- You ate too few calories: Sometimes in our excitement at the prospect of reaching our fat loss goals, we cut calories too low which is not sustainable long term. While there is little scientific evidence to support the idea of a broken metabolism, there is evidence to support the fact that eating too few calories for your daily activity level will eventually lead you to quit your plan and revert to the old eating habits that led to weight gain and plateaus. Busy, working men and women simply will not be able to accomplish their duties at work and home if they are only eating less than 1500 calories long term. Although you may want to go “all in”, consider shooting for 1600-1800 daily calorie goal. That is, unless you live a life of leisure!
- You reverted back to old eating habits too quickly: Recently, the idea of reverse dieting has come into popularity. This theory is commonly misunderstood. Reverse dieting simply refers to the idea that after a period of caloric deficit (i.e. eating 1400 calories), you must gradually increase your calories to avoid rapid weight regain as you return to your pre-diet caloric intake. By adding 100 calories per week to your diet until you return to your normal of 2000-2500 calories, you can ensure your metabolism adjusts to this increase in calories slowly. The theory also states that returning to pre-diet normal caloric intake will cause you to regain all of the weight that you lost with a vengeance. Sound familiar?
- You had no game plan for social events, special occasions, and holidays: Sure, you knew you were starting a diet a few weeks before your birthday. But did you simply write off that day as a “cheat day”, or did you carefully look at the morning after and thoughtfully consider what you would need to do, eat, and think about in order to get back on track? If you consume alcohol, partying with booze is always going to send your blood sugar in a tail spin. Waking up with a slight hangover is not going to be remedied with a portion-controlled bowl of oatmeal and flax seed. If you’re going to have a cheat day, plan on it and don’t go overboard. But if you’ll be imbibing, plan for your healthy eating to resume 36 hours later!
- You didn’t eat frequently enough: This one is dedicated to the whole food plant based eaters. When you eat predominantly vegetables, starches, and fruits, you are going to need to eat more frequently than when you were on a Standard American Diet or even a junk food vegan diet. If you are new to veganism, a vegan diet tends to be lower fat than a conventional western diet. If you are switching from junk food vegan to clean eating whole food plant based, than you will notice a difference in your satiation after meals. The dietary fats in nuts, seeds, faux meats and cheeses, and processed foods certainly attribute to slower digestion and prolonged fullness. However, eating a low caloric density diet by avoiding those higher fat foods is an excellent way to drop pounds. Just be prepared to eat four meals per day, if you find yourself struggling to stay full for 5 hours after each meal! Also be weary of intermittent fasting. Active, busy people may struggle with this way of eating long term.
- Your plan was far too restrictive: If you plan involved eating the same three meals each day, it was too restrictive. If your plan involved forcing yourself to eat food that you don’t enjoy, it was too restrictive. If your plan was to never eat certain favorite vegan foods ever again, it was too restrictive. You should be excited about all of the possible meals on your eating plan! Get excited by browsing Instagram and Pinterest for plant forward meals!
- You lost motivation too easily: So the scale hasn’t budged in two weeks. Women in particular can experience great swings in body weight due to hormones and salt retention. Also, in you happened to start a weight lifting or exercise regimen at the start of your diet, you likely are going to not see any losses on the scale while you concurrently lose fat and gain muscle. Try weighing in every four weeks instead of being preoccupied with the daily fluctuations you see on the scale. For some, an undesirable scale reading is emotionally distressing enough to cause a binge eating episode. Know your self. Step away from the scale if your happiness is associated with that little number.
- You didn’t believe in yourself: You must believe in order to achieve. Successful people visualize their success before it has happened. They behave as though they are their best self, and then their best self arrives over time. They stay dedicated to their goals and refuse to give up. A daily visualization while walking your dog may be all you need to shift your thoughts from negative from positive. Best believe, if you go into a healthy eating plan with the following thoughts, you WILL NOT succeed (so come to terms with your negative thought patterns and stay positive):
- “I’ve found over time that I am unable to lose weight.”
- “I know this probably won’t work, but I have to do something.”
- “I never lost weight before, and I’m not going to lose weight now.”
- “This may work for them, but I’m broken.”
- “My medical condition makes it impossible for me to lose weight.”
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