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STOP Sabotaging Your Results…How To Create Lasting Habits

STOP Sabotaging Your Results…How To Create Lasting Habits

by | Jan 15, 2024 | Blog, Diet, Exercises

You want to lose weight. Gain muscle. Adjust your diet to really feel better…

But creating new habits is HARD.

So many of us have thought…

“I just don’t have the willpower.”

“I don’t have the self control or discipline!”

But what if it isn’t that you don’t have enough willpower or self control?

What if it is that you’ve been approaching how you make workout and diet changes all wrong?

What if you need to embrace that discipline is BUILT?

Because so often we are sabotaging our own results in how we go about making healthy habit changes, I wanted to highlight 6 mistakes I often see clients making and how you can avoid these same issues!

The first mistake most of us make when looking to work toward a new goal is not first pausing to assess where we are at CURRENTLY.

So often when we want to lose weight or gain muscle we look for what we “should” be doing.

But searching for some ideal workout routine or diet is often what keeps us stuck in this yo-yo dieting cycle, never really seeing results build.

Because often we aren’t considering whether those ideals are actually even doable right for us right now or even sustainable.

And while we do need to embrace change if we want a new and better result, the more these changes are far from what we are doing currently, or what we feel capable of doing, the less likely we are to even do them or stick with them.

Often in trying to make these massive changes far outside our comfort zone all at once, we also just ultimately overwhelm ourselves and stop ourselves from even starting!
Instead approach making changes like you would approach driving to a new destination.

You not only enter your destination into your GPS. You put in your current location.

This gives you the fastest, most accurate route.

So before you start to make any changes and create a plan, really understand where you are starting from.

What does your lifestyle look like? What is a schedule that is realistic for you?

What are easy changes you could easily make today based on your routine and habits?

When you truly take a look at your lifestyle, you can make the changes YOU.

One size doesn’t fit all and by knowing ourselves we can find the things that will yield the biggest impact for us personally over wasting energy making changes that really don’t matter for our situation!

And then start with something SMALL first to get that momentum building.

Because that is often the second mistake I see clients making…and one I’ve made myself a ton…

We don’t start small.

I don’t know about you, but when I want a goal, I want it yesterday.

So often in my attempts to get results as fast as possible, I try to do everything at once.

But this can not only lead to me overwhelming myself, but also burning myself out on all the new things I have to do.

This is often what causes me to feel like I just don’t have the willpower or self control to keep implementing all the new habits.

But really it is just too many big things all at once.

By breaking down habits and even starting with the smallest changes that meet me where I’m at currently, I find results more easily snowball without me falling off my plan or feeling constantly stressed out.

So today write out all of the things you “could” do to make a change and circle the easiest one.

Do that.

Don’t worry about the other changes that you should or will eventually have to make.

Focus on one you can do right now.

The success of getting started, of moving past that first hurdle, will lead to you even WANTING to do more.

And this focus on small changes can even help us embrace the fact that often something is better than nothing.
I mean how often do you just simply skip a workout because you can’t get to the gym for a full session and think, “What’s the point of just doing 5 minutes?”

But if instead we had the view of one small thing adds up, we may do that 5 minutes anyway.

And not only may that 5 minutes lead to a 30 minute workout, it is also still 5 more minutes done that week than we would have done otherwise.

And 5 minutes more, week after week, adds up!

So focus on small changes.

Especially changes that don’t mean restricting the things you love most first!

Because that is a BIG mistake many of us make…

We cut out all of the things we love first.

We often do this because the things we generally like the most are lifestyle habits that are the least healthy for us or the most in opposition to our goals.

For me…dessert was always what sabotaged me.

I loved dessert.

But I also knew those high calorie, carb and fat loaded foods, were probably working against my body recomp efforts.

So because it was the most obvious thing to cut out, I would always restrict that first.

But the second I cut out dessert, I found myself wanting even more.

I would look at dessert food porn constantly on Instagram. It took over my feed.

And eventually, I would give in and not only eat the dessert I was craving…I would eat until I had food twins and couldn’t sleep I was so full.

Then I would struggle to make any diet changes again for awhile and end up not only regaining any weight I lost but even more.

It was only once I stopped that cycle and planned in my dessert FIRST that I was able to make changes that snowballed.

I first focused on ADDING in more protein over cutting things out.

I focused on small swaps to foods I didn’t care about as much, using a lower carb tortilla over a regular.

Swapping in greek yogurt with more protein for a regular yogurt.

Changing up berries for mangos in a smoothie.

Little things to hit my macros that didn’t make me feel like I couldn’t have something.

And on top of deciding to make those changes, I realized how much I could work in whenever I wanted which made when I DID cut something out really feel like a CHOICE.

Because often when we are looking to lose weight or make a change, we feel like we are being FORCED to do things we don’t want to do.

But…who’s forcing you?

Often NO ONE is technically making us do those things.

We are CHOOSING to.

But we don’t see it that way as it feels like we HAVE to do certain things to see results. We’ve been conditioned to believe that dieting means deprivation.

And this is a big part of what hinders us from making lasting changes…OUR MINDSET.

We need to recognize that mindset matters most.

As odd as that sounds, this is mistake that holds us back from seeing results…

We put this emphasis on new tactics, macros, workouts, meal timing, best moves…

But we never consider our mindset behind the changes.

And I can tell you, you can have a less than perfect plan and see results if your mindset is in the right place.

Or you can have the perfect plan and never move forward because mentally you hold yourself back.

As cliche as it is….

Whether we believe we can or we can’t, we’re right.

We can doom ourselves with doubt or help ourselves achieve amazing results because we trust in the process.

But just blindly believing in something is hard to do. What if it doesn’t work?

So often nothing really HAS worked, so why should this?

This is why we need to realize that we can create motivation through actions.

We can MAKE ourselves feel successful by how we approach change.

This means boiling things down into easy to manage bite-sized actions that allow us to get moving forward and feel successful right away.

