If you’ve been following my progress for my “Get OUT of shape / Get BACK INTO Shape Challenge”, you know it’s been quite a journey.
If you’re not familiar with this challenge then head to the following posts to get the full rundown on it:
My 12 Week Crazy “Let Myself Go” Experiment… It Ain’t Pretty
My furry baby Arnie passed away… And my get back into shape experiment
My First Week On the “Get Back Into Shape” Experiment
Post Week 1 Photos of the “Get Back Into Shape Experiment”…
Ok, moving on…
I’m taking my next lot of photos next week.
Due to my pelvis injury (non-training related – you can read about that here) I had to take nearly two weeks off training.
I did include two sneaky tiny workouts in there… LOL… but for the most part, I’ve had to be pretty careful and focus on rehab.
And of course I wanted to ensure that I could still walk Louie and Mayson everyday. I don’t want them to miss out due to my injuries. They love their “walkies”.
I’m pretty impressed with my results so far. And continue to shock myself – as I was dead set sure I would plateau while taking this two week “rehab / sabbatical”. Luckily my nutrition has helped ensure that I kept my metabolism firing. WOOHOO!
I know you’ll be impressed with the results also.
Looking back over this whole “Get OUT of shape / Get BACK INTO Shape Challenge”…
The last thing I ever thought was that I’d have to go through all the stuff that has taken place over the past months.
I’ll be really honest in saying I’m not sure if I could do this “Challenge” all over again.
HOWEVER I’ve learnt some amazing lessons from it.
And I want to share some of them with you to today…
1. Stop comparing your body to others…
When you’re used to being in shape and then you purposely do a challenge like I did to get out of shape… you forget the mental side effects of that.
Then BAM, it hits and all those awful insecurities wash over you.
Knowing where I can be physically and seeing where I am now, even though I’m getting great results, I’ve found myself looking at other people’s bodies and feeling pretty down about my mine.
Wishing I could have my old body back NOW.
So I’ve been turning the whole body envy thing into inspiration.
And looking at it like this…
“WOW, look at that awesome body, I appreciate the hard work that goes into it and know that I’m making progress, despite the issues that have cropped up.”
Staying focused, grateful for the results thus far and what I’ve learned, gives me the opportunity to inspire myself and others who are going through the same “stuff”.
I’m unique.
My body is unique.
I’m making it happen and being the best version of me, not the best version of someone else.
Knowing that each hour, day and week that I put towards my efforts, brings me closer to my goals.
And that my goals are sooooooooooooooo close now, only weeks away…
2. Keeping your goals realistic while still dreaming big
I see people making the following mistake all the time… that’s creating goals to achieve a sexy defined body, but doing it, using goals that will guarantee their failure.
Maybe it’s a safety / comfort thing so they can say “oh well I can’t do that, I’ll just quit now”. “Or I knew it wouldn’t work”… after just a handful of weeks… so it makes them feel ok about quitting.
Truth is, they knew it wouldn’t work right from the beginning because they were expecting overnight crazy ass goals that deep down they knew they couldn’t reach.
In fact, for some people, I’d even go as far to say that they may not genuinely want to reach them, if they’re going out of their way to make them so difficult. Self sabotage.
So this is what I do… I hope this helps you too…
I have specific monthly goals for myself. I aim for smaller specific changes in appearance and measurements.
I don’t expect to look like a figure competitor in 3 weeks, or even 6 weeks. I went out of my way in the “get out of shape” challenge to lose heaps of muscle and pack on bodyfat. And I’ve got injuries.
Yes, I still have a big end goal, no doubt about that.
But I know it’s going to take a few extra weeks to get there.
SO WHAT? What’s a few extra weeks?
When a few extra weeks of effort can make such a big difference to your results.
I also keep a visual in my head about how I want my own body to look each month. A little leaner around the waistline. Bringing up my shoulders, so they’re a bit fuller and defined. Adding more muscle to my legs and butt, sculpting and shaping them.
And giving myself small estimates for measurement reduction around my waistline.
I’m not worried about anywhere else as I’m wanting to develop lean muscle. My waistline and my lower abs are really high up there when it comes to reducing body fat.
3. Not jumping the gun with food and training…
If you’ve ever purchased a program that’s 100’s of pages long – just for the instructions, full of jargon and stuff that you don’t really care to know about, you know what it’s like to quickly scroll through it, to the end, and then think “holy crap, this is way too much work, screw that! Maybe I could just try the end part of it and see if I get results with that”.
You start to read through that part, but give up before you finish getting through the 4th page… because you’ve missed all the groundwork for it, so none of the advanced stuff make sense.
(Which is one of the reasons why I created the Ultimate YOU Dream Body Program to be simple to understand and super quick to get started on).
I’m just like everyone else, I want fast outcomes.
Even though I designed the Ultimate YOU Dream Body Program specifically to create results fast, I still know what lies ahead for me in it, and have been super excited about getting to the end stages of it…
So believe me, when I say, I have most definitely been tempted to skip ahead. LOL
But I’m wise enough to know how my body works. And I know that I’m not going to get the awesome defined toned body I truly want, if I take shortcuts and cut corners. I don’t want to jeopardize the process.
Especially as I’m already getting great results from it.
I’ve promised myself I’ll take it step by step, so I can get the best end-result possible, no matter what my situation.
4. Holding yourself accountable…
Yes, I hold myself accountable by logging this and sharing this with you.
But I also need to remind myself, that what started off as a challenge to prove a point, has now turned into a personal challenge.
I’m no different to anyone else in that I have mind games that go on in my head.
Yes I have days where that little voice says “oh, don’t worry about exercising today, you can get away with it” or “I don’t feel like exercising today, it’s cold / hot and I am tired / exhausted”… or “I should do —– (whatever it is) first, then get onto my exercise later in the day”…
Rather than focusing on a reason not to exercise and not to consume foods that I know are going to bring me the best results…
I remind myself why it’s important for me do this. And all the awesome ways it’s going to impact my life.
And I visualise that picture in my head… what that life and body is like. And that’s it very much within my reach.
I’m not perfect, but I am committed to my dream body and committed to showing my clients and this awesome community what can be achieved, even when life throws curve balls at you.
Warm regards and hugs…
