A woman who lost 159 pounds shared the biggest lesson she learned about losing weight and keeping it off

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A woman who lost 159 pounds shared the biggest lesson she learned about losing weight and keeping it off

Maria Kirkeland lost 159 pounds by focusing on consistency over motivation.

She learned about calories, protein, and strength training to break free from fad weight-loss diets.

Kirkeland realized she wouldn’t sustain her results if she relied solely on feeling motivated.

Relying on motivation alone to lose weight won’t get you very far.

That’s the biggest lesson

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learned when she lost 159 pounds.

For years, the 37-year-old from Norway tried to

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by not eating enough, which would lead her to binge and put the weight back on — and then some.

She broke free from that cycle and lost weight in a healthy, sustainable way when she

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and started eating more protein and strength training.

But Kirkeland told Business Insider that over the course of her weight-loss journey, she realized she wouldn’t always feel motivated to stick to her new healthy lifestyle.

Knowing motivation wouldn’t be enough, Kirkeland strove for consistency over perfection and just kept going.

Her journey reflects how attitudes toward weight loss are changing as people stop blaming themselves for being unable to stick to unrealistic and unhealthy fad diets. This comes amid the rise of buzzy new weight-loss drugs known as

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, which also counter the myth that

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.

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Kirkeland before and after the start of her weight-loss journey.Marie Kirkeland

‘Motivation is overrated’

Kirkeland said she never once felt hungry during her two years of weight loss but that her motivation still fluctuated.

“Motivation is overrated. You will not be motivated every day. It’s impossible,” she said.

Hoping for a long-term lifestyle change, Kirkeland realized she’d be better off aiming for consistency.

The personal trainer and ****-loss coach Jordan Syatt previously told *** that it’s a mistake to wait for motivation to strike to

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or eating healthily.

He said people should instead push themselves to start, and once they take that action and start seeing results, they’ll likely feel motivated to continue.

The more you push yourself to keep going even when you don’t feel motivated, the more likely it is that routines like going to the gym will become as much a habit as brushing your teeth, Syatt said.

Enjoy the process

For Kirkeland, not rushing her weight-loss journey and ensuring she enjoyed the process were also important and helped her keep going when she didn’t feel motivated.

“If you’re **********, you’re not going to stick to it. It’s not going to work. You have to enjoy the process in some way,” she told ***. “Some days are ******* than others, but that’s why you’re consistent. You just keep doing it, even though you’re not going to be motivated.”

Many nutrition experts recommend adopting an

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to healthy eating to help with consistency — instead of trying to cut out all your favorite foods, aim to eat them only 20% of the time.

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