Redefining Strength Podcast

I think sometimes we WANT a change.

We WANT a new and better result…

But we aren’t truly READY to do what it takes to make a change.

And so we will never succeed no matter how motivated we are.

Now you may be thinking how can I be motivated but not ready?

Because motivation is the DESIRE to do something.

Being truly READY to make a change means you’re in the headspace to make sacrifices. You’re capable of doing the hard.

You’re ready to embrace things that make you question what you’ve always done and challenge you to get outside your comfort zone.

Ready is about more than wishing or hoping for a change…it means you’re prepared to do the hard to get the result.

And all too often the reason we buy a program and never start despite being motivated is because we aren’t ready for the challenge of change.

Because change is hard.

Now if you’re thinking….

“I’m motivated so how do I know if I’m ready?”

I wanted to share some tips I’ve found helpful for clients to take that motivation and let it propel them into being ready to do what is necessary to get results.

One size doesn’t fit all and tracking isn’t right for everyone.

And even those that do track won’t use this tool in the exact same way or even forever.

Heck, I was a person AGAINST tracking for a very long time.

I made all the excuses about why not to do it.

And I never saw the results I wanted.

Until I decided to try to see opportunity in a different perspective.

Until I decided to be open to something new and uncomfortable.

I like to really highlight the purpose of any tools we may choose, or not choose to use.

I want us to truly understand them. Because that gives us power.

I think when we don’t understand a tool and its purpose…we don’t properly use them or even know when they aren’t right for us.

I also want to discuss tracking being restrictive because I’m a big believer in NOT giving tools power over us.

When we say we can’t track because it makes us obsessed or judgmental…or it’s too restrictive, we are giving the tracker POWER.

And in trying to avoid something, we are almost giving it as much thought and attention as we do if we just do it.

If you think about it…we can oddly obsess just as much in avoiding as we can in implementing.

That tool still has power even in our avoidance of it.

And that’s not to say we may not choose to avoid using it BUT I think the more we can put everything in its place and realize we are fully in control of our implementation the strong and more in control of our life we become.

So now is tracking restrictive?

The short answer is no.

While we each do have our own unique set of circumstances, our unique needs and goals, often there are some fundamental things we can adjust no matter what if we aren’t seeing the results we want.

There are actually 5 things I like to focus on first before we move into more of the details if a client comes to me saying they aren’t seeing the results they’d like…

How Do You Even Know What Is Possible?

I got asked on a post about getting abs the other day…

“How do you even know what is possible for you?”

It was one of those moments where you sit back and you go…

“Well huh!”

And my honest answer back was…

“I don’t think you can fully know what is possible until you try.”

I don’t think we can ever fully know how far we can go with something until we’ve tried.

And even then, we can’t fully predict the snowball that will happen as we continue to accumulate knowledge, make those small improvements and let TIME do its work.

I say this looking back at my own photos over the years, my own lifting logs…

When I was doing 2 pull ups, I would never have said I’d get 20 beautiful ones in a row.

When I was first trying to change my body type from the orange with toothpick limbs, I would never have told you I’d have abs I wanted to show off.

Heck if you asked me if I’d have half nakey photos I’d share of myself to social media while also filming videos every week, I would have laughed at you and thought you were crazy.

Because none of these things are what I necessarily envisioned even when working toward specific goals.

Because I don’t think we can fully predict the outcome of any journey.
 We can just envision what we’d like, constantly work to improve and implement and adjust habits…and stay focused on tweaking based on how things are progressing.

But I do think we have to embrace that our ultimate goals, our results may not be exactly what we expected to start.

This doesn’t mean they’ll be worse or better.

But often they are different.
 But we also have to remember we can’t hold ourselves back from trying just because we don’t know what is possible.

We have to remember that line of…
 Everything seems impossible until we prove it possible.

So if you want to get better at something, don’t set a limit. See you goal as your starting point to shoot for.

See a goal not so much as the expectation but a vision to drive you.

And then set your expectations to learn and grow along the way.

When we do this, we find out more about ourselves.

We learn what are truly our priorities. We learn what matters to us.

And we improve and grow.

And often, no that end result isn’t fully what we expected. But often it can even be better. And it can lead to other progress, other wins.

But I think in life we have to realize that so much can’t be predicted.

So much has to be us taking a risk and seeing where things can go!

So if there is something you want to work toward…who cares if it is even truly possible?

Why not see how close you can get?

Here are 3 tips to help you get started today seeing what is possible…

Everyday we are either working toward our goals or moving farther away from them.

And while I don’t think we can always be focused on the future, and immediate gratification will at times “sabotage” our long-term goals and focus, I think recognizing that every day is building our future result…

That your situation today is a result of your past hustle…

Is super key.

Because so often we stress perfection when we start a new program. We get up in a 21 day or even 6 week SPRINT….only to burn ourselves out with the habits so we can’t keep moving forward.

Instead we need to focus on those small habit changes. The ways we can make 1% improvements.

The ways we can be BETTER THAN we would have been in the same situation before.

Because every day we are technically building and moving forward or taking that step back.

And step backs are GOING to happen.

But we have to recognize that, in life, there is no starting over.

So how fast we get results will also be impacted by those steps….in either direction.

That’s why that TODAY, right now, as you plan for tomorrow…as you choose between trying to be perfect and rely on willpower over making small changes to constantly learn and grow, you have to recognize that every day you are making the choice about which direction you will move in.

