Recently, I was approached by a couple to help them with a goal. In fact, this is a common goal for most of the general public. While this may be common for people in my field, there is a major difference in how I approach this particular sensitive subject. Certainly not a subject I take lightly.
If you come to me, and you are looking to lose weight or lose fat, I am not just going to put you on a plan. Wtf kind of answer is this? It's an educated answer. It's an answer that someone who truly cares about the services they offer and the health of their clients. Through a series of initial questions, I am going to ask you several more detailed questions and dig a lot deeper. How deep? DEEP. Between in person meetings or online meetings, we need to investigate this process and how you ended up in this current unhappy state of health. Thinking you are getting a diet plan from me with an instant quick fix isn't my style and it isn't maintainable.
Your initial information will be studied and we will meet again to go over your specific why's. Why is this important to you? Why are you doing this?
Why, if you have had previous attempts did they fail? I need to understand the why's. I need to understand life at the present moment in a pandemic, how your support system is and what work life or school life or your social life is like and what your current stresses are. Dieting is a stress. Though you may think you are ready for a lifestyle change - your body may not be. Read that again - your brain may say "I'm ready" - but the body may not be. The body is always seeking balance, being on a diet 365 days of the year is not balance - it's no way to live - and it's not necessary and it's not sustainable. At this point, I am sure you can't wait to talk wellness with me...
Lots of people tell me they are ready to change, very few are. When you come in and you tell me you need to lose weight and you are stuck on number - all I see are red flags, lots of them. I will uncover your issues through thorough investigation. Your history will show why you failed or why the method you used failed. The most common failures are the "fitness hacker or influencer" who sells cleanses, pills or shakes or special women only programs or labelled diet trends "keto/paleo/lowcarb/weightwatchers/intermittent fasting/iifym/bullshit". Sound familiar? But there is also, this need for women specifically to hit this "happiness number". I am sure you heard this before, I was so happy at "enter weight here" - and I call bullshit. You are the type who is always looking at the glass half empty and using materialistic things for happiness. They don't exist. Your happiness wears off like makeup. Until you drop the tunnel vision, until you finally learn how to heal and get out of your own way, you will stay in a diet mentality. This is a self-sabotage mentality and usually has poor coping mechanisms and anxiety that keeps you stuck in a harmful cycle.
Luckily, for this couple, they are ready for change and their bodies are in a good place to implement permanent lifestyle changes. (after several meetings and health disclosures) Read that again. It's a permanent lifestyle change. It's real foods, food they picked. What? It's not chicken and broccoli and grapefruit and low carb high fat everything? We don't believe on depriving you or putting you on some trendy diet that will have you in a yo-yo cycle. The scientific research shows that diets do not work. More than 95 percent of people on a diet fail, they go on to re-gain all the weight lost and then some. Anyone can follow a program and eventually they will fall off plan, they never truly learned to truly change OR they stayed in this place for far too long unknowingly. (There is so much more I can say here about bodies fighting back to restore balance but that's a long subject for another blog)
Our Warrior Wellness plan is set up to provide you with the tools to make this a lifestyle plan.
We help you create behaviours and new habits. These habits and behaviours breed structure and consistency. We check in with you to keep you accountable. We help you be accountable to yourself. We focus on specific things on the journey that have nothing at all to do with a number. When all is said and done - there are so many other victories from a lifestyle change to celebrate than a number on a scale. There are different phases to this lifestyle plan throughout the 12 week plan. When this is complete, you are moved to another cycle of this plan. I would say the second phase of the plan is where the terrain is more challenging. Losing isn't the hard part, maintaining is. If you truly change you will learn to embrace the days that suck and you will learn from them and take them forward. Constantly changing and adapting and using tools to navigate forward.
I'd love for you to meet Youri and Angelina. They are recently engaged and are getting married in August of this year. Angelina works full time and owns Divine Beauty. A Health and Beauty business that specializes in Eyelash Extensions, Brow Lamination and a Training Academy coming soon. Youri, works full time and also has his own Sport Agent/Management Company. They are also both heavily involved with church and volunteer activities in person and online. They both have busy families and they are planning a wedding during a pandemic. They are focused on improving their health together before they get married. They are trying to give themselves the best possible start and it begins with their health. Wanting to be in the best health mentally and physically before they start their life together and consider bringing babies into the picture. I am honoured to help people that want to put their future and the future of any offspring first and foremost.
We will be spotlighting them in the next 12 weeks during their lifestyle change, sharing their trials and tribulations moving forward. I'm not looking for them to be perfect. I am looking for them to be open to learning this lifestyle plan and adapting to each day and learning from each experience that comes up. I'm looking for them to learn and for them to be consistent. Nowhere does it say they have to lose a specific amount of weight in a specific amount of time. We are looking for slow and steady and sustainable progress.
Change is hard. It is hard mentally and physically. Most of the time the beginning sucks.
I will be here for them to remind them why they started and to help foster their new behaviours and habits moving forward. It's not about the number, the numbers will change. It's about accepting responsibility and respecting your body. It's about taking care of your body today but also your future health. Using deprivation and extreme measures is a sure way to fail. You deserve to have a healthy relationship with food, not one of constant struggle.
Stay tuned. These lovely people just took a big step into their future and for their health.
Different Breed.
Warrior Up!