learn more about how I can help you specifically, by booking a free 60-minute consultation with me. Book a free consultation by clicking here.

• LISTEN OR READ: How an Eating Habit Coach Helps (Podcast Episode)

It’s All About Duration

Changing your eating habits does not mean a complete 180-degree change overnight. It means small changes, done the right way, over a period of time. That way, you actually form new habits and break current ones you no longer wish to keep.

You’re also a lot less likely to give up, which means you’ll be more likely to keep gradually losing the weight.

That’s how changing your eating habits keeps the weight off. Not by drastic, overnight changes, but by small, doable changes that are easy to maintain for long enough time that they become your new eating habits.

The weight may take a little longer to come off over the first few months, but you’ll continue to gradually lose it and it’ll stay off. Your brain won’t rebel, like it can tend to with a diet.

Think long-term gains over short-term satisfaction.

• LISTEN OR READ: Short vs. Long-Term Behavior Change (Podcast Episode)

How Changing My Eating Habits Changed My Body/Mind

I changed my eating habits a little over a decade ago after I realized I was emotionally eating and mostly eating carbohydrates. I was introduced to more foods by my best friend, Kacie, and her excitement about some of the new foods she was trying rubbed off on me.

I started changing WHY I was eating (eating for nutrition and energy rather than to escape stress, anxiety, and sadness). I also started changing WHAT I was eating.

• LISTEN OR READ: My Emotional Eating Habit (Podcast Episode)

Because I was putting foods in my body that I felt better about, I started feeling more like I wanted to take care of my body. And the more I wanted to take care of my body, the more I wanted to put foods in it that I felt better about.

Interestingly, those negative emotions started to lessen, and I just felt more happy. I also slept A LOT better, had more energy, and of course lost weight. I became way more confident in myself, and even the way I walked changed.

These things only improved even further over the years, and instead of feeling older (I just turned 40), I feel better than I did in my 20’s.

Because of all that, I feel like I’m just starting to live now. I’m setting new goals and achieving them. I’m in the best running shape of my life and plan on getting even faster.

And because I’ve used many of the tools on myself that I teach my clients, I’ve changed my mindset about myself and my capabilities. I also have absolutely zero fear that I’ll gain the weight back or slip back into old eating habits.

So, think about what you can have too, if you change your eating habits. And if you want my help with this, I’m here. Let’s meet for a free consult, so you can get started. Pick a date and time here.