"When the voices of doubt start whispering, turn-up the volume of faith and listen to your heart." — Bryant McGill
Very often people approach weight loss with an "all or nothing" mindset, labeling foods or entire food groups as "bad", "dirty" or "off limits".
They create a workout routine that is more complicated than the extracurricular calendar for an NYC prep school student (if you know, you know), stock up on supplements and vow to go "beast mode" all day everyday.
Sounds like a recipe for success, right?
Wrong.
Usually, they white knuckle it for a few months until eventually their willpower or motivation (or both) start to wane which leads them do something crazy and extreme (like eating a bagel 😱) after which their whole diet is "ruined".
And this is the problem with most weight loss and/or diet plans...there's no scalability.
You're either "following the plan" or you're not.
There is no in-between.
But life is all about the in-between.
On some days you're super productive and on others you spend the entire time searching for InstaPot recipes on Pinterest (I'm definitely not speaking from experience here...🤫).
On some days you're a loving, attentive and supportive wife while on others you scold your partner for breathing too loud (again...this is all just speculation 🙄).
On some days you're having berries for dessert and on others it's Beard Papa's (I won't even pretend to deny this one 🤷🏼♀️ #bestcreampuffsever).
What matters isn't what you do on your "best" or your "worst" days, but what you do on most days.
And this is why diets don't work in the long term.
Because diets prepare you for your "best" days.
Days when you have nothing but time and energy at your disposal, when you slept a solid 8 hours the night before, when work was not in the least bit stressful and you came home to an immaculate house and a fridge stocked with sprouted grains and local, seasonal produce.
That's like, everyday right?
Riiiiiight. 🤨
So when it comes to weight loss, does that mean it's either "beast mode" or "least mode"?
Is there no other option?
Can there be an in-between?
Hint, the answer is Yes.
During the last round of my 12 week 'Reset & Recharge' program I worked with a woman named Maggie. Like most clients entering the program, Maggie wanted to lose a bit of weight. But she also wanted to develop nutrition and exercise habits that felt sustainable, flexible and scalable. After a few weeks into the course she started to use the analogy of a dial, like on an amplifier, to represent her nutrition and exercise habits. She was beginning to see how she could scale the habits we were working on in order to align with whatever was happening in her life. She could turn the "volume" up or down as needed. Stressful family situation = Nutrition dial down so she could share ice cream with her mother. Race day approaching = Exercise dial up so she could get in her run workouts even if she wasn't always motivated to do them. More important than the ability to scale these habits was the awareness of what "volume" worked best for her on most days. "I'm feeling more confident with my ability to 'dial' in and out better. I have more awareness in general, thanks to the things we've been working on, and I'm feeling strong physically and mentally." You don't need to choose 0% or 100% when it comes to nutrition and exercise habits.
They exist on a spectrum. And you control the volume dials.
Sure, you can choose to turn the volume all the way up (to 11! 🤘🏼), but you probably won't be able to hang out there for very long because of risk of going deaf or being evicted from your apartment.
But you also can't bring it down to zero because then you won't be able to hear the music.
Finding that "goldilocks" place of not too loud, not too quiet is where the magic happens.
Where weight loss can feel almost effortless.
Where you can have a glass of wine or two over the weekend with your friends and not go on a "detox" afterwards.
Where you can miss a workout and not immediately join a 30 day burpee challenge on Monday.
This "tinkering of the volume knob" is a skill we work to develop in my 'Reset & Recharge' program.
So that you can have success now and in the future. On your "best" days as well as your "worst".
Without losing your hearing OR completely tuning out and forgetting what song you were listening to in the first place.
But more importantly, we work to develop the awareness to choose what volume is appropriate for YOU for all of the in-between (because so much is the in-between), so that you can keep jamming for years to come.
Are you stuck in the all or nothing, 0% or 100% mindset when it comes to exercise and nutrition?
If so, how can you embrace this dial analogy a bit more?
Where can you grant yourself some self compassion to turn the volume down a notch?
Where can you hold yourself a bit more accountable and crank the volume up?
How can you get a little bit closer to finding your "goldilocks" volume?
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