It’s SO frustrating
My 8 month old is experiencing frustration at the moment because she’s very close to learning how to crawl
At the moment she can pivot, roll, twist, shuffle and shimmy backwards
She just can’t crawl forward yet
The thing is, we know that she’ll eventually figure out how to do it and all the frustration would’ve been forgotten and would’ve been part of the journey towards learning how to do that, and bless her, she just keeps on trying even though it’s clear that she’s finding the whole process just a bit annoying
I don’t see this behaviour often in adults who want things to change
I have talked to lots of women who really struggle with fat loss and lifestyle change and they say that they are frustrated and perhaps have been frustrated for years or decades ……
…..but when it comes down to it, they aren’t willing to work through the frustration and figure out a way to get what they want
They either start the process of doing a boring and/or restrictive programme OR they don’t get started at all!
Frustration is not an enjoyable feeling and I totally understand why people would give up when things aren’t going the way they hoped or expected
But without that perseverance and without that consistent daily effort, the goals simply won’t be achieved
The way that I work with people in my personal training is to build a set of lifestyle habits that really suit the individual person
For some people that might mean going to the gym three times a week
For other people that might mean walking 8000 steps every day
For other people that might mean booking into a Zumba class and going swimming once a week
It might also mean some simple nutritional changes for example
- Drinking more water
- Eating more vegetables
- Eating more protein
- Discovering your soul foods (things that make you happy)
How this looks is a really personal thing that has to be designed around your lifestyle challenges, your commitments, your work and anything else that has an impact on your time, energy and motivation
And a BIGGIE…. a mindset has to be developed where you take the bad with the good
On a fat loss journey, you might not lose body fat every single week, the number on the scale might not go down, the body measurements might not change…. but you still have to believe that the positive lifestyle changes are moving in the right direction.
In an ideal world, we would make simple changes, with minimal energy or thought process and have a consistent weekly progression
But we don’t live in an ideal world!
We live in a world where we work long hours, we have to juggle work, children, cleaning, caring for parents, kids hobbies, cooking, cleaning, commuting, homework….the list is endless eh!
We live in a world where we are drained and tired and finding the motivation to make changes is REALLY HARD and …….. FRUSTRATING
And finding away to achieve your goals around all of this is not actually going to be straightforward or easy
If you allow the frustration to take over, and have an ‘on again, off again’ relationship with your lifestyle habits….you won’t be able to implement the consistency that we need to get the results that you want
I’m not talking about spending MONTHS on a restrictive diet here…I’m just talking about consistently showing up to do the basics
- Moving your body daily in a way that suits you
- Consuming tasty food that gives you energy
- Drinking enough water to be properly hydrated
- Going to bed at a reasonable time so that you get enough sleep
- Managing your stress and schedule so that you have some calm moments
- Regularly doing things that make you feel happy
When we figure out what these things look like in your lifestyle and remove the barriers and any resistance that you are feeling….your goals really aren’t that far away!
I can’t promise you that there won’t be some frustration, but when you get a good handle on the basics, you will probably find that frustration is MUCH easier to deal with and doesn’t end up wiht you stamping your foot and saying ‘I quit’ (I’ve definitely done that before!)
Drop me a line if it’s a good time for you to embark upon some changes
I can promise you 100% that what we implement will not be painful, restrictive or boring – because we are going to create it together based on the things that you tell me that you like to do :-)
Nicola <3