4 Tips to FINALLY Succeed with Weight Loss

Recently, I was thinking about weight loss success and suddenly the words: Plan, Engineer, Track, and Evaluate came to my mind. I LOVE acronyms to remember things, so I was delighted that this process spells a word: PETE

I realize that I’ve known PETE since college, but haven’t put what he does for me into words before now. Now, I realize – I’m in love with PETE! The good news is that he doesn’t interfere with my marriage! There is room enough in my life for both him and Mike 🙂

PETE is helpful not only with weight loss, but any life goal that you have. Here are my ideas on how I’ve used PETE to succeed with my weight loss goals. I hope this helps you see the things that you may be doing right concerning your goals and what you need to work on next.

• PLAN: Decide on three simple daily habits you must practice to succeed with your weight loss goals. For me, my core three habits are:

 1. Drink 8-10 glasses of water a day

2. Eat only when I’m hungry

3. Eat a minimum 3 cups of fibrous vegetables per day (greens, broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, etc)

I do have other habits I practice such as exercise, limiting junk food, etc, but I’ve discovered that my success hinges on those three habits most. They are the ones that challenge me most too. If I don’t practice them, then I’m more likely to be vulnerable to eating unhealthy foods and overeating.

• ENGINEER: What can you do to make practicing your core three habits easier and convenient for you? For example, I drink two cups of water when I first wake up. I then fill up a water jug and keep it by my work area so that I can drink throughout the day to meet my water goal. The water jug I use is also an engineering choice. I formerly used a solid blue 32-ounce jug, but switched to a clear 64-ounce jug. Why?

Two reasons: With the 32-ounce jug, I had to re-fill it when I drank all of the water because it only allowed for 4 cups of water. With the 64 ounce jug, I can get all 8 cups in. Plus, the blue jug was solid so I couldn’t see how far along I was in meeting my water quota without taking off the lid and looking. However, the clear jug allows me to see at a glance how much I drank – and how much more I have to go. Do you see how this works?

My second habit is the most challenging for me. Sometimes I just want to eat because Mike has prepared something tasty and I’ll want what he’s having – hungry or not! During those times, I will comfort myself and say “You can have some later when you are hungry.” Or if I don’t think it will last that long, I’ll prepare a serving and put it into the refrigerator or cabinet for later. It can wait.

On days when it’s really difficult to practice this habit, then I will engineer it even further through eating by the clock. I’ve learned if I eat just to satisfaction, then my body won’t be hungry again for 4-6 hours. So I will have breakfast at 7 am, lunch at 12, and dinner at 5 pm. However, most of the time I can just listen to my body and eat when it tells me to eat. It takes practice to learn when your hunger is originating from your brain or your body – and to base your actions on your body’s hunger to maintain a healthy weight.

For my third habit, I HAVE to prepare my vegetables in advance or buy frozen vegetables that I can prepare in a hurry. My favorite greens are turnip greens, cabbage (green or purple) and kale (with onions and tomatoes). I cook them, store them in serving-sized containers, and freeze for later. The other thing I’ve done to successfully engineer this habit into my life is to prepare a package of frozen vegetables after breakfast that is large enough for us to have with our lunch and dinner. Again, I’ve learned for me to be successful with this habit long-term, I have to prepare the vegetables in advance.

• TRACK: These last two steps are where most people fall short. You must have a means to track throughout the day whether you are following through on your plan.

Whether you use a journal or an app, tracking allows you to be aware of what you are doing. It’s unconsciousness that leads most of us to fail with our weight loss goals. Many go through each day on automatic pilot, never confronting the facts about whether our current habits are in our best interest long-term or not.

Tracking is thinking on paper (or by app). I’ve written about this before, but I use an app called ‘Lose it’ to track. I don’t use it all the time however, if I find myself losing focus and old habits trying to creep back into my life, out comes the app!

The bible says that we are transformed by the renewing of our minds. You can never be free if you remain enslaved by mindless habits.

As a motivational speaker once said, “You can’t conquer what you will not confront.” Tracking helps you face reality and see the difference between what you SAID you were going to do – and what you actually DID. Ideally, these two things will match. That is integrity – wholeness. This leads to confidence and results.

• EVALUATE: At least each week, take the time to review your tracking and see if there are any habits that you are falling short in practicing. You MUST check your plan periodically to see if it is working for you.

If it isn’t working, then please don’t fall into the “Woe is me, I’m a failure, I’ll never succeed” trap.

Instead, look at your PLAN and see if there are any problems with that or check your engineering to see if there is a way to make practicing the habit easier or automatic. Pray to the Lord and ask Him to help you in these areas. He will do it. But it requires humility to do this, not continuing on in stubborn denial.

If you are succeeding with your plan – great! If not, then ask yourself what lessons you learned and write them down. Capture them. Then ask what you will do differently next week to respond.

I hope this post helps you see the value of falling in love with PETE! Make him your companion on your weight loss journey. Plans and good intentions mean nothing without action backing them up.

So many people deceive themselves into thinking that having good intentions or wanting to change is enough to actually bring about change. While this is a start, it’s only action – what you do – that brings results.

Begin with one small action to starting building a platform for success. Soon, you’ll be standing on that platform, holding hands with PETE, and reaping the rewards!

Be blessed in health, healing, and wholeness,

Kimberly Taylor
Author of the ‘Take Back Your Temple’ ebook

P.S. Have you ever started a weight loss program with great enthusiasm – only to lose focus and regain the weight you lost?

Not any more. To help you stay motivated so you can become a weight loss success story, I recently published my ‘The Weight Loss Scriptures’ 30-day daily devotional on Amazon.com.

Learn more here: https://takebackyourtemple.com/the-weight-loss-scriptures-ebook/

The eBook is in Amazon Kindle format, but you don’t need a Kindle to read it. Amazon has a FREE Kindle reader you can use to access the book instantly on your computer.

Learn more here: https://takebackyourtemple.com/the-weight-loss-scriptures-ebook/