Control What Counts: 10 Daily Actions That Drive Sustainable Weight Loss
Do you have a love-hate relationship with the scales? And maybe you're feeling so frustrated that it's causing you to really sabotage your own success? What if I told you there's a far more empowering approach, one that's going to celebrate your daily actions and put you back in control?
That's what we're going to explore today in this episode. It's a game-changing mindset shift where we're going to focus on the process, the key actions of weight loss, not just the outcome, because I know as much as we can get a bit obsessed with numbers, the truth is, the scale is something we're not in control of. As much as we would like to think we are, we are not. So let's put the focus back on what we can control. And today I'm going to share with you ten powerful strategies that I know are going to really change your journey. In the same way, it's changed mine and many of my clients.
Welcome to the Why Weight podcast. I'm your host, Sheryl Takayama, qualified nutritionist, emotional eater and weight loss coach who walks the talk. I've maintained my 30 kilo weight loss for the past 23 years following a low carb plan, and now I coach other women online so they can do the same. It's my mission to help women get off this crazy diet wagon and find a way of eating and a way of thinking that works. So you too can lose your weight for life. Join me each week for lots of practical advice, tips and motivation so you can start now.
Well, hello and thank you so much for joining me today. I'm so excited to be bringing this episode to you, because this is an approach that really has the power to just change everything for you, because you're going to put yourself back into the power seat and feel so much more in control of your journey, because we're going to remove the emphasis from the scales.
Now, last week I talked about the scales. And yes, they are a valuable tool for you to see what's going on in your body. A great way to track inflammation. It's a good way to be accountable, but it's definitely not the only tool in this journey. And if you're someone who just is really struggling with the scales and it's leading you to take bad actions because you get so annoyed with what you're seeing on there, we need to look for alternative strategies. And this is what today is all about.
I recognized as a coach early on that we needed other ways to track progress to be far more positive, especially for people who were really struggling with the numbers or who simply didn't want to weigh themselves. Which is absolutely fine with me. So what I developed was this idea of focusing on the process, not just the outcome. I saw that quote somewhere, and I really loved it. And I thought, right, how can we really drill down the key actions that are the real focus for weight loss? The key actions that, if you can do them consistently, are going to get you the best results.
So this is what I've created within my membership. I have a list of ten—the top ten actions that I want my members to be focusing on so they can get the best result possible. And when people are struggling, what I do is come back to this list and say, okay, how many out of this ten are you nailing? Because the great thing about making this about action is that we're in control of our actions. Not always easy, right? But we are actually in control of that.
Whereas as I talked about last week, the number on the scale can be impacted by your time of the month, what you've eaten, where your fluid levels are at and it can go up and down every single day, which can be a real source of frustration. So if you're someone who doesn't mind that and you really love the scales, look, that's absolutely great. But if you're looking for something else, what I suggest is that you listen to what I'm going to be telling you today, and start really judging yourself and guiding yourself with your actions, rather than just the number on the scale.
Because I'm sure you'll agree that if you can improve your mindset so we don't have these self-sabotage moments where we go back to the food because we're so annoyed. If you can stop that and really focus on your actions. Of course the scales are going to behave themselves. We might not be able to control how fast it happens, but I know that by you taking consistent action, it's going to go in the right direction.
So my top ten list is divided into three categories. We've got food, mindset and planning. And as far as I'm concerned, these three are all as equally important as each other. If I had to say that one was the most important is probably the mindset. Because when your mindset is in the right place, the other two just happen naturally. However, in a really successful and sustainable weight loss journey, you need all three of these. They're absolutely crucial.
Food Strategies
- Eat Low Carb Food. Always.
Now, as you know, if you've listened to any of my previous episodes, low carb is the best way of eating, especially for women over 35, because it helps keep our blood sugar levels stable and it keeps hormones balanced. It keeps our insulin low. It helps with age-induced insulin resistance. Look, it truly is a brilliant way of eating for health. And it's particularly important in perimenopause when all of our hormones are changing. But it's also delicious, right? You eat in a way where you feel full and it doesn't feel like a diet. This truly is a sustainable way of eating. I know it because I've done it for the last 25 years.
So it's so important that this is number one. And the really key thing in the sentence is the word "always." We want to eat low carb food always. Because if you go back to the carbs, you are probably going to go back to the weight. I always say to my clients, we're not talking about random flings. We've just decided to be low carb for a while, but we can go back from time to time if we want to. We really need to be talking about divorce. Okay? You've got to divorce yourself from the carbs if you want permanent results.
Because in my journey, whenever I've gone back to carbs and just started letting things creep back in, unfortunately it just leads to pretty quick weight gain. And I know I'm certainly not alone because I've been coaching for 13 years. So of course, over this time I've had clients who have lost weight and then they've sort of vanished out there into the world and they've come back and unfortunately they've gained weight back. And when I talk to them about what happened, they ate carbs again. It's not some magic formula. It really has an impact and it can happen quite quickly.
So if you're willing to just not go back to carbs and really stick to low carb, that is the key to being able to stay on track even through the difficult times. I mean, we're all emotional eaters and things can get a bit messy sometimes, but if you just do it in a low carb way, the damage is going to be really minimal.
