Dieting has its own challenges without being complicated by external obstacles. We have to be consistent and diligent, and follow our plan to stay the course. But when you’re the only one in the house who’s pulling the reins back on unhealthy eating, it can be an even greater challenge. While it certainly can be beneficial to everyone in your home to purge the pantry and fridge of unhealthy foods, it can also lead to somewhat of a mutiny if not handled with some tact and creativity.
When you’re on your weight-loss journey alone, you’ll likely face temptation every time you open the fridge or pantry. So let’s look at some strategies that can be key to keeping everyone happy while making it easier for you to stick to your plan.
Communicate. Communicate. Communicate.
Once you’ve decided to commit (or recommit) to your healthier lifestyle, talk to your family about your goals and just ask them for their support. Be frank and let them know that it can be difficult for you to stick to your plan and you want to do whatever is possible to avoid letting their habits throw you off track.
Better yet, see if there is anyone in the house who might be interested in joining you. There is strength (and accountability) in numbers. Even if you’ll be doing this solo, however, simply asking for their support and thanking them for their efforts throughout your journey can be very effective in helping you maintain your commitment and momentum with minimum distractions.
Use Your Plan!
Hopefully, you have a plan for your personal weight-management program. If you haven’t created one yet, take a few minutes to read this 10-Step Guide to Help You SUCCEED in Your Weight-Loss Journey. A vital component should be your meal plan. While your meal plan will be great for keeping you on track, it will also be very helpful for the family if you are primarily responsible for meal preparation. If this is the case, keep in mind that you don’t have to announce that meals are now low-fat, low-calorie and more balanced. Freshly-prepared food tastes better and as long as they are enjoyable, healthier meals can be as satisfying and filling as ever.
If you aren’t the person who plans and prepares meals normally, take the time to sit with the person who does to chat about your goals and to ask for their help in keeping you on track. A healthier, tastier meal is a benefit for everyone!
Hide the “Goodies”!
One of the toughest challenges to maintaining one’s healthy eating habits is avoiding temptation. This is even more difficult when the not-very-healthy treats are scattered around the kitchen or throughout the house, in plain sight. Ask your family to keep their snacks and treats in the pantry, in a cabinet, or somewhere out of sight. And be straightforward. Let them know that temptation can be a challenge, and you’d like them to help you manage this by making sure their snacks are out of sight.
What you want to avoid is asking them to stop enjoying their snacks. Remember, you want their support. Asking them to do something unpleasant for them or that makes them feel like they’re suffering because of your goals is a sure way to get them to push back, and eventually, you could lose their support.
Get Help.
If you are smart and have created a meal plan ready to help guide you through healthy eating, it can be a great idea to ask someone in the household for help in prepping both yours, and the household’s meals if you have to prepare them. It can be as simple as getting someone to take out and wash your meal prep containers or being involved with cooking or prepping the meals. This has several benefits. First, it’s just a great way to do something healthy with someone in the family, especially if they are younger and might tend to follow your example. It also gives them first-hand experience in how you prep and focus on eating healthy. Even better, it could also have the benefit of encouraging them to consider joining you.
Reach Out.
Even as you implement this approach to support your healthy eating, it’s still possible that the obstacles will be challenging. These strategies can be very effective, but you could still end up feeling like the hurdles you’ll experience in your health and wellness journey are so demanding that it could put success out of reach. And as you may already be aware, self-motivation can be a very difficult task. If this is the case, consider connecting with a community of like-minded people. There are numerous groups and teams with which you can partner or join that consist of people just like yourself who are working hard to lose weight and improve their health. What’s more important for you at this point is getting the support (and sometimes the empathy) needed to stay the course.
Commit.
At the end of the day, the most important variable in your health and wellness journey is your commitment. It’s not easy. Not at all. And if you are in a home or living situation that makes your efforts even more difficult, the odds can be stacked against you. This is where your commitment comes in. This is where you have to focus and stick to your guns. If your weight loss and health are important enough to you, you’ll focus and do everything you can to stay consistent and true to the personal pledge you’ve made to yourself.
Don’t be too hard on yourself. Developing new eating habits is difficult! In 2019, the weight loss and weight management diet market size was valued at $78 billion. This, in and of itself, is a clear indication that weight management is something that millions of people struggle with. The key factor to remember is that if you find you have difficulties or you feel like your plan crashed and burned, step back, take a deep breath, think about where and what you can improve, and restart. “Failure” is only failure if you don’t get back on the horse and start again. Sometimes, it’s just a matter of remembering why you started and what you truly want to achieve.