Week 3-4 is a hard time for nearly everyone on the program. The gloss wears off, reality starts to creep in, and newly formed habits start to become difficult. We have to begin to push ourselves harder to acheive the same goals and all of this combined means a lot of people give up. For this reason, Mish has posted some fantastic advice to help us to stay motivated and to re-connect with the program. Everyone will do this differently but I have decided to blog my thoughts and ideas as I re-focus and re-connect!
Reflection
I want you to reflect on the three main areas where you are having setbacks. It could be around dinner time portion sizes, eating after dinner, skipping breakfast, skipping workouts etc. Let’s face it, we’re pretty predictable. What you had trouble with yesterday, I’m guessing you’ll struggle with today. Whatever area’s you are struggling with. I want you to write down:
WHAT - it is you are struggling with (eg overeating at dinner)
I am struggling at the moment to stay on task, to attend my gym sessions and complete the workout (even when I do go I cut corners!), and to stick to the 1200cals. I tend to eat family meals and even take-out is coming into play. I am also doing nighttime snacks (a sundae, a block of chocolate, and a bag of chips) which is not good!
WHY - this is a problem (It means my daily calories are blowing out, and my weight isn’t changing)
Both of the above! I am stuck at 55.9 and I so want to get below 55kg - the goal is under 50kg eventually but for this round I wanted to hit 51kg.
HOW - are you going to fix this? (put a fool-proof plan of action in place, such as a filling afternoon snack, pre portioning the leftovers in correct portion sizes, cleaning teeth as soon as finished, and a healthy dose of willpower flexing!). If you are having trouble thinking of ways to fix, post it in the forums, chances are your fellow family members will have some top suggestions for you.
Fixing it comes firstly down to a bit of JFDI. The times for my gym sessions are realistic and doable for me.. heading in for a 9am to 10am session is the earliest I can get there, and trying to go later just increases my chances of being 'too tired/sick/lazy'. Food wise, I will put some time in tomorrow to get some meals frozen for lunches - I have been able to get over my aversion to frozen meals and have been having my soups so I reckon it is a good start. I have my set snacks.. bodybalance bar, yogurt, baked beans, boiled egg.. but I think I need to expand my options! I also need to meal plan so the meals we are eating, I can have my reduced calorie version (and a high calorie version for underweight members of the family!).
Recognition
I want you to recognize how far you’ve come in four short weeks. For some of you it’s evident in your body shape. Scales are going down, measurements changing. For others it’s physical achievements in your workouts. What is hard to measure but even more important is your head space changes. Even if they aren’t consistent yet, I want you to write down:
WHAT - are the main head space changes you have noticed (eg I play the victim/blame game much less frequently, I have a JFDI attitude etc)
I think I have had a major breakthrough this round with my mindset. I battle with perfection every day and this round I am really let it go. I think being asked to be an ambassador has helped so much, to be recognised as being a positive member of the group even though my weightloss has not been significant. I love that I can now say that it is okay that I skipped the a few workouts this week - I haven't failed, I am not destined to never achieve my goal, I just had a bad week and next week will be a great one!
HOW - is this affecting your life and/or how you feel (I now feel in control, I am less moody etc)
Well, I think it is affecting my life in a very positive way. It is improving my confidence beyond what I thought possible. I don't need to be perfect - that takes so much stress off! I will always keep my expectations and goals high, but I know that I can still acheive my goals without killing myself trying!
WHAT - can you do to ensure these head-space changes keep occurring (eg keep re-setting my goals, keep learning Mish’s lessons etc)
The forums really are the best place to get your mind-set lessons. Often I find that it is helping others - in trying to explain myself, that I begin to understand my own mind and why I do things. Honestly, I never even realised I had let go of my perfection until I was responding to a thread and trying to help someone by letting them know that is okay to 'fall off the wagon' because there is no wagon. It is just life, and sometimes it is messy, but you just keep going. And I think the same goes for answering this question.. these head space changes will keep occurring as long as I keep going. We can't help but grow and learn as long as we keep moving forward!
Re-Commitment
This is the clincher. Whether you’ve flown or flopped thus far, I want you to re-set your new one month goals, and re-commit to me, to your loved ones, and most importantly to yourself.
WHAT - are your new one month goals. You may even need to adjust your 3,6,12 month goals (write them down in the My Mission section above)
One month goals.. I'm going to walk/run up Mt Archer tomorrow, and again in 2wks, and again 2wks after that (Weeks 4, 6, and 8) and improve each time. I want to stick with the L&S program and follow it as best I can, but forgiving myself if I can't do some of them. I am also going to drop 2kg quickly and easily over the next month! And I will move up an ab stage at some point - even if it does kill me!
HOW - are you going to get there (plan your calendar for the next few weeks, from shopping, cooking to workouts)
This afternoon I will do my meal plan for this week and shop tomorrow including doing some frozen meals for lunches. I will check over the exercise plan, setting up my schedule for this week (the exercise plan is monthly so I should be doing the same thing for 4wks) and will schedule in my mountain days! I need to make sure I am under 1400cals, as close to 1200cals as possible.
COMMIT - Look yourself in the eye in the mirror and re-commit. Take it day by day, meal by meal, workout by workout. Remember it’s the tiny little decisions every day that are the important ones. Get on top of these and you’ll be on-top of the world!
I can an will do this. Dropping the kilos is the most important thing, followed by getting my weights up. I want to stick with the program as long as possible - I want to L&S this round, then 2 round of L&F, and another round of L&S - hopefully at which point I will have enough fitness to really build muscle and be a contender for a placing! I can and will do this!
No comments:
Post a Comment