Now what?

Today I reached my original goal: 135lbs. I knew a bit ago that 135lb wasn’t going to put me where I wanted to be, but that didn’t lessen the excitement of stepping on the scale and seeing my hard work pay off. It also got me thinking- for all those people who DO reach their goal, I imagine they ask themselves: now what?

What do you do once you reach your goal? Well I can tell you what you DON’T do- go back to your old habits. Seriously, so many people think once they get to where they want to be they can loosen the reins and slowly start eating things that they eliminated before, lessen their workouts, and just ease up on the constraints that got them where they wanted to be. This isn’t a temporary fix and if you go into it thinking that you’ll end up right where you were before all your hard work and dedication and why would you ever want to start over again?! I hate the word diet for that reason. Diet implies that what you’re doing is only temporary. So many times diets are treated as a short term solution to a long term problem when in fact they should be treated as a life long change. If you see your body functioning better on a different lifestyle, let it continue to thrive doing it!

Keto is a lifestyle change. Repeat that as many times as needed to get it in your head. One of the major arguments against the keto way of eating (see how I didn’t call it a diet) is that it isn’t sustainable long term. I’ve never understood that. You don’t hear people saying that about paleo, veganism or vegetarianism, or whole 30. It’s sustainable as long as you dedicate your health to it. Sure, it has fantastic short term effects, but the long term are where it’s at.

I have no desire to go back to eating the way I was before. I think of all the chemicals and processed foods I was pumping into my body. It’s no wonder I was tired, groggy, irritable, overweight, and unhappy among many other things. When you fuel your body with clean, nutritious foods, it runs efficiently. Why would you want to reverse that? Why go back to doing what made you miserable?

So, now what? Keep doing what you’re doing! Stay focused on your health and happiness. Remember why you made this lifestyle change to begin with and the results and happiness it brought you. You can make small changes to enter into more of a maintenance mode, but don’t let that become a slippery slope to old habits. I for one know that when I hit my true goal, I will allow myself more fruit variety in my diet. Now that’s not to say it will be in excess, but more like an occasional treat. Maybe you’ll have a sweet potato or butternut squash with your steak sometimes. Whatever you do, you owe it to yourself to fuel your body with healthy and whole foods. Who knows, maybe you’ll transition to a more paleo or whole 30 centered meal plan.

So, my next true goal is 125lbs. That’s not to say that when I get there, or on my way there, I will change it again to increase or lower depending on results. I listen to my body and its needs. Do the same for yours.