Over the years, I’ve had so many clients say “Isabel, I was doing great, losing weight, and then…I don’t know what happened. I gained the weight back and now feel like I have to start all over again.” 

Most of the time, people think that it’s the negative moments in life that lead them off track. Maybe work gets stressful, your family has a crisis, or you have to deal with a major life change. It’s true that all these negative events can disrupt your healthy eating habits. But more often, it’s not the negative moments that get us off track…it’s the positive ones. 

“What?! Why would we get off track if everything is going well?” you might be thinking. It sounds weird, I know. But I promise it makes sense. 

Take this scenario for example: A woman (let’s call her Sally) is doing great, fitting into clothes she hasn’t worn in a long time, and lost more weight than she expected. After another great weigh in, someone brings cookies to work. “I can have one, I deserve a treat after doing so well,” Sally thinks. So, she has a cookie. 

In the next week, Sally stops putting every meal in her Success Journal. “I don’t need to write down all my foods. I’ve done so well, I’ll just keep going.” She figures she doesn’t need to be so strict or follow the plan exactly. After all, she’s doing great. 

Over time, she stops tracking her food, her choices go farther off plan, and those little slips get bigger. The treats come more often. And the weigh ins aren’t quite as happy. 

In a few months, all the good habits have slipped away and Sally is back to her original weight wondering where it all went wrong. 

Sound familiar? I’ve seen it happen over and over again, so you’re not alone. 

Part of the reason this happens is because no one expects anything bad to come from success. We figure “Hey, I’m doing a good job, so now the hard work is over.”  

But that’s not true. Even when you’re losing weight, you have to keep doing the work. When I first started eating healthy, I had to reverse bad habits that I’d been doing for years. I mean, I used to eat candy corn and Diet Coke for breakfast, so I had some pretty crazy habits to unlearn! 

And as I started losing weight, I was tempted to think “Great, I did it, I don’t need to follow a plan anymore.” But, I knew if I strayed from my plan that all those bad habits would swoop back in and I’d end up with a bag of candy corn on my sofa. 

So, I stuck it out and eventually my habit of healthy eating became way stronger than any old Diet Coke craving. 

Now, I want to be clear. I’m not saying that you can never have a treat or never celebrate your success. No way! It’s perfectly fine to have a cookie or a piece of birthday cake every once in a while. You just have to make sure that you enjoy your treat and then go back to your plan. 

And you should always celebrate your success. I’m a big fan of celebration and think you should reward yourself for meeting any goal – big or small. Just don’t get in the habit of rewarding yourself with food.  

So, what can you do to avoid slipping up when you’re feeling good? Here’s a few of my favorite tips. 

Stay On Your Plan 

Whatever your plan is – keep it up! It’s working and that’s wonderful! Instead of thinking “the plan worked, now I’ll go back to my old ways,” just keep going. The “old ways” probably weren’t that great, right? So, why go back to them?  

Think of all the good things that have happened since you started being healthy. And as you remember these wonderful moments, use them as motivation to stay on the plan that’s given you the gift of health. 

Keep A Gratitude Journal 

Instead of just remembering all the wonderful moments a healthy lifestyle has given you, take it a step further and write them all down.  

Every day, write one thing that’s happened because of your new healthy way of eating. It might be “I got out of bed today with no achy joints.” Or something as small as “I ate all homemade meals today.”  

Over time, you’ll have pages full of the positive effects of a healthy lifestyle. Then, when you’re tempted to go off your plan (for any reason), look back at this gratitude journal. Remind yourself of how far you’ve come and how much better your life is. Then, ask yourself again if you really think you should change your way of eating. 

Again, it’s fine to go off your eating plan sometimes. Maybe you’re going on vacation or heading to a new restaurant you’ve been dying to try. Great! Just make sure that when you come home, you look through your journal, remember how fantastic being healthy has been, and go back to your new healthy habits.  

Make a List of Non-Food Celebrations 

We’ve been trained to use food to celebrate. I mean, there’s a reason why we don’t blow out the candles on a kale salad for birthdays 😉. Though having occasional treats is great, you’ll want to find new ways to celebrate that don’t involve food. 

So, make a list of things you like to do. Write down any little thing you could do that would make you feel good. It could be anything from getting a massage to taking a walk with your kids after dinner. Anything that sounds fun – write it down. 

Keep this fun list on your fridge. Then, whenever you reach a goal or feel like celebrating, you’ll have a whole bunch of fun stuff to choose from. And trust me, everything on that list will make for a much better celebration than any slice of cake. 

When you’re doing well and reaching your goals, you deserve to be proud of yourself. While you celebrate your amazing achievements, just make sure you stick to the new habits that got you there. It’s a way to guarantee a future with even more celebrations to come.