Instead of overwhelming yourself with a ton of changes you feel bad at so you don’t want to do them any more, take one action that would make you feel successful and start with that.

Because when we feel successful with what we are doing, we want to do more. And we become open to bigger and harder changes.

We build confidence in our ability to even overcome.

So start small with actions you know you can do…even easily…

Maybe it’s 2 10 minute workouts.

Just writing down your food.

Just eating one more serving of veggies.

But realize you can create that motivation by allowing yourself to make those small changes that meet you where you are at.

And this motivation will allow you to BUILD.

Because so often we jump to trying to do everything we “should” be doing over trying to stack behaviors.

This is what leads to us falling off and feeling like we’re constantly not strong enough…like we just don’t have the willpower or self control to make the changes we need to see results.

But instead…

We need to focus on that habit build.

What’s one small habit you can do right now?

Can you go drink a glass of water to improve your hydration?

Now once you add in that glass of extra water every day this week, how can you build off of that habit?

Can you add in another?

Can you now move to adding in 1 more ounce of protein to your lunch?

Can you then make a swap to another food in a meal to lower carbs or increase them?

The more you make habits that allow you to stack more off of them, the more you will prepare yourself to make bigger and bigger changes.

And 1% improvements add up the more you make.

So while it may not yield the immediate sexy results you want, it creates a snowball that ultimately leads to better results long term and ones that truly last.

Now…just because you’re making small changes and avoiding cutting out the things you love most first…

This doesn’t mean that everything will always feel easy or fun.

Too often we try to oversell changes to ourselves.

We tell ourselves this program will be soooo easy or fun.

That this is the best lifestyle EVER.

Instead of recognizing that there is a downside to every upside.

Not embracing the negative is a BIG mistake.

This is often why we feel like there must be something wrong with us when we can’t make changes other people have made.

But the only thing wrong is that we didn’t recognize that doing something different than what we’ve always done WON’T always be easy or fun!

I mean…why should something feel easy to start?

It is new…

It is awkward…

We’re probably bad at it…

It isn’t what you’ve always done.

Things outside our comfort zone, many habits we do to get a great result, simply aren’t sexy or cool.

I mean who wants to wake up with an alarm?
No one. But who wants to miss their 4 am flight to their beach vacation?!

That’s a downside to the upside.

And there are lots of those.

But the more you do those habits, the more you don’t even think of them in a negative way.

They are just the downside to the upside.

The cost to get the reward.

So if a change right now feels unsustainable, don’t just give up on it.

Assess the benefit it is providing. Consider if it COULD be worth it enough to give it a chance.

Then realize that just because it is awkward now, doesn’t mean at some point it won’t feel good or at least be tolerable and WORTH IT.

We need to recognize that what feels sustainable right now is simply what you’ve always done until you’ve given the new habits and behaviors time.

Because often if we embrace that things can stink a bit to start and we push through that immediate mental barrier, we’ll see results snowball and find ourselves thinking…

“Why didn’t I make these changes sooner?” as the habits become normal and even enjoyable!

Changing habits is hard.

And often we are our own worst enemy.

We sabotage ourselves in how we approach making changes.

But by understanding these 6 mistakes, you can help yourself avoid them and see results snowball!

Apply to my Online 1:1 Coaching if you need that kickstart to see the results you deserve and avoid these mistakes!

–> Apply Today

FHP 603 – Happy National Quitter’s Day

FHP 603 – Happy National Quitter’s Day

by | Jan 12, 2024 | podcast

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OPEN TRANSCRIPT

Hey guys, this Cori from from Redefining Strength. Welcome to the Fitness Hacks podcast. This is a show where I share all my free work on the nutrition tips. I’m not going to ever fill this episode with sponsorships or ask you to buy anything. All I ask in return is, if you’re enjoying the podcast, to leave a review or leave a five-star rating or, even better, share it with someone you think it might help. This will only take a few minutes and would mean the world to me and possibly change the life of someone you know. So let’s jump right in. So I quit. How many times have we just given up on something right before results are actually going to snowball so often? And January 12th 2024 is National Quitter’s Day. Michelle brought this to my attention actually last night and we decided we had to do a episode on this because so often we are the ones sabotaging our own results by giving up when something might actually working. So, michelle, with bringing this up, I want you to dive into what you think is often the culprit behind us saying I quit.
I think one of the biggest issues is we tend to put so much pressure on the month of January to start and actually implement things, and I think it’s a good reminder, like, as long as you’re trying and you’re trying to improve, it doesn’t need to happen in January, it doesn’t need to. All the change doesn’t need to happen this month. We have a whole year and you don’t need to wait an entire year if something does fail. You just need to readjust and kind of stay on track. So that’s kind of the first thing is don’t put so much pressure on getting everything right in the month of January.
I think that goes for even any other time as well, and I want to sort of bring this out to any time we want to start a goal right, because while the New Year’s resolutions are that time where we’re often most motivated to make big changes, at any point we want to make a change. We do often put our like this pressure on ourselves to be perfect, and so often then that first little deviation makes us give up when we don’t recognize all the changes that were already happening. Right, we were good for like 12 days, 11 days already, or even, if it wasn’t perfectly consistent, eight days. We may change it in eight days and we don’t recognize that we met, recognize the one day that wasn’t perfect, which then says, well, why do anything right, but something is still better than nothing. And the more we try and get consistent with those things, the longer we stick with it. Often the more things build, because we don’t necessarily always need more tactics, we need more time.

Yeah, and that kind of goes into. My next thing too is so many, so often we just take on too much and it’s more than we can chew. Like if you are someone that’s like, okay, I’m getting into exercise, I’m going to hit the gym seven days a week, but the week before you were hadn’t even, hadn’t even gone once, Like that probably isn’t the most realistic goal for you to set. So it’s also just being like, like you mentioned, like we want things to snowball. So if you’re doing a little bit better than you were the previous week, that’s still a win.

