If I knew now what I knew then (Podcast #7 Transcribed)

There is a lot I wish I knew and listened to….and we will cover them all here – but for the sake of our 5 minute time frame we will talk about the one thing I wish I would have known.

If you were to have told me two years ago that my weight loss success would be determined by my mindset and it all starts in what’s going on in my head.  I would’ve said shut the front door. Just tell me how much cardio to do, what pills I can take, and what secret diet is out there and if you won’t help me with these things then I gotta go. I’ve got no time to waste I gotta get my workout in. 

I was just so focused on fixing the external.  But in reality my physique was a direct reflection of my internal world. Don’t get me wrong – in my journey I’ve been up and down – skinny to fat to fit to boney to hefty to sexy to plump.   So although I may have been fit at many points in my life I truly struggled to reach that physique – the restriction, the over exercising, the pushing through injuries, the obsession, the eating disorders, the pressure  but the worst part of it all…..all the mind drama around these things.  Beliefs about what I need to do, eat, how, when, why, I’m fat, body shoulders are too small, I feel disgusting, I’ll never get abs, this is too hard, I wish I looked like that, I have to get in all my workouts, I can’t eat that, that is junk….so many rules – so many blocks. 

Now knowing what I know – I see why and how I continued to stay on the cycle of gaining and losing and quitting and restarting and m – f good vs sat and sun bad.

Ok you hear me and may be able to relate.  So how do you apply this?  How do you actually work on your mindset?  As you can see from my experience – I had so many beliefs and thoughts that were holding me back. And unfortunately, this is only 5 minute episode so I can’t go through everyone and how to work through each – so I’ll just use a common example…..which is so hard because I think a lot of these are common. 

Ok – let’s go with labeling foods good or bad…. So let’s say you think I need to be vegan to lose weight and I can’t eat your favorite chips or processed foods ever again. 

Here’s a scenario Monday comes and Vegan day 1 begins……easy peasy….Day 2…..I got this….Day 3…..Breakfast is packed, lunch is packed and you’ll prepare dinner when you get home. You’ve got this lifestyle down.  You are feeling so proud of yourself and feel skinner already.  You are hopeful that you finally found your way to achieve your goal body. Finally arriving home and you’re excited because you found a vegan recipes online that you want to prepare, and boom – your husband says we have a potluck tonight, remember it’s my mom’s bday.  (ohhhhh fuccck) you have no time to prepare anything, you will most likely pick up fried noodles since that is your mother in laws favorite, and feel too embarrassed to pack your salad so you are hoping there is something you can eat there.   As you probably know…..nope there is usually nothing healthy at potlucks…..you grab the vegetables out from the noodles and try to pick extras off your husband’s plate.  You are hungry, you are frustrated, you are disappointed, you are not having a good time…..You keep drinking water as you pass around the cake trying to quiet the growling in your belly.  All you keep thinking about is getting home so you can finally eat.   Once you finally get home you grab your salad and wolf it down.  But you are still hungry….and a bit angry….looking around for something else approved on your diet….you eat some nuts….still hungry…...Now you reach for the bag of chips to satisfy your hunger and irritation.  After completing the bag you are now defeated.  You can’t do this – it’s too hard – you will never lose weight. 

Has a version of this scenario ever happened to you? 

There are many things wrong in this scenario and I’ll dig into this further with the next Eating episode.  But let’s look at the all or nothing thoughts - 

What if your original thoughts were not all or nothing?  Yes, you want to be healthier and adopt vegan diet, but does it have to be all or nothing?  Could have days 1 -2 and mostly 3 being 100% vegan and then allowing your dinner on day 3 to be more flexible have been a win for you? You most likely made progress and momentum but threw it all out on all or nothing thinking.  

How often in your weight loss journey did all or nothing thinking sabotage you?  Looking back – if you did not force these rules, but were more flexible with your approach do you think your outcomes would have turned out differently?  

So this is one example of how you would begin the shifting process.

You can work through your blocks by joining Mindset University – we just started and next term doesn’t open until January.  I will allow you to join late – but you are warned – you are a week behind so you will need to catch up.  If you are interested in taking advantage of this offer you need to contact me today and reference this podcast.  If you are listening to this after November 8th, just simply register to be put on the wait list and be notified when next term opens or sign up for Level up one on one coaching where I also help you work on your mindset.  

So…..if I had to have my brain wiped clean but could only keep one tip it would definitely be to work on my mindset around weight loss.   I encourage you to work on one of your thought blocks until next time……keep DoUing you