Use your insights to make positive changes
Looking back at how far you’ve come in your weight loss journey can help you celebrate your achievements and identify areas for improvement. It doesn’t matter if you’ve just started or are a few months in, taking the time to evaluate your progress can help you stay motivated and set realistic goals.
Published: December 2024
Review date: December 2027
Regularly monitoring your progress can help you spot where you’re doing well and the areas where you could do better.
There are lots of tools that you can use to do this. Apps, journals and taking progress photos can help you see the changes you’ve made. You can also use this data to compare how you have approached your weight loss targets each month.
Since there are many ways to log your progress, choose one that works for you. For example, if you find that using a scale feels demotivating, you can take body measurements instead. The most important thing is that you stay consistent so that you have evidence of how well you’re doing.
No matter how small, the milestones you hit in your weight loss journey show that you are making progress. You should take the time to celebrate them. But if you’re finding it difficult to know when you’re making positive change, you can ask yourself:
- If you’ve hit a physical milestone. Do you feel fitter? Do your clothes fit better?
- If you feel better. Are you sleeping well? Are your eating habits improving your energy levels? Do you feel less stressed?
- If your health conditions are improving. Is your blood pressure within a healthy range? Is your cholesterol level lowering? Is your blood sugar under control?
These questions can help you recognise your success. And you can celebrate however you feel fit. But be mindful of the impact that it might have on your weight loss journey.
More often than not, weight loss journeys aren’t smooth. Everyone experiences setbacks. But you can learn from your experiences.
To do this, take time to think about:
- How you managed stress. Did you resort to emotional eating? Did stress stop you from exercising or staying active?
- The times when your progress slowed. Plateaus are a normal part of weight loss journeys. Use them to switch up your routine. Try changing the intensity of exercise you’re doing or eating different meals to suit your needs.
- How you feel about your body. If you’re struggling with your body image or self-esteem, it can have a knock-on effect on your weight loss. You might feel less motivated to make a change. You can speak to your GP about it if it is negatively affecting the quality of your life.
- Whether you’re being kind to yourself. Weight loss is a journey, not a destination. If you don’t reach the goals by the deadlines you’ve set for yourself, that’s okay. Recognise the effort you are making and think about how realistic your aims are. You might need to adjust them to fit your lifestyle.
Reflecting helps you decide what’s next. Your goals might evolve to focus on fitness, maintenance, or other health-related outcomes.
- Revisit your “why”: Remind yourself why you started—better health, increased energy, or confidence.
- Set realistic new goals: If you’ve hit a milestone, focus on a new one, like running a 5K or eating 5 servings of vegetables daily.
- Stay flexible: Life changes, so your goals might too. Adapt as needed without guilt.
Remember that progress isn’t always linear, but every small step adds up. Be proud of how far you’ve come, and focus on building healthy, lifelong habits.