But we don’t celebrate necessarily the small improvements because they don’t feel sexy, they don’t lead to the fad-dye results, but they do lead to lasting results and discipline is built.

We’ve had this conversation. A lot like discipline is built, but it’s built on being able to do something and repeat that something for long enough that then you can build more off of it. Because then if you’ve increased let’s just say like 10 grams of protein, and then you can increase the next week 10 more grams and then 10 more grams after that all of a sudden you’re up 30 grams of protein daily. And so then, if you do have life getting the way, there’s a lot more likelihood that you’ll still be up 10 grams, even if you don’t hit your 30 goal, than you would have been had you tried to go to 30 all at once and never sort of slowly built up, because you make those lows less low by sort of building and stacking off of them, because it makes it so easy to replicate a little bit less than what we’re doing currently right, which is often higher than where we were at. So it’s really that habit stack and those 1% improvements that add up.

Yeah, and that’s exactly it you have to recognize and we don’t give ourselves enough credit because we are our worst critics you have to pause and give yourself that recognition and that gold star when there has been an improvement. If your goal was to hit the gym seven days a week and you hit it five, that’s still a lot better than the week before. So really recognizing those 1% differences and even though that 1% may not seem like a big change, it is and it can really add up.

And not only can it add up in a positive direction, but it can also hold us back when we don’t recognize some of the deviations that are sort of play in. Because I think another thing that leads to us saying I quit is that we don’t see changes happening fast enough and we feel like we’re working really, really hard right, because even small changes can feel a little overwhelming and the pain of staying stuck has to outweigh the pain of change and sometimes, when the pain of change is really pushing back, it’s hard to keep doing things right. So we get this feeling of, well, I’m working so hard and not seeing the results I deserve, and we start to overlook those inconsistencies. And I’d actually brought up on an earlier call we were doing, you know, the 1% deviations and how much they can really add up. So if we think we’re doing all the right habits but we don’t look at the actual consistency, we might not notice that we’re slowly going off course. And Ryan made us Google the example, so I didn’t butcher it, which I might still butcher it anyway.

But if you’re on a flight from JFK to Tokyo, right, and you’re just off by that one degree, that 1%, you’ll end up in the middle of the ocean instead of getting to your destination, which would not be good. Right, we don’t want to land in the middle of the ocean. And the same thing happens with our goals. If we’re off by that 1%, what might not seem like a big deal of not logging one meal or one snack or one bite, lick or nibble right, all of a sudden becomes two or a whole day unlocked or other things going to play in. So all of a sudden, we’re nowhere near the habits we once thought we were doing, even if we’re doing just enough to feel like we’re working hard with them. So it’s this weird thing of like the feelings aren’t data sort of, so to speak, but also 1% deviations that lead us, off course, to feel like we’re working hard but not seeing results snowball, yeah, and you really.

And part of that is to truly have success, you have to be very specific with your goal. So it’s not. You know, you hear so often like, oh, I’m going to eat healthier, I’m going to exercise more, okay, that’s great. How, how often are you going to go to the gym? What workouts are you actually going to do? If you’re going to eat healthier, where are you going to start? What’s going to be your main focus?

So often people generalize these goals and I think truly, we tend to go off of goals that we feel like everyone is doing and we want to fit the mold.

And it is recognizing that sometimes that probably isn’t going to work for you because you have to individualize it. It’s fine to have health goals and of course, we want everyone to have health goals and improve, but you have to individualize that health goal for you. So if all of a sudden, you’re like, okay, you know, my friends are all doing this goal and their goal is to hit X amount of protein throughout the day, that’s great For you. Probably the main focus is this is the meal that I struggle the most to get my protein at. I’m going to focus here first to start increasing my protein needs, and that is really kind of the big thing of trying to avoid that white knuckling your way through whenever you’re trying to do anything new or trying to create new habits is being extremely specific with it and, as you mentioned, like even if you’re off on other days or even if you’re didn’t get a complete day done, you still have that specific thing that you hit for that day.

But it’s even in having that very specific goal, you’ll notice those one-present deviations to correct course before you just completely keep making them. And on top of that, I love that you bring up how okay. I think that question is something we don’t ask enough. And I don’t have the devil and the angel on my shoulder. I have an annoying little kid poking at me being like how, why, how, why Right? Anytime I’m like looking at something and I want to write something off or give up on something, I always go back to that questioning too. And the how question, I think, is so important because we say I want to increase my protein Cool. That’s a great habit to focus on. How right? Well, I’m going to eat more protein and meal. Okay, how right.

The more we break it down and give ourselves something specific to do, the easier we make things.

And going back to that whole pain of staying stuck has to outweigh the pain of change.

Right, if our goal is significant to us, we’re going to embrace more sacrifices, but at some point priorities in life are going to make it feel not as significant, not as worthwhile, especially if the pain of some of the changes become really uncomfortable with other stressors we have going on in life and if that happens, instead of trying to find a way to make you know your goal more significant to yourself which sometimes we can’t do, we can’t feel the potential of even having achieved it we have to break down those habits so they’re less painful, so to speak. So it feels like we’re making less sacrifices because all stress goes in one bucket and if that bucket is overflowing with stress, you can’t just keep putting more stuff in right and some of the priorities in life stresses in life you’re not going to be able to necessarily stop, but you can make those changes less stressful so that you can still do more of them than you would do otherwise. So it is breaking things down and really personalizing, as you said.

And what I really like about this too is like, if you are right now in that state of mind where you’re like I have not been hitting my new year’s resolution goals or whatever, if you’ve attempted a new habit at any point and you’re like I’m just not hitting it, instead of having the mindset of like well, I’m just going to quit, I’m giving up, it’s too hard, have the mindset of okay, this has been difficult, I’m on the verge of quitting. I need to reevaluate and truly kind of take stock of what is going to be the most beneficial for you that’s going to still give you some of those wins but is taking into consideration where you’re actually at in your life, where you are, how you are handling with current stressors, and sometimes taking a step back and kind of having an easier goal is still going to help you work towards, you know, that finish line.