- Focus on Good Meals. Only Snack If You Are Hungry.
So it's really important that we have a good, satisfying meal, a meal that has protein, a meal that has healthy fats. You want to make sure you've got enough calories in there. And if you want a bit of a refresh on what that should look like, just go back to episode eight, because that's where I talk about how to create the low carb plate.
But the key thing is you need to give yourself time between your meals so you can digest the food, you can assimilate the nutrients, and then your body can clean your tummy up again. Now, if you go and have a snack after a couple of hours, that is going to disrupt the whole process. We don't want to keep constantly snacking because it's not great for digestion, and it's not good for your blood sugars either, because as soon as you have a snack, your body's blood sugars are going to go up a little bit. So there'll be a need for insulin, and it's just going to disrupt this whole fat burning process.
What we want is that there's some time between meals where your insulin goes low again, and we can hopefully burn a bit of fat. Now this is the guideline. But of course there may be times when you do need a strategic snack, especially if you're at work and maybe you've got a really long meeting, you know, it's going to go for a while and you are going to need to eat something. Or maybe you've been sick, you're recovering from illness, if you're doing lots of exercise. There are always exceptions to the rule.
And yes, if you know you are truly hungry, your stomach is telling you that you're hungry and you need to have a snack and you feel like your blood sugars are going low. Of course, it's absolutely fine to have that snack, but you want that to be occasionally rather than every day. And especially not just snacking because you're a little bit bored or want something to do.
And if you do need a snack, I'll always say the best options are going to be high protein foods like eggs, maybe some beef jerky. You might get a bit of protein yogurt and mix some protein powder in. I love doing that. Tastes a bit like mousse or maybe even a protein shake. Make your snack strategic, get some protein, get some healthy fats and you're going to keep your blood sugars stable.
- Leave at Least Four Hours Between Meals.
It's good to have a guideline to work towards. So I say four hours is the minimum. So when you're eating, just have a quick look at your watch and know that, yep, it has to be at least four hours until you eat again. And I think as emotional eaters this is important because it gives us some structure.
If in the middle of that time we think, oh, I'm hungry, you know, it's probably could be because maybe we're stressed, maybe we're tired, and it's good to be able to say to yourself, no, it's not four hours yet. I need to wait until whatever time it is. Because again, you need this time to be able to digest food properly, to be able to keep your insulin balanced.
And if you find that you are physically hungry after just three hours, what I suggest you do is increase your protein or your healthy fats at the meal before so that you can go longer, because when you're eating a good meal, you should be able to go at least four hours comfortably. Usually, most of my ladies can go a lot longer than that.
- Focus on Variability. Don't Do the Same Thing Every Day.
And this is key in weight loss, especially if you have been on your weight loss journey for a while and you've already lost a bit of weight, or you don't have much to lose. Because as we know, our metabolisms can be very stubborn and our body is so good at adapting to what we do.
You've always got to remember your body doesn't want to burn fat. Your body likes holding on to fat because fat is a precious form of survival. So we've got to keep our bodies guessing what we're doing. And this is by adding in shake up days. Now, I've talked about this in episode 11. So if you're not sure what I mean by that, go back and have a listen. But it's basically just adding in a couple of days each week where you do something radically different. You might cut your carbs right down or do a really low calorie day. You're doing that to shake it up so that your body has to keep guessing, and that is really effective. I would argue that for many people, this is an essential action to be able to see consistent results each week.
Mindset Strategies
- Do 15 or 20 Minutes of Journaling Every Single Morning.
I'm going to be talking about this more in depth in upcoming episodes. But just as a quick overview, most of us are emotional eaters, and journaling is the absolute best way to start dealing with your emotions so you don't eat over them. The wonderful thing about journaling is it's free. It doesn't cost you a thing, and all it takes you is that 10 or 15 minutes each morning.
The key is starting to do it consistently, because when you do this, it's like that little reset for your computer each day. Reminding yourself what you're doing and why it's important to you. So in my next episode, when I start talking about goal setting, I'm going to give you some specific prompts to do each morning which make journaling really easy. Now, when you start your day like this, it makes such a huge difference to your ability to stay on track during the day.
- Focus on Your Why. Why Is This Goal Important to You?
You know, there's a reason that I've called my business Why Wait? Because nothing is more important than your why. It truly is the most important thing in your journey. Because if you want this, you're going to do it. And if you're not taking the actions that you know you should be doing, then there's a reason for that. And it's because your why is just not important enough.
So a huge part of our mindset work is having an exciting goal and then reminding ourselves why it is important to us. And you need to connect to your goal every day. Because it's very easy for our why to slip down the list and for everyone else's why to go above ours. Especially if you're a busy working mum.
So having a goal is really important, but also reminding yourself why it's important. And that's the key. You need to be reminding yourself as often as you're eating. Because we're making so many decisions each day that influence our results. So the more often you can connect to your goal, the better.
- Get at Least Seven Hours of Sleep Per Night and Go to Bed as Early as Possible.
