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I Quit

I Quit

by | Jan 15, 2023 | Blog, Diet, Exercises, Workouts

I freaking quit.

Do you know the #1 reason why we don’t see the fat loss or muscle gains we want.

We simply, STOP doing the habits we need to.

Honestly we’ve all been guilty of giving up right before results truly have time to snowball.

Because it’s hard to trust the process when we feel like we’re working super hard, giving our plan our all, and results aren’t building as quick as we’d like.

But here’s the cold hard truth you’ve got to accept if you want to succeed…

Results NEVER happen as fast as you’d like.

There will always be ups and downs. There will always be setbacks.

Struggles are a part of success.

But that’s why I wanted to share some tips to help you get BETTER results FASTER. 

While we can’t out exercise or out diet time, and there is no magic pill, that doesn’t mean we can’t do things to help ourselves see those wins to avoid wanting to give up. 

And one of the first secrets to success is actually to slow down.

So let me share the tale of the two woodcutters to highlight the importance of slowing down….

redefining strength coaching

Two woodcutters were in a competition to see who could cut down more trees by the end of the day. The first was an experienced woodcutter older in years and the second was a younger, stronger man eager to prove his ability.

Both men set out to chopping. After about an hour or so the more experienced man paused, sat down to take a break and invited the other to join him.

The younger, stronger woodcutter replied, “No way! I’m going to keep chopping and I’m going to beat you.”

“Suit yourself,” said the experienced man.

This pattern repeated itself several times throughout the day.

Every so often the experienced man would pause his chopping to rest,

while the younger stronger woodcutter kept chopping away.

At the end of the day when the two woodcutters compared to see who had chopped more wood, the younger & stronger woodcutter was astonished to find that the older woodcutter who kept taking breaks had chopped a significantly greater amount of wood.

He said, “How is that even possible?

You spent far less time chopping than I did. I’m stronger and never once stopped cutting down trees. What is your secret?”

The experienced man said, “every time I sat down, I was sharpening my axe.” 

Hard work is key to results.

But hard work without direction, without focus, without intention, is often energy wasted.

Too often we just seek to do more in the gym. 

Restrict foods while searching for magic fat burning option… 

When really it’s about learning and dialing in those basics.

It’s even about doing the MINIMUM at times.

It’s not about effort it’s about efficiency.

Trust me if it was about EFFORT, I’d have lots of people in far better shape than me…people that train twice a day for hours a day and eat only “clean foods.”

While I sometimes do progressions that are 3 days a week and 30-40 minutes while enjoying my cocktails and desserts. 

But sometimes we need to scale back on how frequently we train, the length of our sessions or even how much we do in terms of adjusting our nutrition simply so we can stay consistent. 

Because that consistency often adds up more quickly than trying to do more in less time while burning ourselves out.

So don’t be afraid to PAUSE, assess and learn. Don’t be afraid to take time to plan.

Often by even THINKING about what we can do to consider the outcomes can save us a ton of time going in the wrong direction.

And then this even comes down to EMBRACING THE HARD.

I see it when it comes to our desire to avoid tracking.

And trust me…I get it…

I legit tried so much to avoid tracking because it seemed hard and overwhelming and tedious and boring. I even tried the potato diet.

I didn’t understand it so it felt complicated and like it wasn’t worth the effort.

But ultimately in my attempt to avoid the hard, I wasted a ton of time and effort.

I held myself back for so long avoiding the challenge of learning…and even struggling through it.

But there truly is no way around the hard.

All we can do is start by breaking things down.

What’s one small change you can make today?

Can you simply list out what you ate?

Can you start to measure out portions to see how much you’re actually consuming? 

The more we can break things down, the more we are able to make changes that don’t feel as hard, but that let us build up to fully embracing the new habits.

But just realize there is no way around that learning process if we actually want to create new habits.

And then remember, you didn’t create your current habits, lifestyles, physical conditioning overnight and you won’t get changes overnight either.

Our body and brain doesn’t like change.

It wants to maintain what it feels is normal – what it’s been TRAINED to see as instinctual and natural.

And yes I do mean TRAINED.

We get good at what we consistently do!

Our body wants to maintain your current weight and will fight the weight loss process. 

Your brain likes your current habits because they are easy. 

So as much as 3 or 4 months is a long time if you have been working to see results, consider how long you’ve actually not been at your goal.

How long you’ve been implementing other habits…

Because often when we take this step back, we realize we’re expecting basically overnight changes in comparison to how long it took us to get away from our goal.

So as tempting as it is to say “I QUIT” when results aren’t adding up as fast as we’d like, recognizing how long you’ve actually been making changes for in comparison.

And realize that this cycle, quitting right at this point is what you’ve ALWAYS done.

Results take time to snowball

Maybe you’ve only lost 1 lbs. But 1 pound will become 2, will become 4, will become, 15 will become 50…

And the more you lose and the longer you keep it off the leaner you look. 

But every time you quit, you doom yourself to keep losing and gaining the same few pounds.

Sure you’ll fluctuate as life ebbs and flows over the year and years, BUT I see my results when I focus in get better and better, not only because I’ve LEARNED as I’ve gone and focused on efficiency not effort…I’ve embraced the HARD, but also because I’ve simply stayed consistent and let time do it’s thing. 

That’s why you haven’t seen the results you want.

If you’re about to say I QUIT, double down and keep going.
make changes.

Don’t do more, just keep at those habits, learning and tweaking.

But don’t give up!

And to help you avoid making 8 of the most common weight loss mistakes I see clients making, I’m sharing those tips HERE!

