Consistency Is the Key to Weight Loss: Why Small Daily Habits Matter More Than Perfection

One of the biggest roadblocks that people face while trying to lose weight is consistency. Here’s what I mean: It’s easy to start the week out strong, eating healthy meals and sticking to your weight loss goals. However, once an unexpected indulgence happens, or life throws you a curveball and you miss a workout, it’s easy to fall off track. Then, before you know it, that one decision leads to a complete spiral of self-sabotage. 

Here’s the truth, though – LIFE will always happen! When it comes to weight loss, consistency always beats perfection. Let’s chat through the most common questions that this post will address: 

• Why is consistency important in a diet?

• Does consistency help with weight loss?

• What is the real key to losing weight?

Consistency Beats Perfection—It’s About Small Efforts Repeated Daily

In the world of dieting and weight loss, many programs out there reinforce the idea that you need to be “perfect” in order to lose weight. Here are some examples: 

❌ The Keto Diet: Keto reinforces the idea of perfection because you must eliminate carbs. 

❌ Whole 30: One bite of non-compliant food on this program, and you start over from Day 1.

❌ Beachbody/21 Day Fix: Color-coded containers, set workouts, and a very structured meal plan can feel like you’re either “on” the program or “off.”

❌ Optavia/Medifast: Reliance on packaged "fuelings" and strict eating windows discourages flexibility or real-life social eating.

With all of the examples I mentioned, you must be perfect, meaning you must follow some sort of strict rule(s) in order to be successful or be “on” the program. However, sustainable weight loss does not require perfection. Instead, consistency is the key to weight loss! Before I get ahead of myself, let’s learn what consistency means!

Consistency means making small decisions that are in alignment with your goals most of the time, but still allowing yourself to make some decisions (on occasion) that aren’t in alignment with your goals but are worth it to you. 

For example, if your goal is weight loss, consistency would look like eating healthy, nutritious foods and exercising most of the time, but allowing yourself to enjoy pizza, cake and ice cream (in moderate portions and without guilt) for special occasions, such as birthdays, holidays, or anniversaries. 

One of the reasons consistency is so powerful for weight loss is that it encourages small actions that accumulate over time to help you reach your goals. If you think back to the programs I mentioned earlier that reinforce the ideas of perfectionism, all of those programs are drastic and extreme. Being consistent is a more moderate approach to weight loss that is more enjoyable and sustainable in the long term. In fact, research from Harvard University suggests that celebrating the small moments of consistency (or small wins) helps you bounce back quicker when setbacks do happen (which is inevitable). 

Why Is Consistency So Important in a Diet?

Not only does consistency with your eating choices help with weight loss, but it also helps with overall health. Let’s break down some of the most important reasons that consistency is important in a diet: 

⚖️ Stability For Your Body

Consistently eating healthy foods helps aid in proper digestion, and ensures that your GI system is working efficiently. It also helps your metabolism to properly function (versus slowing down due to extreme dieting.) Lastly, it helps you learn and be more in tune with your body’s natural hunger and fullness cues. 

🧠 Psychological Stability

Consistently eating healthy foods that you enjoy leads to less mental fatigue and easier decision-making. Over time, your brain learns to crave nourishing foods instead of junk snacks. As a result, you will no longer battle with yourself about what to eat and create a sense of control over your choices, making it significantly easier to stay on track long-term. 

🧠 Helps Build Trust With Yourself

Consistently choosing healthy foods tends to reduce the “yo-yo” diet patterns and helps you build self-trust around foods, because you learn that after an indulgent choice, you can easily get right back to making healthier choices. 

Does Consistency Actually Help With Weight Loss?

Absolutely – evidence actually suggests that consistency helps with weight loss! Current research published in the journal Obesity suggests that people who consistently and slowly lose weight tend to successfully keep the weight off long-term, compared to those whose weight “yo-yo’s” due to extreme programs. 

Let’s look at an example from one of my past clients: 

“When I first started working with Sarah, I appreciated that we first focused on establishing healthy habits over time, like eating slowly. Other programs start out with which foods you can and cannot eat, but Sarah really wanted me to focus on my behaviors. I never realized how fast I ate and I definitely was a big overeater because of that. I know my overeating definitely contributed to gaining weight over time.

