Ever wonder why you can’t ever stick to diets for weight loss? You start off with high motivation and you make great choices in the kitchen. You stick with your workouts and feel like “this time is gonna be different”. But soon, motivation slips away, you’re starved, and your body hurts all over. End of efforts for weight loss.

It’s not you, it’s your approach to weight loss that’s failing YOU. There is nothing wrong with you. No amount of willpower will make weight loss possible. Cut yourself some slack!

In order to lose weight, we need to make changes and stick with them consistently. Change is one of the hardest changes to make because our brains are wired to seek out routine and comfort. There is not enough willpower in the world to change that fact.

True habit changes transcend inconsistent bursts of motivation and are created from carefully orchestrated habit building. Here’s how it’s done.

Basic framework for habit change

In the New York Times Bestseller Atomic Habits, by James Clear, the author explains that every habit we have follows this simple framework:

Cue>Action>Reward

Think about things you do automatically, like brushing your teeth. That’s likely part of your established routine, and it’s a task you don’t need to think much about.

Finishing your morning coffee could be the cue (aka, your mouth feels gross). This sets action in motion (brushing your teeth) and you are rewarded (with a clean mouth).

In order to build new habits that support weight loss, we can use the same system.

Build good weight loss habits with habit stacking

Habit stacking is a highly-streamlined way to use existing cues in your day as building blocks for starting something new. This bypasses the need to remember to start a new habit, which takes a lot more mental effort.

Let’s add a new habit on to brushing your teeth as an example. Brushing your teeth is a daily action that becomes the cue for working on your hydration goal.

Set a goal like this: “After I set my toothbrush down, I will drink an 8 ounce glass of water”. 

With practice, this new action easily becomes another small part of your daily routine.

To maximize your follow through, make sure doing the action is super easy. Have a glass on the counter ready to be filled up!

Knock out bad weight loss habits with habit stacking

We can also use habit stacking to cut out bad habits. First, reduce cues for bad habits whenever possible.

In the Vietnam era, Lee Robins and her colleagues found that soldiers addicted to heroin overseas had a curiously low rate of addiction upon arriving home. Why were so many of them able to kick the habit without rehab?

Simply, the cues for using heroin no longer existed. Veterans came home to a completely different environment and routine so the action of using was not being cued.

To reduce cues for our own bad habits, we can make some simple changes to our routines. Avoid driving routes that take us past our favorite fast food restaurants. We can order groceries for pickup instead of grabbing after candies impulsively at the register. We can stop buying junk food so we are not naturally cued when opening a cabinet.

When it’s impossible to eliminate the cue

When it comes to food, it’s nearly impossible to eliminate every negative cue. That’s where changing the action that follows the cue comes in.

If your habit is to eat any time you feel stressed at work, try changing the action that follows.

The cue of stress will always exist. Try this instead. “When I feel stressed, I will chew a piece of gum.”

This habit works away from foods that don’t support weight loss and help mechanically reduce stress by chewing.

Once again, maximize your chances of following through by making the new action easy. Keep a pack of gum on your desk to grab quickly as needed.

Changing actions is also a great opportunity to sneak in a new positive habit. For example, instead of gum, you could get up and walk around for 5 minutes when you’re feeling stressed. Hello step goal!

4 highly-effective changes for weight loss

Here are 4 small changes that my clients succeed in implementing in this way. All 4 are seemingly insignificant, but make a huge impact in the weight loss process over time.

• Drink water. “I will drink a large glass of water with every meal and snack”
• Fruits and veggies for snacks. “When I feel hungry between meals, I will grab an apple or a handful of baby carrots”
• 15–minute walk daily. “When I get out of the car at work, I will take a 15-minute walk around the block before heading in.”
• Daily food logging. “When I sit down for a meal, I will take a moment to enter my selections into my food log.
• Emotion journaling. (“When I climb into bed, I will open my thoughts journal and write for 5 minutes”)

These are basic habits that clients in my online Weight Loss Intensive Program build in the beginning stages of our time together. Over a short few months, they’re able to lose 20 pounds naturally by focusing on small, meaningful habits.

Limits to small habit building in weight loss

There is one fatal flaw with small habit building. That is, initially making a small change comes from a motivated place. A person could start food logging regularly, making it a habit, but does not continue challenging herself to make changes that support weight loss.

With coaching, clients fast-track natural weight loss by building habits quickly. They push past the brain’s natural tendency to seek out comfort, challenging it to push into new habits with the support of a trusted advisor.

In addition to providing a high level of accountability, a coach is also a sounding board and provides critical advice when changes aren’t leading to weight loss.

Rather than giving up when things get tough, a person can push through or get the advice  to make smart adjustments to keep taking progressive action. A coach has years of experience and can help you avoid costly mistakes that make you feel like giving up.

The likelihood of reaching your ultimate goal is very slim without the help of a coach along the way. Coaching has a near 100% success rate when it comes to losing weight and shows positive improvements in health ailments like high cholesterol, high blood sugar, blood pressure and cardio fitness.

Is online weight loss coaching right for you? 

In the past ten years, the options for online coaching have exploded. The good news is, studies show that online coaching is just as effective as face to face. Plus, it’s more convenient! Take self-paced lessons when it fits in your day, and meet with your coach via face time from virtually anywhere.

JD Nutrition LLC and your personal registered dietitian coach, Jackie Durand RD, CDN will be your guide to weight loss success. Take advantage of personalized on-demand lessons to construct a weight loss plan that fits in your lifestyle. You’ll meet with your coach regularly for support, accountability and help making changes to lose weight quickly and safely.

Book a 15-minute discovery session with Jackie to learn more and apply for coaching.

Boost your odds of success and get started with coaching today. Don’t live your life wondering if you could have done it.

You can!

Jackie Durand RD, CDN is the owner and head registered dietitian and coach at JD Nutrition LLC.