Overcorrecting… 

You know when you’ve done too much of something so in an attempt to “correct” the situation you almost go overboard the other way?

Yaaaa we’ve all been guilty of it when it comes to our diet…and even our workouts….

We go on vacation. Eat “too much” on a weekend day….

So to “make up” for the overindulgence, we seek out a cleanse or try to cut our calories extra low or try to do extra cardio to burn everything off.

And I get this logic.

Trust me I do…It was my logic for the longest time.

Eat too much?

Eat less the next day and do extra cardio so the calories average out and you create more of a deficit to make up for the surplus.

Because we know that weekly, monthly, yearly averages add up.

So in theory, eating too much one day should mean eating less the other day to “make up” for it.

But it’s not that simple and that binge/restrict mentally becomes a horrible cycle.

Honestly the biggest issue is that we are telling ourselves that we are “bad” and should feel “guilty” for enjoying life and having fun.

We then PUNISH ourselves the next day.

Sure if you’re not as hungry, which you may not be after a cheat or calorie surplus, LISTEN TO YOUR BODY.

But don’t consciously restrict extra to make up for it.

Honestly, if you want the best way to move forward after a vacation or “cheat day?”

Just get right back to those healthy habits the next day.

Don’t do anything more.

JUST MOVE FORWARD.

I think the biggest mindset shift we need to have is realizing…There is nothing to correct.

You just need to get back to it.

And trying to restrict more, do extra, to make up for it leads to an overcorrection that all too often sabotages our results long term.

The more you try to restrict, often the more you mentally rebel. No one likes feeling like they’re being punished.

So stop the guilt. The restriction as punishment for having fun.

Realize it’s all a balance.

Enjoy the day and then move forward back at those healthy habits without guilt!

What we do consistently really adds up. And creating something sustainable is ultimately about our MINDSET!

To help you get right back on track, here are 3 tips:

#1: Have a plan and food prepped!

If you’re going on vacation, just know exactly what you plan to do when you come back. Have meals prepped and frozen. Or even have groceries purchased and frozen for quick prep.

But know exactly what you’re going to do to get right back on track.

Having that plan of action can help us bounce right back.

Not to mention when we almost PLAN to enjoy or know how we are planning to handle those times we may not be as consistent, it makes it so much easier to jump right back into those healthy habits. 

#2: Have “comeback” ratios.

While we want to avoid anything to punish ourselves, it can be good to have ratios you “feel” like you get faster results on. This can help you jump back in to see results quickly while also not doing something in “retaliation” against yourself.

The faster we do get right back into the swing of things, the more we can minimize any “damage” that may be done.

It can help us not feel guilty and maintain that positive mindset to move forward.

So think about those ratios you feel the best on. That you FEEL like you get great results on. It may be the mental “security” you need to feel like you can strike that balance and enjoy but also know you’re going to be able to move forward with no worries!

For me these are often slightly more “cut” ratios so I can feel like I didn’t miss a beat but I also still feel fueled and fabulous and not like I’m being punished.

#3: Admit to the mindset.

Too often I think we have gotten so in the habit of something, we don’t even realize what is driving us to do it.

We don’t even realize we are overcorrecting when we are restricting the next day or wanting to slash our carbs lower or fast when we don’t normally. 

We don’t realize the mindset driving us to do these things.

So I think it is good, when we find ourselves wanting to do “more,” to question what is driving our actions.

Is this because we just truly want to experiment and find a balance? Is it just us testing new things as we get everything dialed in?

Or is it that we feel “guilty” and want results faster….even knowing we can’t out exercise or out diet time truly?

Questioning our motives can be good when we’ve found ourselves in that slight binge/restrict mindset…when we know we feel guilty for eating off plan.

We want to constantly be assessing so we can learn and grow!

SUMMARY:

Use these 3 tips to help yourself avoid overcorrecting and instead just keep moving forward.

We have to remember we’re never really starting over in life…we’re just moving forward and learning as we go!

Gaining muscle can be HARD. There are also those of us that tend to struggle more than others.

And it only gets harder as we get older because we can become anabolic resistant and we don’t utilize protein as efficiently or effectively (just another reason increasing our protein and tracking our macros is key!). 

That’s why I want to share 4 tips to help you dial in your diet and your training to get the best results as fast as possible.

Now note, I didn’t say rush results, because gaining muscle, especially if you don’t want to gain a ton of fat, is a slow process.

Because both our diet and our workouts need to work together. 

While we may be able to lose weight without training, training is KEY to drive muscle hypertrophy.

So here are 4 tips to help you dial in your routine to get those muscle gains!

4 Tips To Improve Those Muscle Gains:

Tip #1: Don’t Fear Carbs

You want to make sure you have more energy available, more instant fuel when you train, to help build muscle more efficiently and aid in your recovery process.

That’s why increasing your carbs may be key.

They help your muscles repair and rebuild.