I also realized that I didn’t have to be “all or nothing”. I could still go out and be social with friends and family and indulge in a glass of wine or dessert here and there – as long as I was practicing healthy habits MOST of the time. I learned that this was a lifestyle change and not a quick fix. It also was extremely encouraging that I was still losing weight those weeks I indulged a little bit more – because I was still making healthy choices too! 

The biggest impact on my life has been the shift in mindset. For me, losing weight was 100% about mindset. I realized that I could resist the cookies sitting in the kitchen at work, or the cake at a birthday party – and I would be okay. I didn’t NEED that food to feel happy or satisfied at that moment. I was going to save those indulgences for when it mattered more to me, like a date night with my husband, or at a friend’s wedding. Consistently taking small steps towards my health helped me lose 50 pounds!”

What Is the Real Key to Losing Weight?

While we’ve spent the vast majority of this article discussing what consistency means and how it can help you lose weight, it’s time to cover the ways you can become more consistent, so that you lose weight in a sustainable way that you enjoy:

🍎 Nutrition

One of the biggest ways to improve consistency while losing weight is to eat moderate portions of healthy foods most of the time, while still enjoying your favorite “fun” foods like pizza, ice cream, or wine on special occasions. 

🚶🏻‍♀️ Movement

Another way to improve consistency while becoming healthier is to add more movement into your day. Remember though, adding in more movement doesn’t need to come in the shape of formal workouts! Increasing your step count, taking intentional walks, or spending a few minutes stretching count, too! 

😴 Sleep 

Prioritizing 7-9 hours of sleep most nights of the week is a great way to improve consistency while making it easier to make choices that are in alignment with your goals. 

📝 Stress management

Learning to manage your stress and emotions without using food or alcohol is a fabulous way to improve consistency while making it easier to lose weight (because when we are well-rested, it’s easier to exercise and choose healthy foods). 

🧠 Mindset

Continuing to practice a growth mindset is one of the real keys to losing weight because it allows you to improve your relationship with food while learning and growing. 

Tips to Stay Consistent on Your Weight Loss Journey

Now that we’ve discussed the different areas of life where you can improve consistency, let’s chat through some ideas or strategies you can use within these facets to become more consistent:

✅ Meal Planning

Meal planning reduces stress and makes it easier to make healthy choices while on a weight loss or health journey. Plus, it helps you save money because you only buy the exact groceries you need in order to make your planned meals. 

✅ Environment 

Do an environmental audit of the places you spend most of your time: your home, perhaps your office, etc. Are there certain tempting foods that can be eliminated or stored in “tough to reach” places? On the other hand, can you put the healthiest foods in the most convenient places that you tend to reach for quickest? This makes it easier to stay consistent with eating! 

✅ Habit Stacking

Think about the actions that you already take on most days of the week. I’m talking about examples like making your morning coffee, driving to work, using the restroom, etc. What new habit can you add to your existing habits to make consistency easier? Let’s look at one example: Let’s say you drive to work 5 days a week. Can you park your car in the parking spot that’s furthest from the door so that you can easily add more movement into your day?

✅ All-or-Nothing Mindset

Remember that setbacks are not failures but learning lessons! If circumstances cause you to make choices that aren’t in alignment with your goals, ask yourself, “What can I learn from this?”

✅ Track Progress

Whether you choose to track your nutritional intake, weight, measurements, or any other parameter, tracking progress helps build awareness and increases motivation (both of which can improve consistency). 

✅ Celebrate Small Wins

When it comes to understanding that consistency is the key to weight loss, small wins help to build momentum. By building momentum and confidence in ourselves, we rely less on motivation, which improves consistency. 

✅ Find an Accountability Buddy 

Consistency becomes 100 times easier when there’s someone in your corner rooting for you. Find someone whom you trust who can help guide you through the challenges and celebrate your successes while becoming healthier or losing weight. You can learn more about how we help our clients become more consistent by learning about our weight loss coaching program. 

Conclusion

At the end of the day, consistency – not perfection – is the real key to losing weight. Improving consistency starts with taking small steps over time. Take some time to think about small habits or actions that you can consistently take to better improve your health. These steps can relate to nutrition, movement, sleep, stress management, or mindset. Remember that sustainable weight loss comes from repeated effort, not radical changes that lead to quick results. 

Strong with Sarah will help you take the first step toward truly starting to enjoy your life while losing weight. Get started now!