For every NOExcuses Challenge we have a mantra that we go by for the duration of the challenge. It goes - “I’m not perfect, but NO Excuses.”
Have you ever started something that you buckled down and were consistently doing well for a streak of time, only to be abruptly stopped by an unexpected life event, work event, or something out of the blue?
Many use the term - “Falling off”.
What’s interesting about “falling off” is, when that happens we tend to believe the lie that we failed the thing that we were pursuing before the unexpected event happened.
Can I be honest with you though?
Falling off for one week, two weeks, even a whole month should not be the reason you can no longer pursue that thing.
Now, when that thing is bettering your health, that’s what we call a non-negotiable - non-debatable topic.
What I mean by that is, the only way we become or stay healthy, is by making the choice on a daily basis to make a lifestyle of healthy habits and decisions.
In this guide you will learn;
How to re-define the term “Falling off”.
What expectations to set when you make the commitment to make it last FOREVER.
How to identify the things that need to be prioritized when making that commitment?
Identifying what stage of change you are currently in and where you need to go to next. (Transtheoretical Model of Change)
How to build an Exit Plan to never have to worry about dieting again!
So you may be asking, why do I feel like such a failure after I “fall off”?
I wish the answer was something that could quickly fix that issue, but I am ethically bound to tell you the truth. And the truth is, it’s going to take you redefining what the term ‘falling off’ means.
So, let’s start there…
How to re-define the term “Falling off”.
When we start a dieting journey or workout program, we are mainly driven by motivation, inspiration, and maybe some external circumstances as well.
Every client that signs up with NOExcuses is given an initial client intake form to fill out. In this form we ask the question - How would this decision change your life?
We ask that question for the intended purpose, of turning your external drive to act now into an internal desire that will sustain you when the external drive wears off.
I heard someone once say, desire outweighs motivation. 🔥
So when we use the term “falling off”, we are simply exposing that there isn’t a deep enough desire to stay consistent with whatever the goal is.
When we don’t have a deep enough desire, we will eventually run into a problem when trying to pursue a goal that requires a deep desire in order to fully succeed.
Take a second and reflect on this question before you keep reading -
How will accomplishing this goal change your life?
Here’s some examples we’ve heard from clients on their intake forms;
“My goal is to improve the quality of my life. Be more active and not restricted by my weight or physical condition.”
“I want to reduce or eliminate any and all medications (cholesterol).”
“Fit into clothes, increase confidence/energy levels, improve overall health and eating habits.”
“I want to feel more confident in my own skin and clothes and know that when I look in the mirror I am happy with how I look. I want to be able to have mindset that I can eat the dang donut and still lose weight,”
“I want to love who I am, I want to live a healthy lifestyle. I want to be a better example for my kids. I want to go shopping for clothes that are cute and look good on me, and stop settling for what fits.”
What expectations to set to make it last FOREVER.
Ok, now that you’ve found a desire to place behind your decision, let’s talk about the things sitting right on the other side of the decision, just waiting to take you out.
Things like; failure, shame, doubts, mistakes.
The first step in starting this journey is recognizing you are not in this for the short game.
Nothing GOOD that lasts a lifetime happens over night.
This is a marathon not a sprint. The sooner you recognize that, the more likely you are to stay on track and continue to pursue your goal to its fullest degree.
Having grace and patience on yourself and the things that happen in life on a daily basis will be a massive discipline to learn along this journey as well.
When we lack grace and patience, we are bound to experience shame and doubt.
The key to maintaining grace and patience is by having a realistic expectation of how long this will take, and what capacity your life currently has, in order to prioritize this commitment over other things.
The goal with any program we make for clients is with the main thought in mind; We are not changing our lifestyle to fit a diet, we are shaping a diet to fit our lifestyle.
Shaping this diet to your lifestyle may require you to experience short term sacrifices but ultimately for the long term gain.
What if I told you, if you prioritize your diet fitting within your lifestyle the right way for 1 full year, you’ll never have to feel like you’re prioritizing it again for the next 60+ years?..Would you do it?
That CAN be a reality.
When we take the time to investigate our body and figure out; How we function and feel our best. What fuel is required to help us be at our best. Then, we can fully grasp the why behind what we’re doing.
How to identify the things that need to be prioritized
Now you may be asking, What are those things that this commitment needs to take priority over?
There are certain eating habits that you’ve developed over time (either purposefully or not) that have you feeling stuck.
I remember recognizing my habits for the first time during my transformation.
When my grandmother was alive, our family had Sunday dinner every single Sunday and we would get the best home cooked 17 course meal you could imagine. Our grandmother would start cooking on THURSDAY in preparation for Sundays. Legit.
My habit was basically to “starve” myself during the week and then completely eat myself into a food coma on Sundays. No joke, I was probably consuming nearly 4,000-5,000 calories just at Sunday dinner alone.
That example is what I mean by bad habits that may need to change in order to reach the goal you want to reach.
The moment I started seeing real results is when I committed to prioritize - “If I can’t weigh it, I don’t eat it.”
Some may say that’s a toxic mindset, but that was my mindset for a season in order to get the result I was trying to get. And it worked!
Most of the time we aren’t intimidated by the bad habits we currently have, we’re intimidated by the unfamiliar feeling of what it takes to change those habits.
The beauty of this whole thing is, now being on the other side of that season, I no longer have to live by - “If I can’t weigh it, I don’t eat it.”
I need you to understand though, that is ONLY because I took a period of time in my life and made that the standard.
What I started to learn about myself and my habits, helped shape my diet more into a lifestyle that was less harmful, and more freeing.
What is the Transtheoretical Model of Change?
One of the final pieces to this puzzle of overcoming failure is recognizing what stage of commitment you are currently in.
Without nerding on you too much, I want to share a perfect graphic that depicts the - Transtheoretical Model of Change.
This model is defined as - Change is a process with multiple stages. And during some of those stages, it won’t “look” like anything’s happening.
It’s the idea that change is a multi-step process with distinct phases.
Check out this graphic to help clarify what I mean;
Assessing where you are in that process can help you with having grace and patience like we just talked about. Every person will have different needs depending on which phase they’re in.
So take a moment and identify where you realistically are at this current moment.
Once you know where you are, immediately text your coach and tell them which phase and they will be able to better educate you on what that phase means and give you some reflection questions to think about.
If you don’t have a coach, we still want to help. Click here to book your free 15 minute strategy call with one of our coaches to help you with this.
How to build an Exit Plan to never have to worry about dieting again
FINALLY, The last thing you need to understand about this journey of overcoming the fear of failure is knowing the exit plan.
With every coaching client at NOExcuses we have a final win together in their program called - Lifestyle Integration.
This is where we talk about periodizing nutrition and understanding when the sacrifices need to be made throughout the year in order to see the results, and when you can allow yourself more flexibility. What can we do to ensure that all the hard work it took to get you these results doesn’t go to waste in a year from now?
So, take time right now and develop your exit plan.
What does that exit plan look like for you?
What does the life ahead look like for you once you reach your desired goal?
How do you envision going about your lifestyle with a diet that works specifically for YOU?
Unfortunately, this isn’t something you can put into practice and see results the next day. But you didn’t make the decision to better your health and expect not to have to make some changes, right?
As always we want you to reflect on these questions and would love to hear how this has helped.
Please be sure to reach out to us on Facebook or Instagram DM’s to further help you reach your goal.
We’re here for you. We’re rooting for you. Anything you need you know where to find us.
Always remember, N🚫 Excuses! 👊🏼
