8 reasons we fall off the wagon: A MUST READ

LaMujerMasBonitaDelMundo

This happens to a lot of us (including myself in the past) wherein we plan our New Year's resolution & are aggressive at the start of the year but come two weeks later where we tend to have amnesia & forgetting everything about our diet. And come February or March when we quit the gym & then only to be surprised later on when we realized that we just re-gained everything, sometimes even double.

Here are the 8 reasons why you fall off the wagon:

1. No focus: you didn't set goals, you didn't put your goals in writing, and or you didn't keep your goals in mind daily (by reading
them, affirming them, looking at a vision board, etc.)

2. No priorities: you may have set a goal, but you didn't put it on or near the top of your priorities list. For example, your goal
is six pack abs, but drinking beer and eating fast food on the weekend is higher on your priorities list than having a flat stomach.

3. No support system: you tried to go at it alone; no buddy system, training partners, family, spouse, friends, mentors or coaches to turn to for information and emotional support when the going got tough.

*MY SIDE NOTE: this is the main reason why we are all here & for this one, we already taken one step ahead

4. No Accountability: you didn't keep score for your own accountability - with a progress chart, weight record, measurements,
food journal, training journal, and you didn't set up external accountability (ie, report to someone else or show your results
to someone else)

*MY SIDE NOTE: also the main reason why we are all here, for accountability but unfortunately a lot of us are skeptical to log our food when we know we will be over calories & worse, there are some who just treat this site like facebook. If you had over 1,000 calories then for goodness sake, still log it & don't be shy when your MFP friends see that you had over calories. Just make it up on the next day.

5. No patience: you were only thinking short term and had unrealistic expectations. You expected 10 pounds a week or 5 pounds a week or 3 pounds a week, so the first week you lost "only" 1 or 2 pounds or hit a plateau, you gave up.

6. No planning: you winged it. You walked into the gym without having a workout in hand, on paper, you didn't plan your workouts into your weekly schedule; you didn't have a menu on paper, you didn't make time (so instead you made excuses, like "I'm too busy")

7. No balance: your diet or training program was too extreme. You went the all or nothing, "I want it now" route instead of the
moderate, slow-and-steady wins the race route.

8. No personalization: your nutrition or training program was the wrong one for you. It might have worked for someone else, but it didn't suit your schedule, personality, lifestyle, disposition or body type.

So there you have it - 8 mistakes that cause most people to fall off the wagon. Are you guilty of any of these transgressions? If so, the solutions are clear and simple:

Focus, prioritize, get support, be accountable, be patient, plan, balance and personalize.

(Courtesy of Burn the Fat Newsletter)

TavistockToad

Like it!

LexyDB

Lazy
No self esteem
Fast food culture
Congeniality
Too much hard work
Cheating and expecting results
Bro/ho science

Sounds more like it.

LexyDB

Blaming others for your failings is another one.

carld256

9. I was hungry.

LexyDB

And don't forget any excuse is a good excuse.

rmartin72

This happens to a lot of us (including myself in the past) wherein we plan our New Year's resolution & are aggressive at the start of the year but come two weeks later where we tend to have amnesia & forgetting everything about our diet. And come February or March when we quit the gym & then only to be surprised later on when we realized that we just re-gained everything, sometimes even double.

Here are the 8 reasons why you fall off the wagon:

1. No focus: you didn't set goals, you didn't put your goals in writing, and or you didn't keep your goals in mind daily (by reading
them, affirming them, looking at a vision board, etc.)

2. No priorities: you may have set a goal, but you didn't put it on or near the top of your priorities list. For example, your goal
is six pack abs, but drinking beer and eating fast food on the weekend is higher on your priorities list than having a flat stomach.

3. No support system: you tried to go at it alone; no buddy system, training partners, family, spouse, friends, mentors or coaches to turn to for information and emotional support when the going got tough.

