What now feels like many moons ago, I attended a Tony Robbins course and to this day there are things from that weekend that I will never forget.
One of them was an exercise on the art of “trying”.
You can do it with me now!
The Art of Trying
All you need is to find an object sitting close to you….a pen, cup, your glasses…whatever.
Do you have one close by? Great.
All you have to do is to “try” and pick up that object.
Did you try?
Or did you actually pick up the object.
Now put it down and do it again.
“Try” to pick up the object.
This time most people don’t pick it up at all.
Try = Being Stuck
It very quickly becomes clear that you can either pick up the object or not pick up the object, but to try is another word for simply being stuck.
I dont know about you, but when I am feeling stuck in some aspect of my life it feels very defeating.
As human beings our brain is wired to see progress, to feel like we are moving forward and accomplishing.
When we are ‘trying’ to do something, like “trying” to find time to exercise or “trying” to stick to an eating plan, it typically means that we are not moving forward and instead are standing still, feeling stuck and frustrated.
Make a Conscious Break
In working with people for many years I find this is a hard time of year for people to lose weight.
Let’s face it, our summer is short and this is the time to go and enjoy vacation, trips to the beach and those summer ice cream cones.
This is why multiple times per week I have this exact same conversation with my clients.
Instead of feeling like you are trying, but mentally or physically feeling like you are not able to execute, why not take a planned and conscious break and then regroup when you are feeling ready.
What Does This Mean?
However, what I will say is this does not mean that you can completely throw your eating and exercise habits out the window.
What it does mean is that you are going to make the conscious choice to maintain your weight for the remainder of the summer.
On maintenance mode, you can have that ice cream cone or indulge in that pizza party without feeling guilt because you are making the conscious choice.
When people are able to do this, they come back refreshed and ready to start again.
They don’t have the guilt or frustration that comes with “trying” to stick with something when you know that life is going to get in the way.
They come back and are “all in”, moving forward and accomplishing their goals.
Regroup and Take a Step Back
If you are feeling frustrated with your lack of progress, it may be time to regroup and take a step back.
See if you can shift your focus away from “trying” to just consciously maintaining.
Decide how many weeks until you can shift your focus back and then find some accountability to be able to do so.
For example, “I will start back on September 8”.
Your accountability may be that you have signed up for an exercise class in September, or you and your neighbour are going to start walking again or you have booked an appointment with someone to help you on your weight loss journey.
It is also important to be keeping some regular eating goals in place to make sure that you maintain your weight.
It is harder on your system to continue to lose and gain weight than to never have lost it in the first place.
I lay out some weight maintenance strategies for you below!!
Enjoy your summer, and remember maintaining weight is just as much of an accomplishment as losing it.
Weight loss is a billion dollar industry because people have become proficient at losing, and not so great at maintaining.
There is nothing wrong with your journey being slow, and taking breaks along the way to deal with “life”.
Just make sure that you are not gaining and losing the same 10lbs over and over again!!
Wishing you continued progress and success….
Tips for Weight Maintenance
- Have protein every day for breakfast – eggs, or an omelette, or a protein shake, or greek yogurt and berries.
- Keep moving – this is a great time of year to get active. Try a new sport, go swimming, go for a hike, ride your bike.
- Make sure to pack healthy snacks wherever you go. When you are hungry, you are more likely to make the wrong food choices. Grab some simply bars or nuts and seeds and put them in your purse at all times.
- Plan out your week, and decide when you will be indulging. Let’s face it, this is a social time of year. For some, if they let themselves indulge at every meal out it would for sure result in weight gain by the end of the summer. Plan what meals out or social functions you have at the beginning of week and decide what you are going to have. For example:
- Tuesday I have lunch with Mary and I will stay on track
- Wednesday I will take my granddaughter for ice cream and I will have a cone
- Friday we have a potluck and I will have a glass of wine and piece of pie.
- You are more likely to moderately indulge if you have a plan
- Pick yourself up and keep going. We are all going to have setbacks, or times where we
feel that this hurdle is insurmountable. The most important thing is to take one day at
a time and if you have a big blip…pick yourself up then next day and start again! The
more times you practice getting on and off track the easier it gets.