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

Maria Kirkeland before and after losing 159 pounds.

Maria Kirkeland

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 on feeling motivated.

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

That’s the biggest lesson Maria Kirkeland learned when she lost 159 pounds.

For years, the 37-year-old from Norway tried to lose weight 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 when she learned about calories, 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 GLP-1s, which also counter the myth that people with obesity simply lack willpower.

Maria Kirkeland at the start of her weight loss journey, and this summer.

Marie Kirkeland

‘Motivation is overrated’

Kirkeland said she never once felt hungry in the two years when she lost weight, but her motivation still fluctuated.

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

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

Personal trainer and fat loss coach Jordan Syatt previously told BI that it’s a mistake to wait for motivation to strike to start working out or eating healthily.

Instead, he tells people to push themselves to start, and then 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 was also important and helped her keep going when she didn’t feel motivated.

“If you’re miserable, you’re not going to stick to it. It’s not going to work. You have to enjoy the process in some way,” she said. “Some days are harder 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 80/20 approach 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, and nutrient-dense foods the rest.