So consider a slightly higher carb ratio during a muscle gaining workout progression.

OR if you find you just don’t do well with higher carb ratios, really focus your carb intake around your workout with some protein.

You just want full glycogen stores so you can really push heavy weights and perform your best. 

Because you have to really push progression in your training to force your muscles to rebuild stronger.

You also want to replenish those stores right after your training to make sure you’re able to efficiently rebuild!

If you are scale sensitive, recognize you may find you fluctuate more during this process as you can gain weight just from fuller glycogen stores and the water weight you retain as you store glycogen. But this is a key part of the process and not fat being gained!

Tip #2: Create a SMALLER surplus

To often we go a bit crazy with the surplus and use “I’m trying to gain muscle” as an excuse to eat whatever we want.

And not only do we eat far more calories than we need but our food quality also tends to dip.

Don’t use this as an excuse not to track. 

Also don’t use this as an excuse to create an extreme surplus. A little goes a long way.

Because you just need enough to repair and fuel the new muscle and increased resting metabolic rate.

And that doesn’t increase as quickly or as much as we often eat like it does.

The bigger the surplus you create, the more fat you’re later going to cut.

And when cutting, unless you go slow, you’re risking losing some of the muscle you worked so hard to gain.

Better to dial in that smaller surplus while tracking your macros to start to focus on more pure muscle gains…aka less fat gain as you “bulk.”

And if you’d really like to avoid gaining fat, you may even choose to start eating at maintenance calories instead of a surplus.

Because that may be enough of an increase since a diet high in protein, even while eating in a deficit, has even been shown to allow for gaining muscle as you lose fat!

Tip #3: Stop Turning Your Strength Workouts Into Cardio (TAKE THE REST)

Many of us have heard we should cut out cardio if gaining muscle is our focus. 

And that does make the process easier.

However, often we then create these strength workouts that eliminate all rest and ultimately end up being CARDIO.

You do not need to be lying in a sweaty heap on the ground to build muscle. Actually, you may find you get better results if you DON’T do this.

You may find you include MORE rest between rounds or sets or moves.

Because rest allows us to recover so our 100% intensity stays more at 100% intensity.

To build muscle, we want to be able to progress movements as much as possible, even working down in reps as we increase loads.

While we can create more metabolic strength routines if our goal is to gain muscle while avoiding gaining fat, we do want to be conscious of the rest we include and our ability to progress with loads, tempos or movement variations.

Whether you go higher reps, with what will be lighter loads or lower reps with heavier loads, no weights should also ever be light.

If it challenges you, it will change you. But you always want to feel like you’ve “maxed out” at the reps you’ve stopped at while giving yourself time to recover to push as hard the next round!

Tip #4: Use Training Frequency To Your Advantage

Studies have shown that actually training a muscle group more frequently over the week may be super key to better muscle gains.

But to do this, you often have to do LESS each session and even mix up how you drive muscle growth.

You can’t seek to be sore and beaten down from each session.

You may have to adjust the volume of your workouts and even the types of moves and tools you include.

There are 3 drivers of muscle growth:

• Muscle Tissue Damage
• Mechanical Tension
• Metabolic Stress

While muscle tissue damage type movements like traditional barbell squats and deadlifts are key, they can make you more sore and create more muscle tissue damage. 

You may not be able to do them as often during the week.

However you can still work your legs and glutes more frequently during the week by using those other drivers of muscle growth.

Focusing on those mini band moves or squat pulses or hip thrusters can allow you to add in multiple training days without just constantly beating yourself down so you’re sore while even getting you better results because you’re using all three drivers of muscle growth.

But just remember ever session doesn’t need to, nor should, leave you feeling destroyed.

You want to focus on increasing that training frequency over doing more in a single session. It allows even for more QUALITY work over the week.

And then create a clear progression so your body can adapt and not be sore. This will allow you to actually create more clear progression to see those results add up.

If you just constantly randomly string things together, you’re putting yourself at more risk to constantly be sore since NEW alone can make us sore.

SUMMARY:

If you’ve been struggling to really see the muscle building results you want, make sure you’re implementing these three tips.

And if you need help dialing in your training and your macros to match your needs and goals, check out the link below to my Macro Hacks!

–> Macro Hacks

There never really is “balance.”

Life is a constant balancing act.

We are always learning how to improve things and I think there will always be times we steer too much in one direction.

We’re human after all.

But part of mastering “balance” is realizing it will be a continual work in progress.

So how can you help yourself strike more of a balance over going to extremes…which…..let’s face it, is far easier especially when it comes to our diet and exercise routines?

Well that’s why I want to share these 4 tips to help!

#1: Focus on your current lifestyle.

It is easy to claim we’re an all or nothing person. It’s easy to go to those extremes in an attempt to get faster results. 

We cut out any “bad” food.

We set a workout routine that is 6 days a week with two-a days.

It’s easy to take that initial motivation and do as much as possible.

