How often do you find yourself struggling to stick to your healthy eating plans?
Have you told yourself that life is just too busy / challenging / stressful right now to focus on your eating and nutrition?
The hardest time to stick to your healthy eating plans is when life gets in the way and if we wait until we have the 'perfect' conditions, we could be waiting forever.
Creating a list of ‘non-negotiables’ is something that can really help you through those challenging times and I know, from personal experience, have been essential in me reaching a lot of my goals as well as keeping me on track through very difficult times of my life.
What is a 'non-negotiable'?
It’s one or more promises or commitments that you make to yourself that you absolutely won’t compromise on. They aren’t open to debate or modification and they are there as a solid platform for you to rely on when things get hard, motivation drops or decision making is hard.
One very clear example of when having very clear ‘non-negotiables’ worked in my life was when I entered the London Marathon. I followed a 16 week training plan which included a ‘long run’ every Sunday which gradually increased in distance every week. I started my training in December and there were so many times that I really didn’t want to get out of bed at 7am in the dark and cold and often wet (or snow!) to go and run upwards of 10 miles but my Sunday long runs were absolutely non-negotiable – they weren’t open for discussion or debate and no matter what, I was up and out in my trainers every Sunday for 4 months.
This is an example of a ‘non-negotiable’ which I put in place to help me achieve a specific goal and it had a deadline attached to it, however, there are other non-negotiables which I’ve put in place over my weight loss journey which over time have just become automatic behaviours, part of my normal routine and I don’t even really think about them as things I struggle with anymore. On the flip side, there are some that I still have to actively enforce on a weekly / daily basis to help me maintain the healthy lifestyle I like to live as well as spotting when new challenges arise and when I may need to add in some new non-negotiables to help me through them.
How to create your non-negotiables
We are all different – that’s absolutely key to remember so it’s about finding out what is best for you, your lifestyle and it’s important that you are realistic too. Your non-negotiables need to be things that you can commit to NO MATTER WHAT – so even if you’re busy or tired or stressed, you will still do them.
Step 1
Create a List
Simply brainstorm all the things that you know really help you achieve your weight loss goals – things that if you were having a ‘perfect’ week, you’d put in place.
Examples could be:
- meal planning for all meals and snacks,
- pre-preparing snacks,
- only snacking on fruit,
- having vegetables at every meal,
- not giving up when you are struggling,
- regular exercise,
- batch cooking,
- not ordering takeaways when you can’t be bothered cooking.
Take a bit of time to really think about these things – from the smallest to the biggest
Step 2
Create a specific action to ensure each of the items on your list gets done - the more detail here the better
Your list
meal planning for all meals and snacks
Specific Action
make an appointment every week in my diary with myself and commit to it
pre-preparing snacks
whilst cooking dinner, prepare tomorrow’s snacks and put in the fridge
batch cooking
plan a couple of easy and quick batch cooked meals that the whole family enjoy and ensure I find a couple of hours at the weekend to cook and stock up the freezer
not ordering takeaways when I can’t be bothered cooking
Decide in advance what my ’emergency’ meal is – the one that takes seconds to prepare and that I always have in the kitchen (this could be a healthy ready meal in the freezer, a jacket potato, omelette) – and as soon as the thought of a takeaway enters my mind, get up and prepare my ’emergency meal’
Step 3
Select which ones you are going to put in place first
Don’t overwhelm yourself by expecting yourself to change overnight and if your list of ‘non-negotiables’ is a long one, pick a couple to start off with. Ones that you know you can commit to and will also make a big difference to your weight loss goals. Spend time working on these few non-negotiables before they start to become easier and more automatic before adding in new ones.
A big help may also be to tell everyone! If you tell your partner that you don’t want to eat takeaways and will cook a quick and easy dinner instead, it will help with your accountability as well as getting their support in your decision.
It’s also key to point out thaot although non-negotiables are things you are going to put in place that are not open to discussion or change, there will always be major life events which will mean that you have to adjust – these may be things that are completely out of your control and an example for me very recently was at the start of January I made a non-negotiable commitment to myself to get back out running 3 times a week, it didn’t matter how far or how fast but 3 mornings a week, I had to get back out in my trainers. However, a week into January, I did something to my neck (still no idea what), was in the worse pain I’ve ever felt, didn’t sleep for 5 nights and was put on some intense medication by the doctors. Running was an absolute no-go so I had to adjust and remove that non-negotiable from my life for a while.
Non-negotiables aren’t a prison or a set of strict rules to rebel against but a solid framework you build to rely on to help you achieve your weight loss goals no matter what is going on in your life.
I hope you find this helpful and you find a simple set of non-negotiables you can build into your life to help you with your weight loss and do comment or get in touch if you’d like any more info or have any questions.
I love helping people discover the best ways to work on their mindsets and habits to help them reach their weight loss goals and if you would like to find out more about my 1-2-1 coaching programme or how I can help you, please do get in touch.
Email me or phone/message: 07834 442607
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