And even taking that step back and saying, hey, I often say nothing will ever work for me. Right, with the I quit it usually comes nothing ever works for me, no program will ever work for me. Trust me, I’ve done that whole moop pow, feel bad for myself, you know, go sit on the couch thing. And often in that moment, in order to truly move forward and see the results of all, sometimes I have to be like am I just repeating the same pattern? Am I saying I quit, nothing will ever work for me? But is nothing ever working? Because at this point, six weeks into something about six to nine weeks, is where I find I usually fall off, or where even clients generally fall off.

At that point where you’ve worked hard enough for long enough and results, yes, I’ve snowballed, but either you’ve gotten a little complacent or maybe they’re just about to sort of really hit that momentum point right. We give up, we quit before things can actually be achieved. And so I like to assess is this that stick point? Is that this is that hard point where I want to give up, where the challenges are becoming a little more than I truly want? How can I double down on the things that are working to keep pushing through, because often, if we do sort of stop and assess, it is just that hard point in that journey where you’re over that initial motivation. You’ve been doing things long enough, you’ve seen results snowballed, maybe they’re slowed, you’ve gotten complacent, whatever else, but things have slightly slid and you have the opportunity now to sort of refocus, reset, keep pushing forward. But so often we turn back and it is that like assessment and that setback we really need to take to realize that we’re repeating sort of the same cycle.

And sometimes I think it requires an outside perspective to see if you are falling victim to the same cycle that you’ve repeated that has caused you to fall off. Because sometimes, again, we think we know how to do things and we think that we have it figured out and we know, like we know, the basics of, okay, to be healthier, to exercise more, to do all these things. This is what it takes. But again you kind of take your own perspective out of it at it and sometimes hearing other people be like, hey, this is a challenge, this is, this is one way that I stick to my diet or this is one way that I make sure that I am in improving my movement or getting the most out of my workouts, is actually relying on others for help.

I think so often we we want to kind of struggle on our own and I think part of that is we don’t want to share our struggles with others because we feel like we should kind of be able to take care of our own body. But there’s so there’s so many people out there. That just gives a different outlook. So this is really where I think coaching honestly, if you were someone that’s really feeling like you’re really struggling. This is really where coaching comes into play, because that we can. You can get that outside perspective and kind of potentially get new tips that you hadn’t even really thought. Or maybe it was so basic that you’re like oh yeah, I’ll do that, but you never actually do because you haven’t seen it actually put in a plan to work.

It’s hard to trust a change that feels really uncomfortable and we do search for this thing that’s sustainable. But what’s sustainable is what we’ve always done. And if you really think about that phrase, when you look back at something, oh that wasn’t that bad, it’s because you embrace the hard changes. But at the time it probably felt really uncomfortable and wasn’t sustainable. And I think even in that, like looking for that accountability, we need that outside perspective at times, because we’re really good at justifying our excuses. I know I am that that whole. But well, I could just buy, you know. But even with coaching it was actually funny someone posted on there how do you become more coachable? And I, you know, went through different things and she’s like, yeah, this is all well and good, but, right, we put in that.

But to justify almost not making a change, because change is scary, it’s hard, we don’t want to fail, right.

We don’t even sometimes realizing, realize we’re justifying because we are going back to priorities or things that have held us back in the past, realizing that ultimately, still, it’s really our choice as to whether or not we make a change and view something differently. And, you know, take that different perspective, embrace coaching in a new way. Right, and tell you, for me it was a hard thing, oddly, to do after growing up with a lot of coaching, for some reason, you know, as I got into adulthood I was like, oh, I don’t need a coach for this, I can do it on my own. Okay, well, sure, but look at how much time I just wasted when I could have had a cheat sheet. And now I’m like I won’t work with a coach who doesn’t believe in coaching, because I want someone who has that, because also makes you a better learner. Right, it’s more coachable. But it is something where we are very good at justifying our perspective, like it’s a safety mechanism. So if we don’t have that outside perspective, sometimes we can’t see and know what we don’t know.

And I think a big part of getting that outside perspective is and this is probably gonna ruffle some feathers but if your main goal and your only like way of seeing if you’re successful or not is weight loss, I’m gonna say it’s gonna be a lot harder for you because every I have not had a person come to me for help that has said Okay, my goal isn’t weight loss. I’ve never had that like. Even when they’re like Well, I’m not that concerned about about the scale, but I do want to improve. They still are looking at those clients Even are still stepping on the scale and using it as a form of okay, is this working? Is this not working? But the problem is is Rarely, is the skill actually the reason so truly. I think sometimes having that outside perspective Forces you to kind of have some Interpection in her may have said that word wrong but and actually look within to see well, what is the real reason.

Because I mean, of course, like a scale is a good and can be an indicator. But why do you truly want to have a chain? Are you just going for weight or are you trying to gain muscle? Is it really to reduce chronic joint pain and you know if you’re at a little less weight you’re going to have, you’re gonna be more flexible You’re you’re not gonna have as much pain. Is it to have more energy or a body that’s able to do things that you enjoy longer, like hiking, biking, playing or playing? You know, playing with your kids, playing with your grandkids there’s so much more than just the kind of the surface level and I do think, like you know, we talked about that newest perspective of getting in the habit. But sometimes I feel like really getting down to the core, why you’re here or why you initially wrote those changes down. That is going to help you actually stay focused on that goal and Raise.

Recently, for me, I’ve been thinking more of things and I heard it somewhere and I don’t remember I may have been one of our coaches actually said it and it kind of stuck with me on A call, but it’s what are you putting your deposit in for?

So every day you have your, you have that, these funds that you’re given, and you’re either depositing in for your health or you’re kind of depositing, you know, kind of the negative, like you’re putting this, you’re dropping this in kind of the negative bucket, and this has been kind of a shift for me recently, and this is kind of a silly thing.