But that’s also often why nothing works….long term.

We never find that balance!

That’s why it’s key we stop just restricting or trying to rush results. Instead when we make changes, we need to stay focused on what is realistic for OUR current lifestyle.

What does your schedule actually allow for so that you can base your training off of that?

What foods do you want to enjoy long-term so you can find ways to map them in?

The more we actually consider our needs and goals when making changes, the more we can actually find a balance that will work…not lead to us working really hard only to fall off in weeks or months when the motivation fades.

#2: Add slowly.

Often when you add too much all at once onto your plate, you overwhelm yourself, which can ultimately lead to you not even truly getting started…or at least sticking with things long term.

Change itself is hard.

So as much as we want instant results, the slower we can make the changes the more we will truly allow ourselves to create new habits.

Motivation fades. The reason we ultimately keep moving forward is because things have become natural.

The smaller the adjustments, the quicker they just become part of our routines.So to build momentum, start with small, easy changes. Even if they feel ridiculously easy or even silly to start.

The more you do, the more you do. So start adding slowly to build those changes. 

#3: Take time to step back.

It’s easy to get caught up in the moment and even ignore all of the progress we’ve made. This can lead to us doing MORE, which unfortunately can ultimately backfire.

It’s key we take time at points to step back and reflect on how everything is going. To reflect on the progress we’ve made and the changes we’ve implemented.

By taking that bird’s eye view of things, we can see more changes we’d like to make while recognizing the progress we’ve already made as well. Because often we ignore those results as they build because we aren’t “there yet.”

Recognize your hard work as it builds. 

It will help you strike that balance and even accept there will be ups and downs…times you’re more or less motivated.

Everything goes in seasons, and that is a-ok! We can let ourselves have times we just maintain over always driving forward. It will help us move forward more long-term!

#4: Constantly assess. 

With taking that step back at times, don’t be afraid to assess.

I know it can be hard to take an honest look at how we are doing, and even recgonize our flaws, but that hard look at everything can help us avoid going to extremes.

It can help us see if we are being as consistent as we feel we are….or if we’re actually working harder over smarter.

It can even help us tweak as our needs and goals change. 

Nothing in life stands still…and neither should our nutrition or our training!

SUMMARY:

Life is a constant balancing act.

Progress will never be linear but the more we try to go to extremes, the more we hold ourselves back from creating a sustainable lifestyle.

We can’t always control what happens, but we CAN always control our attitude about what happens.

We can see it as an opportunity or an obstacle.

It’s all about our PERSPECTIVE.

So instead of dwelling on the event you can’t control, focus instead on what you can do….and that means CONTROL YOUR PERSPECTIVE.

However, this is easier said than done.

That’s why I wanted to share 3 tips to help you shift your perspective and see obstacles as opportunities.

It’s key we do this so we keep moving forward through the ups and downs that are bound to occur!

3 Tips To Help You Turn Obstacles Into Opportunities:

Tip #1: Reframe the situation – It’s a detour.

Instead of seeing a “failure” or a “setback” as the end of the world, realize it’s merely a detour. You’re merely learning a way not to go. Or heck, maybe you actually found a way around another speed bump or issue!

The point is, you need to see it as a part of the journey.

It was part of the learning experience that will help you continue on your way.

By doing this, you give yourself a moving forward mindset.

Because we have to remember that whether we believe we can or we can’t, we’re right.

Assess what happened. Assess maybe what lead to the off plan trip. Then use that information to help yourself move forward…potentially even faster!

Tip #2: Plan and Track.

So often obstacles lead to us throwing our hands up in frustration because we don’t know what caused them and we have no plan to help us get back on track.

The frustration we can feel without direction often puts us in a more negative mindset. It makes the setback or slip up or obstacle feel even more frustrating than it has to.

But when you have direction? If you can even see what happened in your tracking and logging? You can more easily make tweaks.

Give yourself a plan. Yes deviations from it will happen, but it gives you direction and a course of action to keep moving forward. And then by tracking what is and isn’t working, you can make accurate changes!

So often we can control our perspective when we feel more in control of what we are doing. And having a plan does just that!

Our thoughts impact our actions but our actions also impact our thoughts!

Tip #3: Control what you can control. (From your attitude to your action)

The simple fact of life is…stuff outside our control is going to happen.

So when it does, we should focusing on controlling what we can control.

Again you can’t change events, but you can always control your reaction to them and your attitude.

So control what you can control.

Focus on pausing to breathe and assess the situation. That can help you shift your perspective and your attitude. Then take action focused on moving forward over dwelling.  

But stop focusing on something you can’t change. That will only build up the obstacle.

If you instead focus on adjusting your attitude and the actions you are then taking, you can embrace those events as opportunities to learn and grow!

SUMMARY:

We can see things as obstacles or opportunities. The choice is ours. Because those events? Well they happened.

Use them to grow!