If at first you don’t succeed, try again!

Admittedly, we all fall short when it pertains to accomplishing goals we have established for ourselves. There are those of us who have the drive and the motivation to stick it out no matter what, but the truth is, a good percentage of us will begin, stop and then start again. There is absolutely nothing wrong with falling of the weight loss, healthy eating or healthy lifestyle wagon. It happens, the gift and lesson learned from starting over is knowing you have the courage and the will to begin again.

There are many factors in our daily lives that will continuously contribute to us neglecting our goals for short or long periods of times. Recognizing that you fell short and making the decision to start again, could prove to be the best success story, involving your continuous effort to improve your health and daily life.

My message to you is to continue starting new. If you find that you are not as focused, that you lost 20 pounds a few months ago but have gained back 15, use these simple tips to START AGAIN.

1. Focus briefly on where you were, and what caused you to fall short of keeping the weight off.

2. Recognize factors that contribute to you losing focus, it could be stress, boredom with the way you were eating or you simply just needed a break from your daily disciplined eating regiments. Understanding why you lost focus will assist you in staying the course longer the second of third time around.

3. Establish a new goal for yourself now that you are aware of where you went wrong.

4. Counting calories can be tedious and discouraging, instead eat healthy fresh foods, eat smaller portions, replace juices and sodas with water and include healthy snacks along with daily meals.

5. Find a workout partner or someone who is willing to help you stay focused, whether it’s a nutritionist, a health coach, a friend or co-worker having someone to offer encouragement or insight will keep you motivated.

6. Find simple, healthy and easy recipes that fit your busy schedule. Whole grain cereal with fruits in the morning, salads with protein for lunch, bake fish and vegetables for dinner. Learn how to eat healthy without it being burdensome or feeling too much like work.

7. Lastly, stay positive, be patient and don’t get discouraged. Losing a small amount of weight continuously over a longer period of time proves to be more affective than losing 20 pounds in 3 weeks.

Let us start again!