Change Requires Permanence.

Otherwise, how do you expect to maintain the results you say you want?

I used to drive myself crazy when I was a teenager.

I was always hopping from one diet to the next, thinking, ‘This time, I’ll finally lose weight for good.’

Little did my underdeveloped brain realize that you can’t have permanent results when the plan or actions to get those results aren’t permanent either.

So, if you’ve been telling yourself you want to finally reach X goal, but every time you try, you find yourself back where you started, perhaps it’s time to evaluate why that’s happening and figure out if you’re doing the same thing I was.

Expecting long-term results with short-term plans.

Here’s how to change that for good:

1. You need to shift your mindset.

I didn’t start seeing results in various areas of my life until I experienced certain vital moments that completely changed my mindset about the goal I was trying to achieve.

One of them was losing weight.

I’ve been trying to lose weight for as long as I can remember.

I became pretty desperate at one point because I wanted to be ‘skinny’ (whatever that means these days) NOW.

When I was seventeen/eighteen, I employed some pretty drastic measures to try and lose weight (juice cleanses, excessive working out, under-eating), and although I did see some results in the short term, in the long term, I set myself up for disaster.

At twenty-one, I developed appendicitis and had to have emergency surgery.

During my recovery, my digestion took a turn for the worse.

Before my surgery, I never dealt with any kind of indigestion, gas, or bloating.

But afterward, I was dealing with those symptoms 24/7.

Going through this awful experience taught me a very important lesson that I applied later on to other areas of my life.

The goal is not to be skinny; the goal is to be as healthy as possible so I can enjoy life fully.

Another way to say this is:

2. You can’t expect long-term results with short-term planning.

Every single ‘plan’ or ‘diet’ I created for myself to lose weight was always short-term.

‘I’ll go on a juice cleanse for ten days.’

‘I’ll go to the gym six days this week.’

‘I won’t eat breakfast or dinner this week.’

All the dieting methods I could come up with were short-term plans to try and get results as quickly as possible.

The problem with quick results is that they don’t stick around for long.

Every single time I stopped dieting, I gained the weight I lost back and a little more.

It was a very frustrating place to be in.

I was driving myself insane because I was doing what insanity means — doing the same thing over and over, expecting different results.

I couldn’t see that all my attempts at losing weight were ALL short-term plans that were never going to give me the long-term results I wanted.

Fortunately, I learned this lesson eventually.

But the journey was a long and arduous one.

Which leads me to my next lesson.

3. DO NOT feel embarrassed or ashamed to ask for help.

If you’re like me, a lone wolf who likes to figure out things all by herself, you need to learn to put your ego aside and ask for help when things aren’t moving forward.

My weight loss journey has continued all the way up until today. Here’s why:

I didn’t seek out much help for my symptoms when they first started. I went back to my surgeon, but all he said was that my symptoms would go away with time.

Unfortunately, they didn’t.

I didn’t reach out to anyone else for help after that and struggled alone to figure out ways to lessen my symptoms.

Eventually, I found an eating style that helped the majority of them.

Fast forward to about a year and a half ago, and they all came back with a vengeance.

But this time, I promised myself I would seek help rather than torture myself, thinking it was only up to me to find the solution.

I went to a gastroenterologist and my regular doctor (unfortunately, they weren’t helpful), but I didn’t give up.

I got a referral to a holistic doctor, and I’m so glad I didn’t give up looking for help because this doctor has transformed my life.

I started working with her nine months ago, and with her help, I’ve not only gotten rid of all my symptoms, but I’ve also lost 13 lbs, significantly improved my sleep quality, and I’m also tackling other issues I wasn’t even aware I had.

Asking for help was the best thing I could have done for myself.

Here’s the big question: Have I maintained these results? Yes.

The next big question: How?

By making the changes she asked me to make permanent.

I’ve overhauled my entire diet, and I’ve kept it that way.

I was able to do this because my mindset has changed. My goal isn’t just to lose weight anymore; it’s to be the healthiest version of myself so I can enjoy life to the fullest extent.

Thanks to this, I’ve created a long-term plan (with the help of my doctor) to help me retain these results.

And the plan isn’t anything complicated.

Just focus on eating high-quality foods like organic fruits and veggies, grass-fed meats and dairy, pasture-raised chickens and eggs, and wild-caught seafood.

This doesn’t mean I don’t go out and enjoy food at restaurants or other events.

I do. I simply focus on what I can control, which is the food I eat at home.

I applied this to other areas of my life as well, especially my career pursuits.

I’ve been writing on Medium for almost three years and will continue to do so for a very, very long time (as long as the platform is still, well, alive) because the only way that I will become a known writer is by continuing to write.

Same thing with YouTube. The only way I will create an audience and a presence online is by continuously and consistently creating content.

I’ve created long-term plans for these other goals of mine, and so far, things are looking pretty good.