Look, if you want a strong mindset, sleep is everything. But it's not just how long you sleep. Yes, seven hours is a great goal, but the real key is what time you go to bed. Because the hours before midnight are precious. They're deep. And when you go to bed early, guess what? That's when you're going to burn more fat. Because our body burns fat when we sleep. The minute your head hits the pillow, there you go. You're going to be getting into fat burning mode as long as you obviously had a good day of eating.
But the other massive thing that sleep does is it really helps you control your appetite the next day when you are well rested. You are far more likely to be wanting to grab that afternoon snack because you just have better energy. So sleep has a huge impact on your hunger hormones, your ability to control your appetite, and your energy levels. Basically, everything that's going to impact your decision making can come down to how you sleep. So go to bed early if you want to have the best results possible.
Planning Strategies
- Create a Meal Plan for the Week.
Honestly this is so basic isn't it? But it makes such a difference. And all you have to do is just sit down and plan out what you're going to eat. You can just do it, maybe on a Sunday afternoon. It'll take ten minutes. And this doesn't have to be difficult.
I'll often say to my clients, look, just choose a couple of breakfasts, some easy breakfasts that you like. Rotate them. Same with lunches, especially if you're working and you don't have a lot of options. Just decide really quickly which lunches you're going to have, but make that plan for dinner, because this is the meal when if you're going to be getting home, you're going to be tired. You don't want to wing it, especially if you have to cook for the family.
So what I'll often do is just work out what we're going to have for dinner. That's my main meal plan. I mean, I've been doing this a long time, so I have my very simple meals for breakfast and lunch. But I always have a dinner plan because then I know that I'm on top of that meal that can go wrong pretty quickly if we don't have a plan.
Another really good little tip is to set aside some time on a Sunday where you might do a bit of batch cooking. Cook a couple of larger meals that you can then freeze so you've got portions for quick meals during the week. I like to get into a pattern where on a Sunday afternoon I'm making something for Sunday and I double it, and then I'm putting 3 or 4 meals in the freezer. This is great for if the family is having takeaways or I just need something quick. I've got a nice little stash ready to go and it can just make such a difference. Being organized is everything.
- Make a Quick Food Plan Each Day.
So yes, you've got your overall meal plan, but then what I want you to do is in the morning, just get up and make a very specific list of exactly what you are going to eat. Because we can't leave this up to chance. We can't just do what we feel like because in the afternoons we are usually tired and overwhelmed. So we need that morning person, the person who's connected to a goal, who's feeling really positive. She can decide what you're going to eat, and then once you've made that decision, you can just forget about food.
You don't have to think about it anymore because you've already made your decision. All you then have to do is follow through. Now you might make a plan and then change your mind. You know something might happen during the day, but that's fine. You've still got a much better chance of staying on track if you have a plan, than if you don't have any plan at all.
And this is probably one of the key actions that I still do, even after all these years. I just decide each morning, what am I going to eat today? And the reason that I've really cemented this action is because I found out what happens when I don't have a plan, and it doesn't sometimes end well. So I just write it down. Here's what I'm having today, and then I just do my best to follow through.
- Accountability: Keeping a Food Diary
A food diary is a really good way for you to be accountable, if you don't have a person that you can share the journey with, because what you measure, you can manage. So when you've got that food diary, you're recording your meals, you're recording your snacks, you're looking at your water, alcohol, exercise, all the things. The more data you have, the better you're going to know what to change if you're not seeing results that you're happy with.
It's absolutely crucial you can use this diary to work out patterns. You can see what's working, what's not. I mean, there are lots of apps where you can do this. My fitness panel is a great app to track your food. I like a paper version because I like looking at all of my work in one place. And remember, you don't have to do a food diary forever, but it's particularly helpful when you're in the weight loss phase of this journey, and especially when you really want to see a good result, because the more you track, the better you're going to be able to adjust your actions when you need to.
Conclusion
It's quite a list! So those are my top ten actions and this idea of focusing on the process, not just the outcome. And these are all actions that you have complete control over. There's nothing here that's up to chance. You just have to decide which ones you want to try and do it. You certainly don't have to do all of them, but I'd love you to just try a couple and do it consistently and see the difference that it makes to you. It's so much more empowering to judge yourself on your actions that you are in control of, rather than just leaving it up to the scale.
Let's finish today with a tip that you can do to get started. Now, if you feel a little bit overwhelmed thinking about this list and you're not sure the best place to start, I want to recommend that you start with focusing on your why. Getting really clear on your goal and making it important. Because if you have an important goal and you really want to achieve it, all of the other actions are going to become easy. It all starts from you having a strong why and then really wanting to go out and get it. So start there.
All the best for the rest of your day and make sure you tune in next week where I'm going to talk about the difference between weight loss and maintenance, what actions you need to take, and how to make sure that you nail maintenance so you never gain your weight back again. See you next week!
Thanks so much for listening. And if you want support on your weight loss journey, I would love to help. You'll see the links in the show notes for my socials, as well as my fab freebie, a five day low carb meal plan, and five delicious dinner recipes. You'll also see the link for my four week Foundations of Fat Loss program. This is the program I've designed specifically for the fat burning needs of women over 35. Remember, the only thing that's going to stop you reaching your goal is if you quit. Never, ever give up.
