As I ate my protein bomb sandwich at Sweat one day a random customer came in to buy RX Bars. She was eager to taste them as we are currently the only spot in Huntsville that has them. (Another, we did it first brag.)
She asked about the flavors and the moment I started talking about the peanut butter bar, she stopped me mid sentence, looked at the gluten “poisoned filled” sandwich in my hand and told me that she didn’t eat peanuts.
She was a “clean eater.”
I smiled, took another giant bite of my sandwich, turned my #zeroEFFSgiven switch on, sold her five SQUEAKY CLEAN RX-Bars, and went on about my day.
I have NO DOUBT this long, lean, strong looking, young woman meant her statement to simply be a matter of fact and description about her way of life and not a judgement of my own.
However, while her intentions sit just fine with me, that’s in large part because I’ve been through all kinds of food struggles, made it out alive, and am today 100% secure in all of my nutritional choices, including those filled with gluten and peanuts.
For many men and women, that is NOT the case.
A simple statement can birth all kinds of insecurities or re-ignite body issues once left in the past.
The nutritional advice, “just listen to your body” is another one of those close to useless statements that can feel insulting rather than helpful.
In my moments of struggle, if you would have told me my ticket to weight loss was “to listen to my body” I would have thrown the bag of chips I was devouring in your face.
I had ZERO TRUST in my body.
In fact, I felt like listening to it was half the problem!
And truthfully, when we are desperate…Get outta here with those inspirational meme-able quotes!!!!
If you want to help me…GIVE ME ACTION STEPS, right?
So… as I’ve journeyed my way out of binge eating I want to give you guys 3 super fast #GSD steps with no fitness snobbery on the side.
These are realistic, practice makes permanent, let’s move our goals forward steps.
And I want you to follow them in THIS order!
-
CLEAN UP YOUR FOLLOWS AND LIKES!!!!! –
If we are an average of the 5 people we hang out with most, consider your SOCIAL MEDIA one of those “people.”
Let’s get real… you can hardly go to the bathroom without your cell phone within arms reach so don’t tell me our news feeds aren’t a giant influence on our goal setting and mindsets.
Get a damn grip on your follows and likes!
Are you following 30 different 6 pack bikini competitors who live out of tupperware containers filled with steamed tilapia and broccoli? Why? Is your plan to be on stage soon? No, then WTF????
Is your best fitness advice still coming at you from news stand magazines gone digital… b/c those folks are still largely about those advertising dollars!!
Are your likes and follows providing you with VALUE and real life solutions to your every day struggles or are they hypnotizing you with their best of the best of the best body pictures? Guess what… even in a weight loss process, we offer this world much more than just our bodies so give me some substance!!!
Are your fitness/nutrition follows COACHES or are these folks merely stroking their own egos with selfies? Are they promotional machines for brand names?
Our news feeds can provide us with amazing FREE information or they can suck our souls dry!!!
Take 15 minutes, spring clean your social media!!
Earlier this morning I asked my Sweat Facebook followers to tell me who their favorites were… check out the post here. There are some really great suggestions for you to add as you delete the trash.
2. SET BEHAVIOR GOALS NOT OUTCOME GOALS
Don’t set a goal like I want to lose 20 lbs. That’s the outcome of a set of behaviors executed consistently.
So… I will eat protein at every meal is a huge mental step in the right direction.
It’s behavior based, 100% actionable daily, and easy to hold ourselves accountable through a mental check list!
√ protein at breakfast
√ protein at snack
√ protein at lunch
x oops! no protein for pm snack
√ protein at dinner
3. FOCUS ON MONDAY-THURSDAY FIRST!!!
In Diet Rebellion one of the things we focus on first is our more predictable Monday-Thursday life. Friday, Saturday, and even Sunday are more “advanced” topics simply because of the unscheduled nature of the weekend and the many opportunities it presents.
I coach you through this stuff immediately, but OMG please accept and wrap your heads around the fact that our results stem from what we are able to execute consistently.
If you can manage Monday-Thursday well you already have the MAJORITY of your week in check!!
As long as you’re not struggling with a “calories don’t count on weekends” mind frame, I promise, promise, promise you can get solid results by spending your time and energy FIRST on your predictable weekdays.
So… in other words take the BEHAVIOR GOAL you just set (I will eat protein at every meal) and put this into action in full force Monday-Thursday.
Oh, and b/c we’re keeping it 100 here today and all fitness snobbery is on the side and all meme-able bull shit is gone…
Failure is imminent so a quick word on that…
- Changing a behavior requires a person to create a new set of skills.
- Skills take PRACTICE to develop.
- When we practice anything (basketball, running, habit change) we experience failure most at the beginning.
So you better internalize that failure is not evidence that you can’t or shouldn’t. It may mean it’s time to practice more, or that you need a coach, some outside perspective.
Remember, how you cleaned up your social media at the beginning and kept only those people providing you value and solutions? Yup… reach out to those people. Interact. Get in a conversation and honestly, I hope to be one of those folks who has earned your trust.
This Monday, I’m sending out my Sweat Unfiltered newsletter and this is where I do tons of free coaching. Join here.
On Tuesday, I’m sending my Diet Rebellion wait list another email about this program. I want to make sure everyone fully understands the program, what they will learn, and how they will learn it. Curious? Join here.
I’m also super active on Facebook, Instagram, and Snap Chat so feel free to lurk, like, follow, and share!
#2….my problem for sure! I’m the person with “lose 20lbs” on my mind and am sooooo overwhelmed with ALL the changes I feel I need to make to get there. So, I do know I need to eat more green stuff. Boom. That’s my goal right now.
Definitely looking forward to better understand where I can stop screwing up my weekends after being so clean all week!
Thanks for keeping it 100!
Weekends are a different beast for sure and it can take trying out several different techniques before one really clicks and feels natural and replicable. For example, for me Friday was a hurdle and it was all mental. “It’s Friday so I can eat all the things all night long.” I had to come to grips with what that was, where that was stemming from. I didn’t even worry about Saturday or Sunday. After getting a grip on my weekday binges, the biggest calorie hurdle was Friday!! How I conquered Friday has nothing to do with how I eat on Saturdays and Sundays. Your weekend hurdle may be as complex as mine where each day has it’s own personality and things that need to be tweaked.