Why You’re Not Losing Fat (3 Step Plan)

Why You’re Not Losing Fat (3 Step Plan)

by | Dec 26, 2021 | Blog, Diet

Are you being honest with yourself?

It’s not that we intentionally “lie” to ourselves about things, but all too often we are looking back at our habits with rose colored glasses.

We miss the inconsistencies.

We let hard work be mistaken for training with purpose.

We’ve focused on doing MORE over following a strategically designed plan and systems.

As much as we want there to be a magic pill, there isn’t one.

And there is no one magical move, magic macro ratio, magic ANYTHING that is going to give us instant results.

That’s why I wanted to share with you the main reason I feel we so often don’t see the results we want and how to overcome it, but I do just first want to remind you how important it is we take that step back to honestly assess.

It’s easy to get caught up in how we “feel” we are doing.

But feelings aren’t data.

Especially because we CAN actually be working really hard and not seeing the results we want.

Working harder though doesn’t translate always into CONSISTENCY with that hard work though.

Too often we are “good all week” only to end up falling off on the weekends.

And that inconsistency can really add up.

One day can throw you out of a deficit if you’ve been trying to create a smaller deficit throughout the week.

Missed workouts, when you’ve DESIGNED for a specific schedule, can really add up.

We need to be honest with ourselves and our implementation of systems.

It’s why tracking to give us that outside perspective can be key.

This honest assessment can also help us stick with our plan for long enough for results to add up.

Because simply not sticking with something for long enough is truly why we most often don’t see the results we want!

We simply can’t out exercise or out diet time.

And so often we give up on a plan or program before we’ve truly given results time to build.

Sometimes we’ve even seen results but don’t feel like they are happening fast enough so go in search of another, faster, fix.

And this constant hopping from thing to thing is what prevents results from snowballing.

Because often when we don’t “feel” like things are happening, they are!

And over time those small changes build upon themselves to lead to big results.

So if the true problem is that we don’t get consistent with something and stick with it for long enough, how can we help ourselves actually commit to a plan long enough for time to work its magic?

Here are 3 tips to help you stay consistent and give results time to snowball:

#1: Give yourself end dates.

We don’t do well with “forever.”

Not only does it lead to us often not feeling motivated to get started, but it makes it easy to slack when there is nothing driving you to have a specific result by a specific time.

If you think about the times you truly were the most committed, it was when you had a big event you were working toward.

By setting those end dates we motivate ourselves to fully commit and commit until that day in time.

We can then, at that point, reassess how everything is going.

Even if you don’t have a big event you’re working toward and you know your ultimate goal will take awhile, set strategic end dates to give yourself a chance to assess how everything is going.

If you know you’re going to stick with something until that point, it will make it easier to even trust the process and not be looking to change things up before then.

#2: Set goals that aren’t just your ultimate goal and track progress toward them.

Many of us have been told we need to set habit goals. We need to celebrate completing the boring daily tasks that we know we need to do if we want to reach our ultimate goals.

But it’s hard to stay motivated by these simple tasks, especially after you do them for a week or two.

That’s why you want to set goals you know will complement your ultimate goal while being quicker to complete or see progress toward.

If you have 50lbs to lose, and you know you often struggle to stay motivated to go to the gym, set a gym performance goal.

What is one move you’d like to be able to do?

Would you like to be able to lift a certain amount? Run a certain distance? Cycle at a certain pace?

Set a performance goal that you know will motivate you to want to do the habits that will lead to faster progress toward your weight loss goals!

Then make sure to track your progress with a set plan in place!

You need to have that clear progression to know what is and isn’t working and then you want to track your progress toward your goals so you can see those changes over the week!

That progress forward will help keep you motivated to do what you know will lead to your other goals as well!

#3: Stop the all or nothing attitude.

Often in our desire to see results faster, we try to do a billion things at once.

We try to work harder and do more over finding something sustainable we can do long-term.

If you want to help yourself stick with something long enough to see results, you need to honestly assess your lifestyle, needs and goals and base your routines and habits off of them.

As unsexy as small changes are as they don’t often lead to the immediate earth-shattering results we want, they are what ultimately add up to the greatest results long-term.

Too often we overestimate how much we can accomplish short-term and underestimate what we can accomplish long-term with consistency.

So as much as you want something now, realize that attitude is what has ultimately lead to you never sticking with something long enough for results to truly snowball.

Yes you see those dramatic results, but then you also see that quick plateau or weight regain.

Find ways to make small changes based on what you’re currently doing and even at times embrace doing the minimum when you otherwise would do nothing!

Remember that it isn’t just about going full steam ahead when times are perfect, which, let’s face it, with life they often aren’t.

It’s about also finding ways to be BETTER than you would usually during the times you aren’t motivated and can’t do the perfect plan.

SUMMARY:

So often we hold ourselves back by simply not sticking with a program long enough. And then we also start to ignore the inconsistencies that happen.

Take an honest step back and reflect on what you’re doing.

Then set some end dates to constantly assess your programming and keep you motivated while allowing results to build. In each of these time frames, outline some performance goals you know will keep you consistent in those habits and working toward your ultimate weight loss goal. And then embrace doing the minimum. Be realistic instead of feeling like it has to be all or nothing.

Remember, you simply can’t out exercise or out diet time!

Eat the foods you love, train with a routine that fits YOUR busy lifestyle, and see the fabulous results you deserve…It’s that simple! (Note that doesn’t mean “easy.”)

LEARN MORE…

–> The RS Formula And 3 Pillar System