HPRC staff get many Ask the Expert questions from Military Service Members, and the answers often include vital information to help you stay mission-ready, so you can perform well.
Asked & Answered
I lost weight thanks to changing my eating habits and exercising more. But lately with the holidays, I got off track. What can I do to keep moving towards my goal?
First of all, congratulations on your progress so far. It can be a challenge to maintain a healthy weight, especially if you’re juggling the demands of work, family, being in the military, and life in general. We need to eat to live, so food isn’t something you can go without. It’s important to know there will be setbacks and roadblocks on your journey to improved nutrition and weight loss. But it’s just as crucial to know how to face them and move forward.
Over time, it’s common to go back to your usual habits. Sometimes it’s just easier to do what you normally do instead of making changes. Also, you might become tired or bored with strict eating rules or the limited variety of food choices in your eating plan. Or maybe you’re having trouble sticking to your new habits. Tracking what you eat or planning your workouts might have been encouraging and useful in the beginning, but now it seems dull.
When you experience setbacks or roadblocks on your weight-loss journey, it’s never too late to get back on track. Rethink an “all or nothing” mentality because one “bad” meal, a day of holiday eating, or a few days of eating in “vacation mode” don’t need to ruin all your hard work. Take a breath, check out the following tips, and plan to get back on track tomorrow.
- Get back to basics. Did you start out tracking your intake, planning your meals, or measuring portions? If those habits helped you be successful, then get back to them. If you haven’t tried them, now’s a great time to start.
- Focus on your goals. Were you too ambitious or unrealistic with your initial weight-loss or nutrition goals? Think about focusing on habits you can truly change and review your SMART goals. Or write some out if you haven’t already, and adjust them as needed.
- Enlist family, friends, and colleagues as “battle buddies.” Share your goals and reach out for support. Swap recipes with a friend to add variety to your eating plan, ask your partner to help with the grocery shopping, or eat lunch with your colleagues—away from your desk—whenever possible.
- Make the easy choice, the nutritious choice. Make your environment work for you, not against you. Keep fruits and veggies front and center in the fridge and move packaged snacks and treats in the back of a hard-to-reach cabinet. Keep a water bottle handy for easy refills during the day, bring nutritious snacks to work to beat those late-afternoon sugar cravings, and have dinner prepared at home, so a fast-food stop is less tempting. Build a performance-focused plate to maximize your nutrition and energy too.
- Focus on the positive. It can be discouraging to think of all of the things you “can't eat.” Instead, focus on the positive: all the veggies you’re eating, fresh spices you’re trying, new take on your favorite recipes to include more plants, or your creative infused-water combinations. Maybe you feel even more focused on a tough task at work, or the last mile of your run is getting easier.
- Forget the scale. Although the scale can be an easy and official way to measure your success, keep in mind that’s not the whole story. Instead of just focusing on the scale, look for other signs that your efforts are paying off. Perhaps your clothes or uniform fit better, you’re sleeping better, your health conditions have improved (blood pressure down and blood sugar improved), or you’re performing better at work or in the gym.
Ask the expert
To learn more about overcoming a weight-loss plateau or ask an HPRC expert about other issues that affect performance, visit the HPRC website. For individualized help with your eating and weight-loss goals, schedule a visit to a registered dietitian. Contact your nearest Medical Treatment Facility Nutrition Department or ask your healthcare provider for appointment information or a referral.
---------- About the Author ----------
Katie Kirkpatrick, of the Henry M. Jackson Foundation, is a Nutrition Specialist for the Consortium for Health and Military Performance (CHAMP) at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences (USUHS).
* The opinions and assertions expressed herein are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of USUHS or DoD. The contents of this publication are the sole responsibility of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views, opinions, or policies of The Henry M. Jackson Foundation for the Advancement of Military Medicine, Inc. Mention of trade names, commercial products, or organizations does not imply endorsement by the U.S. Government. The author has no financial interests or relationships to disclose.
