If you want to lose weight and keep it off for good, you’ve got to face some cold hard facts…

As much as we like to just get excited about a new goal when we are motivated and even tell ourselves that it will be “easy,” to help ourselves embrace the change, this actually sabotages our long-term success.

Because there will be challenges. And the more we can prepare for them, the better off we will be!

#1: You get good at, and used to, what you consistently do.

Results come not from what we do every once in awhile, but what we do daily.

However, what feels natural is also what we’ve trained our body and mind to see as natural.

Often we have to UNLEARN old patterns and habits before we can learn new ones.

For example, you may find you can track for a few weeks and then fall off. At some point, you have to push through this hurdle. You have to acknowledge the hard and believe your goals are worth the sacrifice.

#2: There is no ideal plan.

One size doesn’t fit all.

What worked for you before, may not work for you later.

Because we are constantly evolving – our bodies, needs, goals and lifestyles are constantly changing.

So in order to create the perfect plan or you, you have to know where you are currently at to accurately adjust.

Meeting ourselves where we are at allows us to make small changes so we aren’t dependent constantly on willpower.

So we don’t get overwhelmed.

So we can actually create habits that stick.

It helps us create a lifestyle so we then think, “Why didn’t I do this sooner?!”

#3: Your body fights the weight loss process.

The longer you’ve had the weight on, the longer you haven’t been at your goal, the harder the process will be because your body doesn’t like change.

And then as you try to get your body to even do something it’s never done, lose those last few pounds for instance, it is going to rebel more and more.

The longer even you’ve been dieting, the more you’ll start to feel things adding up.

Realizing this and planning in other ways to measure success, or even strategic breaks, is key!

#4: It’s going to be boring and hard.

The things that work aren’t the sexy 1% tweaks. They are the boring basics done daily. And at times, it will be hard to want to do them.

We never want to do what we should 100% of the time.

BUT these things are what allow us to enjoy life in the way we want.

These are the little sacrifices we make to do more of what we love!

#5: Your mindset matters most.

You can have the exact macros you need, the exact workout plan in place, but if you don’t implement it, if you don’t trust in it, you’re not going to fully use it and see results.

Too often we doom ourselves with doubt.

We have a plan that would work, but we just don’t fully take action or trust in the process long enough for results to build.

We doubt it will work and then we don’t truly make the changes consistently but convince ourselves we have so we give up when we don’t see the results we feel we deserve.

Even sometimes causing ourselves to fail because we’ve done MORE…which, in our head, feels like it should have worked out better.

But if you’re going to do a program, DO THE PROGRAM.

Believe in it and expect to LEARN even if you don’t hit your exact goal as fast as you’d like.

Because often, as skeptical as we can be, we can ultimately see better results faster when we go all in and do trust the process knowing we will get something out of it no matter what!

Talking to Sarah – she’s like…

“It didn’t get easier this week! You lied!”

And I said back, “Did you use a harder variation? Did you finish the workout faster?”

She said…“Yes.”

“Then it DID get easier.”

With training, you will ALWAYS feel challenged, because you’ll always be reaching for that next thing.

But you’ll see the progression in how far you can run and how fast you do it…or the weights you can lift for more reps…

But no…it never FEELS easier.

We are just stronger, fitter, faster, more confident…

I don’t share this to be negative but I think this delusion that things will at some point be “easy” holds us back…because it makes us ignore how much more we can do…

Whether in the gym or other areas of our life.

And even habits that do become fully ingrained…well we don’t always want to do them!

This isn’t a bad thing either.

It’s just a fact.

It’s why you…

#1: Always want to track progress to truly see progression and not let “feelings” derail you!

#2: Focus on tracking all the different ways you’re growing!

#3: Recognize that feeling MENTALLY tired can be a reason to take a diet break, switch ratios or even use a de-load week. Just because we CAN push through doesn’t always mean we should.

#4:  Sometimes embrace doing the minimum to stay consistent.

Realize that strength doesn’t come from NOT doing hard things…it is built going through the hard.

And pushing those limits never feels easier, but you are able to handle more!

Want to achieve amazing results and reach your goals?

Recognizing where you’re actually starting from!

Create your beastette origin story…By recognizing where you are, you can map out accurate changes to achieve amazing results. And you can motivate yourself by taking ownership of your priorities and even what has caused you to not see results in the past.

To write your origin story, consider these questions…

What does your current day look like?

What are key parts of your lifestyle?

What do you struggle with?

Why do you really want a change?

Where do you feel the negative impact of your situation currently?

