We’re halfway through the year, so it’s a great time to reflect on the past 6 months and to get back on track with New Years Resolutions or goals for the year. You may be discouraged that 6 months have come and gone, but there are another 6 months left to make progress towards your goals! I’ve written previous related posts which are also helpful in the area of getting back on track and goal-setting, so be sure to check them out here:
Prioritize YOU, Your Health, and Your Goals
Set yourself up for success
It can be easy to go off track when prioritizing the happiness of others in your household, keeping the peace, or making meals for family members who are not on board with being plant-based. It can also be easy to be derailed when tempted by processed food at the grocery store or trying to fit in during holidays, special events, and other social situations. Depending on your situation, you may still be preparing meals for others, or be in social situations with others who do not eat a plant-based diet. Focusing on your health and your goals and planning in advance how you’ll deal with these situations will be helpful in staying on track. For example, planning to order a baked potato and salad at a restaurant, eating before you leave the house, making a list and sticking to it when grocery shopping. Prioritize your health above anything else. Make your health your primary focus and make choices that align with your goals.
Mindset – Shift Perspective
Change is possible. Change is difficult; it can be uncomfortable and challenging. Changing your lifestyle is not as simple as knowing what to do and doing it. For example, most people know that veggies are healthy and that we should eat more of them, but we don’t. Because it’s more complicated than simply knowing what’s good for us. Knowing what’s good for us is great, but it doesn’t actually do us any good unless we implement it.
Know that you can do it. Recognize that you’re capable of change. Consider that changing your lifestyle is equivalent to learning a new skill. Develop new skills and habits over time to build a successful healthy plant-based lifestyle.
When slip ups happen, avoid beating yourself up over it. There are many different ways to reframe a slip up. Here are a few suggestions that have worked for me:
Speak to yourself as you would to someone you love who is going through the same thing. Chances are you would never speak to a loved one the way you speak to yourself. We often give other people allowances, reassurance, and comfort before we would ever give it to ourselves. There’s the old saying that we should treat others as we want to be treated. Which is great advice that we need to apply to ourselves as well! Treat yourself as you want to be treated; treat yourself as you would treat others.
Another way to shift your mindset is to think of your plant-based lifestyle as driving a car. You will hit bumps in the road, make wrong turns, or come upon detours, but despite these obstacles, you will continue towards your destination, and you will get there eventually. Take a deep breath, be patient, and get back on the path to your destination (your goals).
Make a Plan, Live Your Life
Make a daily or weekly meal plan, shop for what you need, prepare individual meals, or batch cook, chop veggies or fruit to have on hand for the week. Once this planning and preparation is done, eat the plants, and get on with your life! Eat to nourish yourself and fuel yourself for work, play, activities, taking care of yourself and others. Be mindful of food choices, and then get on with your day, week, month, and year!
Start Over
Many thoughts and feelings can hold us back and avoid trying again. Fear of failure and disappointment and frustration over past mistakes can keep us from beginning again. My kiddo is learning how to ride a bike, and he sometimes loses his balance, and falls down. We brush him off, make sure he’s alright, and encourage him to keep practicing to improve his cycling skills and make progress. I give him the same advice I have given myself on my plant-based journey, and the same advice I’ll give to you now: Try, Try Again!
Consistency Is Not Perfection
I used to think that in order to be consistent, I had to be perfect. The truth is that building consistency takes time, and one choice to eat something “off plan” will not impact your ability to be consistent and make progress. An off plan choice WILL affect consistency if the “one thing” becomes two, three, four etc.. and becomes a pattern. Building consistency is about knowing yourself and what will work for you. Some people do better with abstaining from X food for a time to allow taste buds to readjust and remove the temptation. For others abstaining from a specific food could lead to a massive binge, and that individual would do better to have the odd indulgence. Experiment to find what will work best for you, but know that you do not have to be perfect or do things 100% to your original plan in order to make progress with your plant-based lifestyle or plant-based weight loss.
In summary, prioritize yourself, and your goals; shift your perspective; make a plan without obsessing about food; re-start; and remember that consistency is not perfection. Do what works for you, learn and grow along the way, and have fun with it! Make a plan, eat the plants, and get on with your day, week, month, and year!
Please share your challenges and your wins in the comments section below or tag me @plantfitmeg and use the hashtags #plantfitsummer and #rebootyourresolution on social media. I would love to hear what works for you to get back on track and stay on track with your plant-based lifestyle! If you’re looking for additional support, reach out to me through my contact page to inquire about 1:1 coaching. We have 6 months left in the year to make progress and reach our goals. All the best for the summer and the remainder of the year! We got this!
Plant Fit Meg 
You’re so right about consistency & to keep plugging when we mess up. I am guilty of beating myself up when I do mess up & I do. I would never speak to a friend in that manner that I do to myself. But one thing I do is to get back on track immediately. Not the next day or next week but rather the next meal.
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It’s hard to get out of the habit of being hard on ourselves. Getting back on track as soon as possible is a great way to create new habits and build consistency over time.
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