But I have a race that I want to sign up for and my husband was kind of challenging me because he’s like well, remember, the last two races you signed up for, you didn’t train and you just kind of jumped in, which is true, and I would never suggest anyone to do that, but I felt I felt victim to that and so part of my new year’s thing was like, okay, I’m gonna prove to him that, like I’m gonna be serious about my training and I have like a mileage goal this this month. And it was kind of like every time I get on the treadmill or go out to run, I feel like I’m putting my deposit in for my race, like I was like putting this in so I can buy this race later, and it’s kind of having that perspective with your health in general. You’re putting your deposit in so you can Continue to do things longer that you enjoy, you can continue, continue to have that active lifestyle for as long as possible. I.

Love that visual and I even think that that could be something helpful, where you do your habit and you put, maybe, a deposit in a piggy bank or you put a rock in a jar so that you can see those results accumulating. But it’s it’s Recognizing too that, like what you think your, your goal is, isn’t necessarily the only significance to it. Like even a goal that we might decide is, you know, people say it’s vain or oh, that’s, you know, not that important, it doesn’t impact them any things. Like a lot of times, those do have more significance and the more we dig into them, the more we will embrace some of the hard changes we have to make, which helps us stay more consistent. So really digging deep into your why is very, very important. But then setting those outside things to keep you accountable, right, like you have that habit goal so that you’re training for the race, yes, yes, which is motivational, it’s your end goal. Right, it’s a deadline, which are all great things. But you have those habit focuses each and every week to help you see success.

Because the more ways we measure success, the more ways we have to show ourselves the success we’re actually achieving, versus so often we don’t recognize it and I think even a part of that is so often we run from the negative spot we might have been in right, those before pictures we don’t want to share or whatever else.

And instead of running from them, instead of not wanting to take them, take them and keep them in your rear view mirror, keep that perspective of how far you’ve actually come, because I think so often it’s just like, oh, I don’t want to be here, okay, but that shows you the distance of your progress already, to keep you moving forward, to get more space between it. Whereas if we lose that perspective Like what is the saying? Like if you don’t learn from history, you’re bound to repeat it. Right, we don’t repeat it. So we want to keep how far we’ve gone, to give ourselves that perspective, because it’s very easy to get caught up in just how much further we have to go. So I think the habit goal is the visuals, the reminder where we started, and really owning the significance of what we want is just so freakin key.

Yeah, and it’s like, like we’ve mentioned multiple times, but it’s never just giving up and not having that all or nothing mindset, like you said. Like keep things in your, in your rear-view mirror and but don’t be afraid, if you do backslide, you can always take that step forward, or that two steps forward.

More like a side step right, we make the mistake. Besides step around, we keep moving forward. Life isn’t a video game where you get to start over and Know all the lessons you’ve learned and just go from the beginning fresh, start right. Everything we’ve done prior is still there, so we just have to keep moving forward, learning those lessons to constantly improve. Thanks for listening to the Finisax podcast again. This is the place where I share all my free workout and nutrition tips. I’m never gonna run sponsorships or ask you to buy anything. All I ask in return is, if you’re enjoying the podcast, to leave a rating review or share it with someone you think it might help. This will only take a few minutes and it would mean the world to me and possibly change life of someone you know.
FHP 602 – The Real Secret To Success

FHP 602 – The Real Secret To Success

by | Jan 11, 2024 | podcast

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OPEN TRANSCRIPT

Hey guys, this is Cori from Redefining Strength. Welcome the Fitness Hacks Podcast. This is the show where I share all my free workout and nutrition tips. I’m not going to ever fill this episode with sponsorships or ask you to buy anything. All I ask in return is, if you’re enjoying the podcast, to leave a review or leave a five-star rating or, even better, share it with someone you think it might help. This will only take a few minutes and would mean the world to me and possibly change the life of someone you know.

So let’s jump right in. I was trying to think about what the real secret to building a lifestyle, the secret to success, really was, and in reflecting on it I realized that’s the secret to success: Constant reflection and constantly trying to improve that self-awareness. So when we’re thinking about building a lifestyle, it’s always about assessing who and what we are and what we need to move forward from where we’re at currently.

I think so often we do set that end goal. We set a vision of what a program should look like if you find some ideal but we never actually consider who am I, what do I need, how do I respond to things and where am I starting from currently to set that GPS so I can actually achieve the location that I want to go to.

So if you’re just starting out, if you’ve been struggling to see the results that you want, instead of searching for a new perfect plan, instead of trying to fit yourself into some mold, assess what mold do I really need, based on who and what I am. Focus on building that self-awareness.

I tell clients all the time in the coaching program I don’t even want you to come out of this coaching program so much saying I know how to do this macro ratio or I know how to do this workout and I know that prehab is important, as important as prehab is. I want them to come out having a better self-awareness because they’ve had that outside perspective to question some of their beliefs. Because so often we do get caught up in making the same mistakes, because we’re not really reflecting on why those setbacks have occurred.

We get caught up in looking at things in the same way we always have, because that’s what potentially worked in the past, even if it was a short-term fix. So if we’re trying to build a lifestyle, we have to recognize that things are constantly going to be evolving and changing and shifting and that the most important thing we can do is say, hey, how is what I’m doing right now truly? How am I truly responding to it? How is it truly moving forward? Is it actually moving me forward?

Right? And the more we reflect on how things are truly working, the better off we’re going to be, because then we can say, hey, at this stage of life maybe with it being the busy season of work or busy season with family I can’t do these same things that once worked. I’ve had even clients say you know, like when I was single, I was doing all these workouts and I was going to the gym and meal probably in this way, and now, with the family, it doesn’t work this way. Or when I had kids, at this stage it was different than now being retired and potentially having a lot more free time, where you think it would be easier.

It’s not right, but different stages of life require us to do different things and what used to work may no longer work simply because of those lifestyle shifts. So the more we can assess what we need at this time, the better off we’re going to be.