And if you fall down? If you slip up, while that one event may have moved you away from your goal, the power you give that situation can impact future days.

And those days again are either moving you forward or setting you back.

Results come from what we consistently do. From how we learn and move forward.

And again…There is NO STARTING OVER.

That’s why I wanted to share 3 tips I use to help myself find ways to always move forward even on those days that feel like you’ve taken that step back.

There is nothing better than going on vacation. But it is often where we feel like we sabotage our results and our diet and exercise routines go to die.

I wanted to share 7 tips to help you stay on track while you travel so you can keep moving forward toward your weight loss goals. However, I also want to mention that I believe vacations can, and should, be a time to relax and enjoy. Diets often fail because we force restriction at times when we do need to embrace a balance.

We end up not really being able to diet on vacation while also not really allowing ourselves to relax. And this ultimately backfires.

However, if you travel for work or just travel often and want to find the lifestyle balance right for you, these tips can help you stay consistent with your macros and your workouts while not at home!

Do not feel guilty about not using every time you travel as an excuse to splurge. I know sometimes our friends or family can make us feel awkward for caring, but we need to stay focused on what also makes us happy in our progress toward our goals!

Because we can’t just always make the excuse that this is a once in a lifetime experience if we’re traveling all the time!

So what are the 7 travel hacks to help you stay on track?

I’m horrible with internet slang, acronyms, phrases…whatever.

The first time someone posted TLDR I had to google it.

I thought of this the other day when my managers and I were talking about abbreviations and acronyms and lingo that may be helpful to make a list of.

I made the joke about how I’m so bad with knowing what those things are…

And I mentioned to Michelle, my lead Dietitian, the first time I saw TLDR.

She Googled it the second I mentioned it as she didn’t know either.

Anyway, why am I rambling on about this TLDR…and for those of you about to Google it, it is Too Long Didn’t Read….?

Because the first time I saw it, it was commented on one of my blog posts.

And seeing it oddly made me sadder and madder than any troll comment I could have gotten at the time.

I wasn’t mad because my articles are freaking fabulous and they were missing out but because they were holding themselves back.

I was honestly sad for them.

Because in their search for a quick answer, a fast fix, simply WHAT TO DO, they were missing out on the part that would actually allow them to find something that works for them…

Something that lead to lasting results…

The WHY behind the systems so they could implement them correctly.

They weren’t open to learning.

And their desire to just be told what to do quickly, was probably what kept them working really hard without seeing results….wasting far more time putting in pointless effort than it would have taken them to just embrace the learning and read the post.

I bring this up because I know I’ve even been guilty of this….

Skipping around an article, course or program to pull what I think I need.

You’ve reached your goal…Now what?

Now comes oddly the hardest part…MAINTAINING YOUR RESULTS!

And maintenance is hard because it’s a new process in and of itself.

You can’t keep doing what you did to get to your goal - you can’t stay in a deficit forever.

And you can’t go back to what you were doing prior.

Old habits will just lead to you losing everything you’ve worked hard for.

Soooo, what do you do?

Here are 4 tips to help…

As kids some of us loved asking WHY…like annoyingly so.

Ok…we were asking it often more JUST to be annoying, but still…as kids there is a curiosity there to understand more of our world.

But at a certain age, we stop….we stop assessing and being as curious.

However, as annoying as constantly being asked WHY is, we need to embrace our inner child more if we want to learn and grow.

If we want to overcome our own self limiting beliefs and doubts, if we want to break free of the self imposed limitations and negative mindsets, we need to start asking ourselves WHY.

Think about it, how often do you ask yourself WHY you have a specific belief?

How often do you ask yourself, WHY you believe something is a certain way?

How often have you asked yourself WHY you feel you’re good or bad at something?

Why you like or dislike things?

Why you’ve succeed or failed at certain activities or ventures?

Why you are willing or unwilling to do certain things?

Why you even expect certain results.

Think about all of the times we make statements, especially in opposition to making a change, yet never really question WHY.

I was one of these people…

So I always sympathize with this comment, “I’ll workout all day. It’s just so hard to change my diet.”

Or…

“I can train hard. I just can’t change my diet. I love food too much.”

The thing is…

We CAN change our diet.

And yes, we all know we just aren’t “willing” to or we don’t “want” to….

But what we don’t realize is that training is NOT easy.

We’ve just become comfortable being uncomfortable in that way.

Realizing that was oddly eye opening for me.

Because A. It made me truly recognize that many people do NOT like training. I’ve just developed a comfort zone that includes it.

And B. Even with training there are still things I’m not comfortable doing…often new skills I’m not good at. And when you start to assess moves or tools or such you won’t include and often scoff at even, you’ll start to see where your comfort zone ENDS.

Basically what we’ve got to recognize is that dietary adjustments are possible…they’re just outside our comfort zone.

So how do we learn to be comfortable being uncomfortable with dietary adjustments?

And I think that it starts with how we approach changes…

First…Realize that when you push too much, you rebel more. Assess the mindsets that make you resistant.

So often when we make a ton of changes and mentally can’t handle them, we then start to associate those habits with that negativity. They become one in the same.

Like tracking.

When we only track to seriously restrict, when we feel super hungry and miserable tracking, we believe tracking is restrictive.

Realizing we will associate the habit with our mindset and that can 100% color things, A. We want to assess why we don’t like habits. But B. We want to break those mindsets around them and find new ways to implement them.