I wanted to share with you 3 of my top tips for when you are on any diet. These tips can help you succeed with weight loss.

1. AVOID THE SCALE!

The scale is so overrated! Trust me, the scale can drive you crazy! Our bodies fluctuate constantly, so measuring your progress this way isn’t the best way. I understand that losing weight can be hard mentally and emotionally (I’m right there alongside you on this journey, too!), but I find that many people panic when they see the scale not budging or go up a notch rather than down – and I totally get this! I used to do this, and I used to panic about tiny gains or if the scale didn’t budge, too. But, I’ve learned that looking at the scale on a daily basis only caused me to become obsessed with it. It’s best to focus on other ways you might see a change in your body such as how you feel inside and out, how your clothes are feeling baggier and how you look in the mirror. These are all WAY better forms of measurement, in my opinion. Also, get a measuring tape and measure around your waist, belly, hips, thighs, arms, etc. Write down those numbers and after a week or 2 measure again and I promise (if you’re working hard at this diet) you will see the numbers drop! It’s pretty awesome! Also, taking before/during/after pictures can be so rewarding when comparing them. Our weight can fluctuate all the time – sometimes we are gaining muscle and our weight can seem like its not changing at all, when in reality we have just been working out real good and built some muscle while burning fat at the same time, so the scale might not budge at this time…. I wrote more on the subject of fat vs. muscle here. Check it out for more info on that. Also, being a woman you might notice weight gain at the time of your period and that can also put a wrench in things. Basically, stop focusing on the scale, it’s not always right and it can sometimes cause frustration. Try the other ways of measuring your progress and you will feel satisfaction.

When following any diet plan, be proud of how far you’ve come, not how far you have to go. Be proud of any success you make whether its on the scale or an inch off your waist. All successes are created equal!

2. HAVE A PLAN!

Without a plan, where will you begin and where will you go? You’ll be confused and floundering when you could be making progress on your diet. When I say this I mean to plan everything! Doing this is like setting a goal. You want to reach your goals right? So, write it all out. Set goals and reach them! You’ll be amazed at how freeing you’ll feel. Plan your meals, plan your grocery list, prep your food ahead of time & plan your exercise. These are all keys to succeeding on this diet.

• Meal Planning: this can be daunting, and it takes time. But it’s so worth it. It will help you to not end up going out to eat and eating something you shouldn’t. It will instead guide you straight to the kitchen because you can’t use the excuse “I just don’t know what to eat?!”. You should plan at least a week ahead of time. I usually just plan dinners and eat leftovers for lunch the next day or plan for mixed salads throughout the week for lunches. And for breakfast & snacks you can plan on eating almost the same type of items every day, to make it easy on yourself. You can write it all out on a piece of paper or in a document on your computer. If you’re on the 17 Day Diet, we have created a meal plan for you. Pretty cool right? We do all the hard work: Meal plan for the week + grocery list. See it in the [app_link app="17DayDietMealPlan" platform="iOS" text="iTunes app store" location="Blog Post"] [app_link app="17DayDietMealPlan" platform="iOS" text="here" location="Blog Post"].
• Shopping List: this is the next step you take after writing up your meal plan for the week. Take the recipes you have picked and break them down into a food list. Remember to include any fruit or snacks you want to have during the week that are not listed in the recipes.
• Food Preparation: Preparing food ahead of time can mean a world of a difference to anyone who has a super busy life. By food prep I mean, take a day out to chop all the veggies and place in airtight containers in your fridge. You then will really have NO EXCUSE not to cook. Everything will be chopped up when you get home from work, exhausted. You can just throw what you need in a pot or pan (depending on what you’re cooking) and follow the recipe. You can also plan even further ahead by cooking up your meat’s ahead of time – grill chicken breasts or fish fillets and store them in airtight containers in the fridge until you are ready to heat up and use them throughout the week. It helps save time and keeps you from falling off the diet wagon. Prepare your food and you’ll always have healthy food waiting to be cooked or heated up for breakfast, lunch or dinner.
• Plan your Exercise: This is just as important as food prep or meal planning. We all get lazy. We all just don’t feel like working out sometimes. But, if you set a time and a place and what you plan on doing ahead of time – you just might follow through! Especially if you make plans to do it with a friend! Friends can help hold you accountable. Read more below on that subject.

3. NEVER BE AFRAID TO ASK FOR HELP!

If you feel discouraged or overwhelmed or confused, ask for help! Find a support group online, seek out friends at your gym or work that you trust and ask them for motivation or support. Having to ask for help is sometimes hard, but a good friend pushing us is sometimes just the motivation we need. Friends can also help hold us accountable while on a diet, which can be a big help too. So be open with those you trust and this is just one more way you can be on the road to success. Having someone hold us accountable can make a world of a difference when following a diet. Letting your friends and family know you are on a diet can help – say you go out to eat with a family member and you are very tempted to order dessert…. well, if that family member knows you’re trying to follow a diet, they could help talk you out of “cheating” and help you realize its not the best decision. Another way having friends hold you accountable can help is finding a workout buddy. We all have our moments when it would be so much easier to just be lazy and not go work out – but if you have a workout buddy who relies on you, there is no way you would flake out on them – and they wouldn’t do that to you either. You push each other and that’s one of the best ways to help you get in shape – find an accountability partner!

I also wanted to point out that I am always here to answer any questions you may have regarding this topic or even if you just need a little motivation. Email me anytime.