So through self reflection, we can really learn about ourselves and it’s not just saying, oh well, how do I like this, is this good? Or? Oh, this doesn’t feel sustainable. Right? We have to reflect on both our failures and our successes, and I say both because I think a lot of times we think we’ve reflected on things, but we haven’t truly really gotten into the nitty gritty of why things worked or why they didn’t. And with success, often we blow past it oh great, that worked, we achieved a result. We don’t say, well, why did that work?

Right? So the first thing I want you to sit down and do if you are starting a new program, a new plan, you’re frustrated by your lack of results. You want to see better results is really assess past successes. Why do you think you succeeded in that case? Why did something work for you? Why did that diet feel sustainable at that time, right? Maybe you do say, okay, what was the motivation of the time of year? Or I didn’t have some of the busyness that I have right now.

Think about what your lifestyle actually looked like when you were implementing that program or plan or doing those different things that led to success. What was even your pain of staying stuck? I think a lot of times we don’t think about the motivation that drove us forward at the time, right, that we maybe had some health concerns, or that we really couldn’t fit into our clothes, or that someone else made a comment that really resonated with us, right?

And so the motivation now is different than it was then, which might not drive us forward. Or even thinking about the changes that happen with menopause and the frustrations there. Maybe this pain is very different than the pain when you lost weight before, right? Or even you’re seeing impacts to your mood and your sleep and all these different things, and that is impacting the pain of staying stuck.

So think about these different things, because while we can’t always change the pain of staying stuck, and if that motivation is different, we can’t approach in the same way we can break down the habits, so the pain of change is less. So really assess what drove you forward at that time. How might that be different than what’s driving you forward right now?

And then think about the guidance and support you had. Who did you have in your life that was maybe promoting those healthy habits? Who even led to the sabotage of them, right? But think first about the success, like what drove you forward? Who helped you on your way? What were you reading? What were you looking at? What videos were you watching?

Even what helped lend itself to you feeling motivated and sticking with things through times that were tough. But think about the support. Think about your family, how they contributed, how maybe you’ve let some of those healthy habits even slide and how you can go back to that right. Think about the differences in your life and even your friendship groups that might be impacting things.

But think about what really made you successful in terms of the accountability and support and then think about what was the hardest change. So what was the hardest change that you made? That you succeeded and pushed through the pain of, or pushed through the discomfort of, and got more comfortable being uncomfortable in that way, like, how did you actually overcome those challenges that you saw in the past?

Because as much as we look back and say, well, I succeeded, then you know what’s wrong with me now. There was something that was hard that you managed to overcome beforehand, Even when we look back and say, oh, it wasn’t that bad. Right, there was something hard, there was something different than what you were doing, because in order to see a new and better result, we have to embrace change. So think about how did I overcome those challenges? What were they? How did I overcome them?

And then think would that still be a challenge now? Is that part of why I’ve struggled to see a lifestyle truly built? Is that that was a challenge that I could only overcome short term? So think, would that still be a challenge for you now? Because if it is, and maybe it’s something that you did overcome for a really long time and now you can see, okay, well, this is how my lifestyle shifted, this is how I can overcome this again. You can use that previous knowledge of your success to help you overcome the same challenge or obstacle now. And if you know it isn’t an obstacle now, even better.

Right, you can move forward on to the next thing. But at least we won’t repeat the same mistake, because we’ll be learning from the past and then think how can you use even the lessons that you’ve learned from past challenges, that you’ve overcome past hard changes, to overcome something new now? A lot of times I might be reflecting on okay, well, this is how I really overcame that, not just like, oh, I didn’t eat carbs and I lost weight, type thing, right, but okay, I had the emotional eating problem and you know, with doing this, I made myself more aware of my patterns that I repeated I tried to do distress or prior, so how can I now attribute that to?

Okay, I need to create new systems of my workouts. So maybe I need to write it down because that helped me, and maybe I need to make it conscious that I’m going to my workouts. So I’m going to put an alarm that alerts me, because that visual or that you know reminder right in front of my face really helped make an unconscious pattern conscious, where I’m defaulting to the couch instead of going to workout, right?


So, think about the strategies that you might have implemented with some of those past challenges and how you can even utilize those in different forms to overcome future challenges. Then, think about how you’d meet yourself where you’re at? Because the best changes always happen when we meet ourselves where we’re at currently.

So, how did you break things down to really address what you needed then? Because if you had just been self-controlling and willpowering your way through, those changes probably weren’t sustainable, and that might be something you need to reflect on if that’s why you’re now back in this situation you don’t want to be in.

But think about times you have really succeeded, even if it’s not a weight loss journey or a fitness journey. Think about other areas of your life where you’ve seen the success snowball that you really want in a new area of your life and apply those same principles. Think about how you broke things down to allow yourself to move forward from where you’re at currently. Again, assessing your lifestyle now, like what changes would actually meet you where you’re at. How did you go about making those changes? How did you keep positive mindsets when setbacks occurred? Like what research or learning did you do to help yourself embrace the changes and move forward and trust in the process?

But start to really assess your successes, learn from them. Don’t just blow past them, saying, “Woohoo, good job, I did a habit. Now it’s ingrained, I’m going to keep moving forward.” Think, why do those habits become so easy to repeat? Why are you now looking back at some of those struggles and thinking, “Oh, that wasn’t that bad?” Really assess your successes and then reflect on failures. Okay, I know it’s not fun sometimes to really reflect on why we haven’t seen the results we wanted, why we made that mistake, but the more we can say, “Okay, this is why this happened,” the more we can learn from it and actually leap forward faster. I like to say that failures are just learning. With frustration, they stink. I’m not going to tell you that I like failing, but I can tell you they have been some of the most valuable learning experiences. So I do embrace them as that. You can throw a little temper tantrum when they first happen, but then the second you can go back and reflect on them.

