A man lost 100 pounds by ditching restrictive diets that left him miserable. He shared 2 key lessons he learned about fat loss.

Focus on little milestones

Xavier said that focusing on little goals and milestones helped him stay motivated, whereas fixating on the end goal led to overwhelm. This left him feeling discouraged when life got in the way, and he didn’t achieve his goal as quickly as he had planned.

“If I were to sit here and think I need to lose 100 pounds, that’s a lot. You don’t want to do that,” he said. “It takes time to achieve your goals, and you get there step by step, not all at once.”

He added: “Just take it day by day, week by week.”

Xavier found it helpful to focus on losing two pounds a week. This is in line with what the CDC recommends.

An all-or-nothing attitude is unhelpful

Previously, if Xavier dropped his healthy habits for a meal or two, he would feel intense guilt and worry that he’d ruined all of his progress. This meant he’d abandon his goal until the next day or week.

“It’s like this vicious cycle that keeps repeating itself because of that all-or-nothing mentality,’ he said.

Through his sustainable weight loss journey, he learned that if you do “fall off the wagon,” or have a “cheat meal,” not only will it not discount everything you achieved before, but it won’t mean that you’re suddenly going to gain all the weight back, he said.

He also now gives himself grace when he indulges in less healthy meals, because he knows that he eats a balanced diet the majority of the time, which is what matters.

This approach is sometimes called the 80/20 rule, and is endorsed by dietitians as a sustainable approach to both weight loss and overall health.