Alternative viewpoints for when you're feeling "stuck"!
Looking at things from different points of view can be incredibly helpful when it comes to problem solving.
The other day I made this post on my Instagram. The sentiment is that when/if we’re ever feeling “stuck” in our process, taking a second to look at alternative points of view can potentially help us adjust and move forward. (And, in this case, “process” can refer to anything… food, fitness, finances, or working towards any goals you may have.)
The reality is that there will likely be something that comes up that causes us to get stuck or feel like we’re on a plateau. It’s just not realistic to believe that progress will always be linear in the direction we’re trying to go. Kinda like this:
So, with this all being said, I thought it’d be helpful to give a real life and personal example of how I’ve used alternative questions like the ones in that Insta post. And, for the record, I completely understand that gaining some weight is certainly not the biggest problem in the world, AND I’m sharing this story as an example of looking at any problems or feelings of “stuckness” differently.
This was my problem:
At the beginning of 2020, I lost my job as a fitness coach at a local gym. Not only was this an incredibly emotional experience, but it also led me to do far less moving during the day, and also removed my access to the gym that I had relied on for my own fitness for years.
Add to that, the pandemic! We’re all home… moving significantly less, using my singular dumbbell as my only form of weights/fitness equipment… officially starting and setting up my own nutrition coaching business… learning about what taxes I have to pay as a business owner… how to reach my clients when I no longer see them in person… My partner’s kids were living with us, who needed to be guided through school work all day long (thank god I have a background in education and had some tools to support them… bless all of you parents or caregivers out there who went through this incredibly demanding period of life!). You get it. And I imagine many of you experienced a similar set of challenges over the last 2 years.
I’m not looking for sympathy or anything like that, and I know some people had it way worse than me, merely setting up the situation that led to me gaining some weight, feeling very uncomfortable in my skin, and many of my clothes not fitting.
Here’s why I was struggling with it:
Technically, I don’t REALLY care about what the weight on the scale says, but I do admittedly use it as an indicator of comfort. And, generally speaking, I feel my best, fit into my clothes, and can do the physical stuff I want to do in the gym in a known weight range. And, seemingly all of a sudden (although it’s never really like that), I had gained 10 pounds. I was avoiding certain clothes or outfits that used to make me feel comfortable. There was a bunch of stuff that straight up didn’t fit anymore. Bottom line is, my confidence was super low and I wasn’t feeling comfortable in my skin.
At first, I thought, just go back to tracking your macros (which I hadn’t been doing for a while because I was having success and feeling fine with a more intuitive approach and it was working with the level of activity I was doing, but then that activity level and intensity shifted, and my food didn’t shift with it). So, I set myself some new numbers, and did just that.
It went well for a while… and then I would forget to track some meals, I would eat things and not track them. And then I was confused why I wasn’t seeing the progress I wanted. I am the nutrition coach… I understand food, I know what foods allow me to feel best, I understand portions… and I was unable to coach myself. That made me feel even worse.
Here’s the question I asked myself:
So, okay. I needed to shift my approach or my thinking around this. I decided to ask myself one of the questions mentioned in that post. It was: How would {x type of person} solve this problem?
I filled that in with a few things:
How would {a person open to help} solve this problem?
How would {another fitness/health professional} solve this problem?
How would {a confident person} solve this problem?
I’m definitely an “I can do it by myself” kinda person, sometimes to a fault, so that’s where that first one came from. I was also considering what others in my profession might do in a similar situation. And then thought about what a confident person might do, because I certainly wasn’t feeling confident at that time.
Here are some of the ideas I came up with:
Idea 1: Stop tracking all together and see if caring less would actually be helpful.
Idea 2: Work on increasing confidence in myself regardless of my body composition.
Idea 3: Hire a coach of my own!
Here’s what I did:
I decided to go with both ideas 2 and 3!
To this point, I got off my high horse and accepted that I needed some help and hired a coach of my own. You know, an outside source that I could be accountable to, who could guide me, and that could make recommendations and suggestions to me, because that’s way easier to listen to than when you’re “instructing” yourself!
I was reluctant to do this because I really do believe that I know what I need to do, but there still was a missing piece around accountability and follow through that I was missing in trying to coach myself. AND, isn’t this the piece I help people realize all the time when I talk about the potential benefits of hiring me as a nutrition coach??
Here’s where I’m at now:
So, it’s been two months now and things are going and feeling MUCH better. It took a minute to get back to tracking but it was super eye opening to realize that I had been slacking on protein and eating more fats/carbs than I thought… as is true for so many of us! I’m now more comfortable in my clothes, feeling better and fitter in the gym, sleeping well, and eating enough to support my needs and feeling full! And, of course, I’m prioritizing water, protein, fruits and veggies, and managing treats and alcohol!
For me, at this point in my life, this level of accuracy and work on my food was critical for allowing me to feel better overall. Will I track my food forever? Certainly not. But with all the changes that I experienced last year, I needed a little support and perspective to bring me back to center.
Bottom line here is not about weight loss or tracking food. Certainly weight loss is not everyone’s goal, and tracking food is not for everyone either. The point of this post is to invite all of us to look at things with a different perspective to see if that supports us in supporting ourselves. So, make note of these questions and take some time to think/write about them next time you’re in need. Feel free to save these images or screenshot this for safe keeping ;)
And, of course, reach out if you need help… I’m here for you!
Xoxo,
Sara