So, in reflecting on failures, think about: Why do you feel you failed? What was the situation that led to the failure? What was the mindset? What were the actions? You know what wasn’t realistic in your plan? Were you cutting out non-negotiables, things you really enjoyed? Were you not owning your priorities? Were you not allowing for changes with changes in the season? Were you trying to only rely on motivation and willpower and not meeting yourself where you’re at? Why do you feel like you failed?

And then think about were you too focused on some ideal? Because I think that happens, right? We see, you know, on social media, especially all these ideals, six days a week, two hours a day in the gym. Do this, this, this, this, this, this, this, this, these bazillion different things. Right, don’t eat this with this, only eat it with that. Right, there are so many details that we can dial in, which is an opportunity, okay, to make things really work for us. But the first thing we need to know is what do we need? Where are we at? Because if we’re trying to force a round peg into a square hole, it’s not going to work. It’s going to be really hard. Maybe we can make it fit for a little while, but it’s not really the right fit.

So, instead of focusing on an ideal, focus on where you’re at and how you can move forward and make better over focusing on just the perfect. And then how would you change the habits you implemented in the past, what habits simply weren’t sustainable or what may have been too much, because sustainable is an interesting word. It might not feel sustainable to start because it’s not what you’ve always done, but you can build up to it feeling sustainable through repetition and consistency. But in order to be consistent with something, we have to be able to do it daily. So if you said, hey, you know, I want to really track macros and I want to track a specific ratio, and every other time you’ve tried to do it, you’ve fallen off within a couple of weeks, well, how did you approach that? Were you trying to force the macros right away and get overwhelmed? Is there something like a minimum of just protein or an increase of protein that you could focus on first, or just tracking to implement that habit? How could you break down those changes to make them less overwhelming so that the pain of staying stuck outweighs the pain of change instead of the pain of change pushing back on you? Think about, you know, how can you even draw on some of your self-reflection in your goals, like I love, setting those strong systems, right, finding the significance, putting targets, creating repeatable actions, optimizing and owning those challenges, setting non-negotiables and then creating that action plan. How can you use your goals to really drive you forward? Or where was there a lack of potentially that, a self-assessment in the past that didn’t allow you to meet yourself where you’re at?

And then, how was your mindset different there from when you’ve succeeded? Often we relate back to only the habits we implemented. Oh, I did this diet plan. Oh, I did this workout right, I had this system that didn’t work Instead of saying, well, what was the mindset difference? Because a lot of times the system was there, even that we could have used, but our mindset wasn’t ready to embrace it. We weren’t ready to embrace the changes. So think about the mindsets you had when you embraced the system, wholeheartedly, embraced the process and trusted in it and gave yourself just over to it, versus constantly questioning, dooming yourself with doubt. But really break down the mindsets behind the differences. You see when you failed with something and implementing new habits and you’ve succeeded because the more you can do that, the more you can say okay, I feel myself approaching these changes, even with this mindset, or I see this mindset creeping in. What can I do differently to sort of shift how I’m implementing things, to work around it or address it right, to save ourselves future struggles?

And then how would you get yourself out of your own way if this is creeping in? Think about, okay, I had this mindset happen in the past when I was implementing these systems. What was it there? So, if I feel that coming back, what can I do? Because sometimes results are an ebb and flow. Sometimes we are going really fast forward and then we have to back off the gas just a little bit. Right, we’re not putting on the brakes, we’re just backing off the gas a little bit, and we almost even do that to keep moving forward faster than if we had to fully push on the brakes.

So think about the mindsets and how you can really help yourself get out of your own way, and even have that questioning in place. I love to have reflection each week, doing all these different things like what really worked for me this week, what were improvements I made, what were obstacles I struggled with. Okay now, in assessing the obstacles, what are opportunities within them, but even put it in place, you know where you have that alert to do this assessment each and every week to help yourself keep moving forward.

Because the simple fact is, the more you know about yourself, the stronger you’ll be because our self-awareness is really our own power to constantly evolve, because nothing is going to work forever, not one macro breakdown, not one workout, and we want to have fun, even experimenting. But the more we own who and what we are, the more we can always address what we need to move forward, because that’s ultimately what’s going to work. Often, we have a lot of great systems, we have a lot of great tactics, we have a lot of great knowledge even there, but it’s taking action on it, and part of how we can take action is better knowing ourselves.

So I want you to think, you know, what’s one thing you really learned about yourself this past year. I know it can be hard to reflect on failures and we can breeze past successes, but take time to really assess one of each. What’s something that didn’t work for you in the past year, in the past month, in the past week? How can you now use that to move you forward faster? And then think, what do I truly need to move me forward? Is it simply action? Because a lot of times it’s not knowing more. It’s action. How can we get ourselves to take action? That’s the key thing. And then what’s an easy change you can make today?

But the more we take time to really assess as awkward as it can be, as hard as it can be, the more we can take directed action to truly move forward. Thanks for listening to Fitness Hacks Podcast. Again, this is the place where I share all my free workout and nutrition tips. I’m never going to run sponsorships or ask you to buy anything. All I ask in return is, if you’re enjoying the podcast, to leave a rating review or share it with someone you think it might help. This will only take a few minutes and it would mean the world to me and possibly change the life of someone you know.

How to Lose Fat AND Gain Muscle At The Same Time (Step By Step)

How to Lose Fat AND Gain Muscle At The Same Time (Step By Step)

by | Jan 2, 2024 | Blog, Diet, Workouts

What should I do first…I want to build muscle and lose fat?

The great thing is…

You CAN do both at the same time!

But how you do that may depend on where you are currently in your fitness and body composition journey.

While you can achieve both goals, you do need to set a primary focus as that will impact how you adjust your diet to start.

That’s why in this video I want to break down two different nutritional approaches to body recomp whether you want to lose fat as you retain and gain lean muscle or you want to gain muscle as you maintain your level of leanness while potentially getting even leaner!

And then I want to share a bonus workout tip to help you make sure your diet and workouts are working together.

