I’d be surprised if your answer wasn’t yes – most people have a slight fluctuation in weight across time. This can be across different times in the year or across the day even (read my blog on weighing yourself here to find out more on this).

It’s ok to have a slight fluctuation – sometimes life takes over and you fall off track for a week or so. But the important thing is to not let it slip too far. Here are some guidelines to help you stay on track and not yoyo too far! …

1. Set yourself a healthy weight range.

Setting yourself an allowable range of around 2kg (~4lbs) allows you to enjoy your life whilst giving yourself some boundaries. If you have approached your upper limit of “happy weight” then it’s time to stop partying and get back to those nutritious dinners and get moving more again. Be kind to yourself and don’t give up on weight loss if you have gained a couple of pounds, you are human – you just need to realise all is not lost, pick yourself back up and get grafting!!

2. Set realistic goals.

When looking to lose weight / fat don’t go overboard and aim for miracles to happen in a week. Setting unrealistic goals means a feeling of failure is high risk! Feelings of failure means giving up and emotional eating for a lot of women, and potentially regaining the weight lost. Be realistic. Sit down and look at your plans over the coming months and be realistic about what you can achieve. On weeks where you have not much on aim for 1kg (2lb) of weight loss, but if you have a busy week with lots of travelling and functions then perhaps it is best to aim to maintain your weight that week (it’s better than gaining weight, and allows you to relax a little too).

3. Focus on some key habits

THERE ARE NO QUICK FIXES. You need to get that in your head. Detoxes, soup diets, no carbs – they are all fads. Yes you will lose weight quickly, but most of this weight is water and carbohydrate stores being lost – not fat. These practices can be damaging to your metabolism, so best to be like the tortoise not the hare! They are also very hard to stick to which means no long term weight loss (or instead you might get weight regain) for most people. So throw away those dieting books and focus on changing some key habits. Perhaps you need to swap in those sugary treats for some healthy alternatives (see my protein balls recipe on my Facebook page for an example of this), or maybe it is aiming to get out for a brisk walk 3 times a week. We all know our weaknesses, so focus on changing them step by step and your weight will slowly but surely drop.

Habit changing is what I do with my clients, it means the idea of changing your diet is less daunting and more enjoyable – working on a few key things at a time, not overwhelming yourself with restriction. See here for more information on the packages I offer!

I hope that helps you plateau not yoyo (I’m a poet didn’t you know!!)

Sophie Jane