*MY SIDE NOTE: this is the main reason why we are all here & for this one, we already taken one step ahead

4. No Accountability: you didn't keep score for your own accountability - with a progress chart, weight record, measurements,
food journal, training journal, and you didn't set up external accountability (ie, report to someone else or show your results
to someone else)

*MY SIDE NOTE: also the main reason why we are all here, for accountability but unfortunately a lot of us are skeptical to log our food when we know we will be over calories & worse, there are some who just treat this site like facebook. If you had over 1,000 calories then for goodness sake, still log it & don't be shy when your MFP friends see that you had over calories. Just make it up on the next day.

5. No patience: you were only thinking short term and had unrealistic expectations. You expected 10 pounds a week or 5 pounds a week or 3 pounds a week, so the first week you lost "only" 1 or 2 pounds or hit a plateau, you gave up.

6. No planning: you winged it. You walked into the gym without having a workout in hand, on paper, you didn't plan your workouts into your weekly schedule; you didn't have a menu on paper, you didn't make time (so instead you made excuses, like "I'm too busy")

7. No balance: your diet or training program was too extreme. You went the all or nothing, "I want it now" route instead of the
moderate, slow-and-steady wins the race route.

8. No personalization: your nutrition or training program was the wrong one for you. It might have worked for someone else, but it didn't suit your schedule, personality, lifestyle, disposition or body type.

So there you have it - 8 mistakes that cause most people to fall off the wagon. Are you guilty of any of these transgressions? If so, the solutions are clear and simple:

Focus, prioritize, get support, be accountable, be patient, plan, balance and personalize.

(Courtesy of Burn the Fat Newsletter)

I honestly like and thank you for sharing this information!!

shutterbug282

Agree!

AllTehBeers

*snip*

5. No patience: you were only thinking short term and had unrealistic expectations. You expected 10 pounds a week or 5 pounds a week or 3 pounds a week, so the first week you lost "only" 1 or 2 pounds or hit a plateau, you gave up.

6. No planning: you winged it. You walked into the gym without having a workout in hand, on paper, you didn't plan your workouts into your weekly schedule; you didn't have a menu on paper, you didn't make time (so instead you made excuses, like "I'm too busy")

These two are it. I've seen 10 posts just today about people who start their posts 'so I've been at this a week (2 weeks, a month) and have hardly seen results. It takes time and planning to see real, serious results. Good post.

Sox90716

Well said.

sherbear2678

so true (esp. support system for me) thanks!

natwebster

This is so true.

WhyeatKachra

Bump for later.

LaMujerMasBonitaDelMundo

Blaming others for your failings is another one.

I agree

joannea1988

bump, i need this

MNguerita

Love it! Always need that occasional dose of reality.

Qatsi

This advice is spot on. Interesting how the author started with a "this is why you'll FAIL" approach before turning it around and putting a positive spin on it in the very last sentence.

mhoehne713

Thanks, I needed that!

LexyDB

These are all excuses, if you as a person are not happy and do not have the commitment or motivation yourself to make a better person, improve your fitness and wellbeing which colours every aspect of your life then all the reasons in the original post don't mean a thing. Why do you need support from others to make the necessary changes? Are you and you alone not worth your time and effort that it takes to make these changes? To make you a better person?

Sorry but no one else really matters in this, if you aren't willing to do what is necessary then you alone are to blame, excuses don't enter into it. You fail, then you are to blame as there is no reason or obstacle greater than your own happiness and fitness.

amandammmq

Interesting reading! For me, the biggest fail point in the past has been expecting to make ALL changes at once - perfect eating, exercising, etc. all at once.

This time, I started off nice and slowly - adding some light exercise into my life, not even worrying about the quality of the exercise at first, and not even worrying about food at all. A few months later, after exercise had become more of a habit and I had proven to myself that I could stick to it, I started logging my foods on MFP.

My progress has been slow but steady, and although I'll have bad days where I feel discouraged, I've been sticking with it.

JConstine

I don't think the OP meant that you will inevitably fail if you don't have a support system but it does HELP a lot to have one. What's wrong with people needing extra assistance?