“oh just this time?!” ... sound familiar?

 Routine, organisation and structure definitely help when it comes to sticking to your diet, or in fact any plan as it happens.

An excessive need for control is one of the biggest reasons people lose control with food.

Whenever you’ve “successfully” lost weight in the past it’s taken a lot of self discipline and control and following a plan consistently. 

So each time you stop following that plan you put back on the weight you lost , so it makes sense to assume that following some sort of plan and sticking to a routine is part of the reason it works in the first place, not because the plan or diet you are following is some amazing diet.

So you get things even more precise, even more regimented, even more controlled. You count your calories precisely at every meal. You completely eliminate junk food from your diet. You get everything perfect.

But then something happens to throw you out of your routine…

… you have to stay in the office late… you go to a work function… a project runs over....there’s a family party...etc

And you "slip...

Then an hour later or the next morning the feelings of guilt and regret begin to take hold.

On those days when you can’t follow your diet accurately, it feels like a waste of time. Even if you could, it’s not like you’re going to wake up 10lbs lighter the next day, so what difference does it make if you start again tomorrow?

Maybe you mindlessly graze on a few things, maybe you have an all out binge. Either way the day is a write off!

But now that you’ve done it once, it’s so easy to do it again… and again… and again…

… until you’re all the way back to square one again, you think, “What the hell have I done? What’s wrong with me? Why do I always do this? The diet just doesn't work for me.

… and round and round the merry go round we go. This is why we say that perfectionism isn’t the same as high standards.

Why? Because it’s an impossible standard.

When you can’t do it perfectly you don’t do it at all. So you’re constantly on and off the wagon.

The truth is, your mind is ruled by either happiness or fear - and its much easier for us to choose the fear - fear of getting fat, fear of failure, fear of it not working, fear of staying how you are. That fear makes you do things that - with the benefit of hindsight - feel stupid. But at the time they feel completely justified.

Things like the knee jerk “F**k it!” moment. Or the belief that you won't ever reach your goal no matter what you do.

So the pendulum swings ever more aggressively on and off the wagon.

The trouble is trying to be perfect every moment and over analysing every small lapse is tiring and time consuming and stressful.

As they say with addiction, you can never get enough of something that ALMOST works. It ALMOST gives you control, confidence, certainty and a calm mind… but it doesn’t!

If this resonates, then the ONLY way you will ever succeed in your fitness goals is to completely change how you approach it - not just diet and exercise. 

You must learn to overcome your urges and long term built in feelings towards food, and realise there is no "good" or "bad" food, its just a choice we make.

Learn how to stay on track with your fitness and nutrition and stress in a way that works with your life.

This is exactly what I coach my clients to do on my programme.

That’s why I get great results for busy career driven women who support their family and who struggle with good eating habits, their activity and importantly their feelings and attitudes to these when for years nothing else worked for them.

We dig deep and get to the source of what’s really been holding them back, so they can move past it and change it for the long term.