The belief that there is always “right” time or even a “perfect” time to start a weight loss journey robs you of your happiness, because there is no such thing.

However allocating a specific start date for a weight loss goal (such as-  Monday’s, the 1st of a new month, or new year) is a habit that is a common and collective practice in weight loss.                                    

In fact, “I’ll start on Monday” is possibly one of the most overused phrases ever when it comes to weight loss, and is deep-set within the diet culture, but is a problematic habit as it is literally just a form of procrastination which can often lead to feelings of guilt, anxiety and ineffectiveness.  

The truth is that transforming your life never comes at a milestone or specific day, month or year.  It comes when you reach your tipping point and you are sick and tired of feeling sick and tired, and feel ready to take back control of your life. And no one specific day/date will ever dictate that, as it is an emotional choice, and not a circumstantial one. 

Not only is this belief restrictive to the starting point of your success, but it also comes with a harmful behavioral issue too-  the justification of binge eating.                                            People tend to reason with themselves that if they have committed to starting their weight loss journey on a Monday/start of a new month/new year, then they might as well have ‘one more final blow out’ before they start.                                                                                      

This leads to excessive consumption of takeaways, treats and alcohol before they can “no longer have it” (which is another negative belief that will also be addressed). And this is all justified as ‘preparation for the new start’. But the truth is that any time you binge in that way, it negatively impacts your long-term progress massively as you will feel bloated, guilty and lethargic as a result of the binge.                                                                                                

Not only that, but the types of foods consumed during this period are foods that are proven to activate the brain’s reward circuits by releasing dopamine, which increases your desire to experience that rush of hormones again, sending your cravings through the roof, which lessens your willpower and self-control.

This is never a good starting point to start a weight loss routine, and can make it harder to maintain the effort required.                                      

So it is critical to break this pattern in order for you to break through the weight loss wall that you have continuously hit, in order for you to finally succeed. 

But if the above still hasn’t triggered enough realisation for you to want to break free from this trap, then also ask yourself this-  how many times in your life have you “started on a Monday” or set New Year’s Resolutions to lose weight on the first of January?                                        

How many times have you thought to yourself on a Friday “I’ll just eat and drink whatever I want this weekend and start again Monday?” or “It’s December now, I may as well eat and drink whatever I want because I’ll be back on it in January?”

If your answer to those questions is ‘many times’ but you have still not reached your goal, then that is further proof that there is something fundamentally flawed with that thought process, and it does not work for you, and requires change.                                                                          

After years and years of repeating that pattern myself, and recognising that it was a pattern that did not support my goal for long-term weight loss, I actually began my journey of success on a Thursday afternoon in November, two days before my birthday.                        

Now usually I would have always waited until after my birthday (or any special occasion), as I had never seen the sense in starting it before a special occasion. But I had learnt that the key in achieving my goal was breaking the cycles I had been stuck in, and I decided to start  my journey this time on an ‘unconventional’ day.

This small and manageable choice made a significantly huge difference. This is because identifying that limiting pattern, disrupting it and changing it weakened the neuro connections associated with the habit, which was the first mental shift into success that I experienced.                                                                                

It also gave me a feeling of control and power that I had changed something that had been a habit for a lifetime.

And as small as that one choice had been, the positive feelings were huge.     

And as with a lot of ‘cycle breaking’ acts, it began a powerful chain reaction of change as I also broke free from the habit of ‘pre-binging’, and instead started my journey for the first time ever without a pre-binge, meaning I was free from the negative emotional and physical aftermath, feeling motivated, mentally prepared and with more energy than all of my previous attempts.                                                                                                                                   

That one small and manageable act created a huge transformative change within me, and I want you to experience that change too. So once you have read this book, unlike all of your previous attempts where you have allocated a specific date to start, I want you to start now. Whatever day/month/time it is, just start where you are and use what you have. It’ll be the first action of change you’ll commit, and the most important one too.