What setbacks have you had recently making you want to see a new and better result?

Why is the pain of staying stuck worse than the pain of change?

TELL YOUR STORY!!!

For more on building your beastette story and creating the systems to reach your goals…

–> My STRONG Systems (and workbook link in video description!)

 

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Have you ever considered the power of some of the words you use?

I know many of us have read and listened to things discussing how important the way we speak to ourselves is…

But often that even misses the little words that really change our mindset most.

Honestly the power of words is why I will always say “Act as if” and never fake it till you make it.

We don’t realize even sometimes how we are framing things until we see the changes they create.

Or realize the mindsets holding us back.

When I first started out as a trainer, I could have easily said I was faking it.

When someone asked if I could help them with (insert any countless things I hadn’t yet worked with as a newbie trainer), I always said I would find a solution.

And guess what?

I did.

I dove into the research, staying up late on a Friday night with a textbook even on the couch. Following and questioning fellow trainers till they probably felt like I was a mosquito they wanted to squash.

But I learned so much because I never turned down the opportunity.

I honestly never saw it was faking it.

Which is when I realized what I was doing…

I was acting as if.

I was embracing the habits, routines, experiences, lifestyle of someone who would be in the position I wanted to be in.

And that realization paid off in so many areas of my life.

Because as simple a tweak as it seemed to rephrase the thought this way, I realized how much more positive it was.

With “faking it” you didn’t believe you were this thing or necessarily even could become this thing. You weren’t growing into the role. Seeking to live it.

You were FAKING it.

Acting as if though is all about truly doing what is needed.

It changes your perception of your behaviors.

And this lead me to assess other areas I felt small changes to how we thought and phrased things to ourselves could really pay off.

From this, I found two 3 letter words that had oh so much more power than we recognized.

Two 3 letter words that could both detract from our success or encourage us to pursue our goals.

The first word that I found had a big impact is…

BUT

A friends says, “You look fabulous!”

You say back, “Thank you! BUT I have so much further to go.”

So often we put a BUT on accepting a compliment. We put a BUT on our success.

Part of this is in our head to not be bragging, but ultimately what this does is take away from our hard work and wins so far.

It puts us down.

It focuses only on how far we have to go.

And then we wonder why we aren’t happy with the journey. Why we can’t see our own small wins as they add up.

It’s because we always see the BUT in everything.

As tempting as it is to qualify your success, catch yourself next time you go to and just say…

“THANK YOU! I’ve worked really hard to get here!”

Recognize that you’ve put in the work to reap the rewards.

And if you choose to include BUTs when talking to yourself, only use them with your failures.

“Yes, I didn’t hit my macros this week BUT I did do all of my workouts!”

Use but to not detract from your wins but even help you recognize them.

We have to remember we can always reframe things with how we speak to ourselves.

And our thoughts become our actions….whether we realize it or not.

As cliche as the line is…whether we believe we can or we can’t, we’re right!

The other word is…YET

Guess what?

There are lots of things we all can’t do….YET!

And I’m not saying you’ll choose to or want to achieve every goal out there.

And I’m not telling you not to be realistic.

But too often we talk about a goal we want to pursue and say we “can’t” do it.

Maybe a 4 minute mile isn’t in the cards for you.

But why not at least give yourself the respect to realize you can improve!

If you catch yourself saying you can’t do something, put that positive on it. Give yourself the respect to attempt to move forward by saying YET.

I can’t do a pull up…YET.

I can’t hit my macros…YET.

I can’t fit into my fabulous black holiday dress…YET.

Because there is always room for growth. There is always room to improve.

We just haven’t gotten there YET.

But respect you can test those boundaries and prove so much possible if you give yourself the chance.

With YET we take something “concrete” and give ourselves the opportunity.

We can always improve.

Give yourself the chance to mentally by just recognizing you may not be at your goals YET!

SUMMARY:

The language we use with ourselves…well…we hear everything we say to ourselves, positive or negative.

And it makes an impact.

Those beliefs impact how we act.

Changing how we speak to ourselves can go a long way.

And if you want to see just how often we aren’t talking to ourselves like we would a friend, really listen to what your friend is saying to themselves and how you battle against their beliefs.

Really consider if you would be saying what you are to yourself if you were a friend encouraging growth.

I’d love to hear what words you realized were holding you back from embracing your greatness. I’d love to hear you tell me what goals you haven’t achieved YET but plan to while sharing a BRAG without a but about how far you’ve already come! Comment on my Fitness Hacks Blog Post or message me on Instagram or Facebook!