Have you ever experienced this?
Life’s been ticking along nicely and all of a sudden something’s triggered you?
Maybe you saw a photo that’s made you cringe?
The scales didn’t give you the reading you’d hoped for?
That sinking feeling when something doesn’t fit?
Or the embarrassment as you start puffing walking up the stairs?
In the past this would always happen out of the blue. One minute I was happy, kicking goals, some stuff would happen and then BAM!
I couldn’t believe I’d let this happen (again!)
Que emotional roller coaster!
I’d go from feeling so angry and disgusted at myself,
Into feeling overwhelmed and confused about what I needed to do.
I’d beat myself up telling myself it was all a waste of time;
To feeling helpless and like nothing was ever going to change;
Then I’d fly into desperation mode looking for ways to fix the situation;
And down again that it felt like nothing ever worked or would stick!
I’d ask myself how I hadn’t noticed all of this weight I’d gained?
I’d get angry that I stopped looking after myself and ‘undid all my hard work’!
Andddd then my mean girl would take over.
I couldn’t stop thinking about how horrible I felt and I’d feel like I was out of control.
Que knee jerk reaction (again!)
You know what I’m talking about right?
You get so upset it’ll often cause you to spiral for a bit…
And then the extreme health kick, detox or diet starts because you’re fed up and had enough!
And for a week of two it worked.
But it was so incredibly hard, draining, depressing and it felt like you were always obsessing about what was next… Or what you couldn’t have!!
And for me even though I’d spent HOURS researching, prepping, predicting my amazing future results 🙊…. It would ALWAYS get to the point that I was exhausted, fatigued, and my will power and motivation rapidly depleted!
But the “fitness world” puts on this “just do it” attitude so I ignored it and sucked it up! Clearly that’s the answer right and I just need to get tougher?????
Yet a month or so later and I’ve fallen off the wagon completely!
Often resulting in undoing all of my hard work and don’t get me started on the Mean Girl crap running through my mind non-stop!
At this point I’d be struggling and really upset so I’d just end up being “too busy” or distract myself. I’d always have the best intentions to “Start when… Start after… When I’ve done….” but I’m sure you’ve been down that road too and know how that story ends! Hehe I love how we think that avoidance is a great tactic to get results, make change and live a healthy lifestyle right? 😉
Have you ever felt this way too?
Ok time for some Amanda love to shake this up!
Instead of throwing ourselves a pity party I want to help you look at this really differently!
(Said with SO much freaking love and compassion! Because being real – if beating yourself up and feeling guilty worked you wouldn’t be on this up/down roller coaster too!)
WHEN YOU WERE “DOING” IT WHY DID THOSE THINGS WORK?
Even if it was just for a short period of time?
So often we don’t stop and think about the WHY!
Why it was working?
What actions were you taking?
hat were you actually DOING?
Often when we think about “results” at a superficial level we think it’s because of the program/diet/fad… But it’s SO MUCH MORE THAN THAT!
IT WORKED BECAUSE YOU TOOK ACTION!
I know when there is a lot of emotion involved, sometimes we miss the obvious! Or we don’t have the confidence or self-compassion to acknowledge our own awesomeness! (Plus the fitness industry has done an amazing job of making it all about their super awesome magic wand solution Grrr)
We need to give ourselves the credit for getting those results!
We were the ones that put in the effort, did the work and followed through! Regardless of what hocus pocus we followed – WE DID IT!But instead, we give all of that credit to the extreme program we were following!
We think it was the weird, expensive and exotic foods that got us results. But that is not the full picture!
WE TOOK ACTION AND THAT GOT US RESULTS!
We’ve been conditioned to believe that we have to follow these fancy programs or systems.
The fitness industry has encouraged us to not trust ourselves!
They want us to believe that we have to suffer or work really hard to get results!
And for most of us, because that’s the only way that we’ve ever done it we believe it! But the truth is, it was YOU that was doing the work!
YOU were the one getting the results because YOU TOOK ACTION!
Now I’m guessing (if you’re like me) your mean girl would be saying something like…”Yeah but I can never stick with it and I suck”.
Again let’s flip it all around (upside down, upside down Miss Jane)… 🙊
Maybe the actions you were told to follow weren’t the right ones for you!
So rather the beating yourself up, telling yourself it was your fault it didn’t work… Maybe it’s time to look a bit deeper at the diet/quick fix or fad you were following!
Can you actually see yourself living like that for the rest of your life?
Did you actually enjoy it?
Or was it a chore and something you had to force yourself to do?
Maybe you were playing the game “I’m using this as a kick-start and then I’ll….” Haha this used to be one of my favourites band-aids. But please trust me and also use my 13 years PT experience… Unless you change your mindset and those ‘habits’ that got you there, no kick start is ever going to last!
So I’d love to ask you this….
Instead of repeating this horrible cycle over and over can you do it differently?
What if you started started doing COMMON SENSE ACTIONS?
What if you took an approach that’s about fitting these actions into your life, instead of trying to follow an unrealistic or unsustainable program/diet/fad?
Say what… Common sense health & fitness that fits into your life!
You talk crazy lady 😉
Yup I get it’s not a sexy fad and it’s not instantaneous!
I even understand that we don’t trust ourselves to stick with it long term to get results.
And why would we, when we’ve only ever had to struggle, force of fight to get results. You can only do that for so long so you’ve got to get quick results.
But we both know the quicker they come the quicker they go!!!!
So instead, let’s focus on the small easy steps and actions you can do and be consistent with.Because when you’re consistent, that’s when we get the results that we crave!
So I’d love to know what EASY ACTIONS are you going to take this week?
- Maybe it’s drinking water each day? Brilliant for weight loss, health & fitness!
- Perhaps it’s cooking a couple of healthy meals this week?
- Do you want to look at some small changes you can make to your diet?
- How are you going to move your body this week?
- How are you prioritising YOU this week?!
- Again make sure that you don’t fall into past behaviours of making these extreme or overwhelming! You know that way doesn’t last or leave room for living and enjoying life!
And if you’re in doubt think of it this way
Small easy steps & consistency, will beat the stop and start approach EVERY TIME!
And I get that it can feel scary to simplify if this way.
It can feel hard to trust yourself to make the right decisions for you.
It goes against everything you’ve done in the past.
It feels like you’re not doing enough.
You’re worried that you won’t be able to stick with it!
I get it because I’ve been here too (many times)!
But I’d love to assure you from my own experience and working with hundreds of clients; When we change how we think about ourselves & our health and fitness it’s life changing!
Finally we have that self love and compassion to enjoy the process and keep those awesome results!
If you’re up for it I’d love to hear what your common sense actions will be this week! Hit reply or hit me up on messenger on my FB Page.
Remember, they need to be realistic, easy and sustainable for this process to really work!
You’ve got this!
Biggest of Hugs!
Luv Amanda xx
Would you love help?
Leave a comment below or click the link to book a free (no BS) chat. I’d love to see how I can help you achieve the health and fitness you crave and deserve!
And seriously, it’s a no BS chat – no ickness, no obligation or any of that crap! A genuine chat to see if I can help or share any tips with you so you can kick butt!