Now if you’re thinking, “But I heard this wasn’t possible to lose fat and gain muscle at the same time.”

I’m going to let you in on a little secret…

It is possible.

It just takes embracing something that so many of us want to run from…

A habit so many of us have labeled boring and tedious and hard…

Tracking macros! 

Now before you just write this off and click back saying tracking macros isn’t for you, I want to explain why it is so key and a SIMPLIFIED approach that can yield amazing results…

So that person that has said to you…“You can’t lose fat and gain muscle at the same time?”

It’s probably because they’ve always dieted by just cutting their calories super low. 

They lost weight, but probably often have also lost muscle in the process.

They may have even gotten skinny without really looking more toned. 

So they decide they want to build muscle to get more defined, so they eat in a surplus. 

They end up, yes, putting on muscle. But also gaining fat. 

So they then go back in a calorie deficit, repeating the same rollercoaster over and over again. 

They may try a bigger deficit to lose faster or a bigger surplus to gain.

More is better right?

WRONG.

These bigger extremes may actually lead to their body composition becoming WORSE.

It is because while we can lose or gain weight simply by creating a calorie deficit or surplus, we aren’t controlling for what we are losing or gaining. 

We aren’t controlling for fat loss or muscle mass retention.

This is something we CAN control by adjusting our macros.

And one macro in particular – our protein intake. 

Increasing our protein intake is key.

High protein diets have been the only diets shown to not only help us retain lean muscle but even GAIN lean muscle mass while in a deficit. 

And increasing your protein intake while in a surplus, due to the thermic effect of this macro, can help you avoid gaining unwanted fat while making it easier to build muscle due to the extra energy consumption.

So if you’ve struggled to embrace tracking macros in the past but really want to see those defined abs and arms…

It’s time to start tracking…at least your protein intake!

While in a calorie surplus, you may get away with slightly lower protein intakes than in a deficit as long as you are consuming enough carbs as well as instant fuel, going even higher while in a deficit due to the fact that you’re not really consuming enough of anything is key. 

While you may consume about 30-35% of your calories from protein in a surplus, you will want to bump that to more like 40% of your calories from protein while in a deficit. 

Starting out don’t worry where your carbs or fat fall.

Just first only focus on that protein intake.

Doing this alone will lead to amazing results and you’ll be surprised by how much you see those inches being lost and the definition popping through in your progress photos.

But that high protein really is what yields that body recomp magic. 

So even if you’ve been resisting tracking macros, set that percentage to hit of your calories from protein and adjust the current foods you eat through small tweaks to see results.

Here’s a video that has 7 tips to help you easily bump protein!

But before you decide on exactly what protein percentage to use, you have to determine your calories.

Which should you be in – a calorie deficit or a surplus? 

And that depends on your main focus.

While the goal is to lose fat as you gain muscle or gain muscle as you lose fat, you have to have a primary target.

What is your main focus?

This will be based on your current leanness level. 

Are you currently basically as lean as you’d like and would like to add more muscle while just staying lean? 

Or do you have more weight to lose but really want that muscle definition especially to stay strong as you get older?

If you’re already lean, consider a calorie surplus to focus a bit more on gaining muscle without any fluff. 

If you’re not yet at your weight loss goal, consider a calorie deficit to start to help you lose fat without losing muscle. 

Exactly how great a calorie surplus or deficit you create can also impact the results you get and be based on where you are in your fitness journey. 

If you have more weight to lose, 500 calories is the most extreme you want to go with a deficit below your maintenance. But this is really aggressive and best only done if you have more than 50lbs to lose and aren’t as active.

Otherwise to help focus on losing fat without also costing you muscle, consider a deficit of only 100-300 calories at max. Think closer to 300 if you have over 15 pounds to lose and more like 100-200 if you have less than 15 pounds are are super active!

If you are already basically as lean as you’d like or even as thin as you’d like although you wouldn’t mind more definition, you will want to consider a small surplus. 

Since you don’t really have energy stores to tap into, and you want to be able to push hard in your training to create that progression and stimulus for muscle growth, the extra calories will help you make sure you’re retaining that lean muscle. 

Think 100-200 calories above maintenance unless you’re truly as lean as you’d like and really increasing your activity level – then go 300-400 calories.

Especially if you are just coming out of a deficit, slowly increase those calories only 100 at a time! 

As essential as your diet is to losing fat and gaining muscle at the same time, the best results happen when our diet and workouts work together. 

And without that stimulus for muscle growth in our training, we won’t see our nutritional changes fully pay off. 

That’s why I wanted to share a bonus tip with you about what workouts are best to see body recomp.

Bonus Tip: 

Now you may be thinking, do I need workouts for fat loss or for gaining muscle.

And I had a client even email me recently, “How do I know if a workout is for fat loss or building muscle?”

My email back said, “A good fat loss workout should be focused on building muscle.”

Muscle is metabolism magic. 

Our training shouldn’t be about burning calories in our sessions and feeling destroyed.

It should be focused on building lean muscle. 

We need that training stimulus for growth if our diet is going to have an impact. 

And the more muscle we have, the more calories we will burn during the day, making it easier to lose fat.

Muscle stokes our metabolic fire and helps us avoid metabolic adaptations as we lean down. 

So your training should be focused on building lean muscle no matter your aesthetic goal focus.

Sure if you love endurance sports, you don’t have to ditch them. 

But even then strength training will only help you get stronger at what you love.

So focus on building strength in your training no matter what.

And for a great workout design to help you see those strength gains, check out my 6-12-25 protocol.

–> 6-12-25 Workout Technique 

This is an amazing way to build muscle and strength no matter you age!

Using these tips you can build muscle and lose fat…or lose fat as you gain muscle. 

You can see the body recomp you deserve but you need to TRACK.

What gets measured gets managed so we can adjust and see better results faster!

Ready to achieve amazing body recomp, losing that stubborn fat?

Join my Metabolic Shred!