Fairly frequently my clients exclaim “I need you with me 24/7”
Well, a client and dear friend got that ‘opportunity’ recently when she stayed with me for a week. The week saw her give up the belief that a) Kate doesn’t eat (!) and b) that weight loss is about starving yourself & being miserable.
So in the interests of sharing with you a sustainable, enjoyable & effective approach to getting lean and staying lean while maintaining both sanity and great energy… here’s a run down of some of the decisions I make on a regular working day and more-so the mindset tricks & tactics that allow me to make these decisions.
It’s nothing ground-breaking, because if you’re looking for a quick-fix-silver-bullet, my best advice is give up on Easy! You could waste a lifetime bouncing from one easy yet ineffective approach to the next. Reconcile yourself to the fact that Effort is required… that fat loss is simple – its just not easy.
We make it complicated by hunting for the next best approach to avoid paying our dues rather than just knuckling down & doing what needs to be done.
Quick disclaimer. I’m not saying my approach is best, or right, or the only way to do it. Some of the ‘beliefs’ I have may not even be true – HOWEVER, this approach is effective because it gets me the results I want and it can for you too.
Ok. Onwards with ‘A Day In The Life Of An Effective Fat Loss Mindset’…
=> My day starts the night before. I plan the day to come so I’m hitting the sack with a clear mind & ensure I get to bed 7 hours before I get up.
=> Up at 4.30am. As soon as the alarm sounds I’m up. I genuinely think it’s torture to do the snooze thing… equally I’m excited to get a jump start on the day & get as much done before a lot of people are even awake.
=> I fuel my body with the best possible breakie & water & coffee. Coffee is not necessary, I just Love it & it makes me happy. The best breakie will include lean protein & fibrous veg… For me that’s an omelette… for you it could be a smoothie or something else
as long as its based around natural one ingredient lean protein, good fat and ideally fibrous veg.
=> I walk to work. 20mins. Listening to an audio book or podcast. It gets my bod & mind off on the right track. Even if it’s crazy-downpour-type-rain: I. Walk. To. Work. I don’t believe ‘getting wet’ will give me a cold PLUS I have a raincoat and an umbrella. 🙂
=> On my first break I have 50-75gm of roasted nuts for morning tea. If I demolish them at 5.40am just before my first client, then that’s morning tea, done. Next is a protein shake (made with water) after training… my body works hard for me and though I prioritize natural food, I believe a protein shake is the most effective and easily absorbed fuel after weights. I train 6 days and it’s always in my first decent break as I’ve got more energy in the morning.
=> If I have (planned or unplanned) gaps in my morning of seeing clients I have work Ready2Go in those gaps so that my time is not wasted.
Using time effectively makes me feel happy, and I don’t want to be reliant on other people turning up to ensure I’m using my time well.
=> I walk home from work, usually around lunch time. 20mins. Listening to an audio book or podcast. Its part of my weekly incidental exercise. Even if it’s been a crazy-busy-type-morning… or if I have 2-3 shifts at the gym that day (only happens 1-2 times per week)… I’ll walk each time.
It SAVES me time because the more walking I do the less boring-tedious-cardio I need to do AND I get to absorb heaps of audios on my trips.
I don’t believe not walking will conserve energy if I’m tired, I know the reverse is true.
=> If I’m insanely hungry (because I ate breakie at 4.45am and morning tea at 5.40am!)… I’ll walk past the tempting convenience stores with their yumbo roasted, salted nuts – because I know I’m going to still eat lunch and dinner regardless so that little extra is always going to be extra – beyond what my body needs – and those little extras can become a habit SO much more easily than giving them up again does. 🙁
=> I make my lunch. Like 99.97% of the time. As a vego, who eats high protein, with HEAPS of veg, some good fat and v. low carbs during the week (and doesn’t eat tofu)… well, you can imagine that’s hard to buy. So I make it, a couple of days at a time, and also mix the ingredients for tomorrows omelette because I don’t love hanging in the kitchen.
=> Around 2pm a timer helps me start (!) and move through my daily work from home tasks effectively. I’ll start with the #1 task as determined last night and work on it for the period of time I assigned it last night. What’s this got to do with getting lean?
By now you may be thinking I’m some crazy-rules-loving-type-of-discipline-freak-chick???
Maybe. Ok, for sure to a degree. The purpose of my ‘rules’ and the mind games I play with myself, is because I’ve absolutely decided how I want my body to look and feel. I’ve acknowledged the actions I need to be willing to take – CONSISTENTLY – to maintain that. I’ve weighed up what I’m up for so far as what is an acceptable result and the DIMINISHING RETURNS AND DECREASED LOVE OF LIFE for a better result.
For example I could drop a mere couple of body fat % by drastically reducing my weekly alcohol consumption and doubling (maybe tripling) my high intensity interval training each week (I currently do 12-20 minutes TOTAL H.I.I.T. a week).
For me, it’s not worth it. I’ve got a RESULT:EFFORT ratio I’m happy with. That’s the question for you to determine for yourself?
How much is it worth to you?
Back to “Whats this got to do with getting lean?”
…I’m an emotional eater.
The happier I am the less likely I am to emotionally eat… and as I said, using my time effectively makes me happy. So I set a timer to help me power through my most important tasks.
=> Dinner is also high protein, with HEAPS of veg, some good fat and v. low carbs (just sweet potato). During the week it is almost always at home as I’m up early Monday-Sat.
=> My Before Sleep Ritual includes Planning the day to come. Reading for around 15minutes from ANY book I want to IF I want to… this is new, I used to ban non-career related books except for holiday time and it was too crazy-rules-loving-type-of-discipline-freak-chick!!!
Here’s the belief behind my new approach…
You’ll have heard me talk a lot about Values and how our personal values – the ‘states’ we naturally seek before anything else, guide all of the decisions we make. Either consciously or unconsciously. I believe in order for a goal – any goal – to be attainable, it has to be congruent with and supportive of your most important values.
Otherwise you’ll fight it, and self sabotage.
Either in obvious ways, or more subtly. It doesn’t mean to have to change your values or your goal, it may mean you need to change your perception or interpretation of the relationship between your goal and your values. That concept, I cover here. My point for right now (!) is that I also believe it’s vital to enjoy the journey to achieving your goal AND to do that involves finding a way to experience your most important values during that journey.
FREEDOM is my #1 value.
What a waste to think “I’ll have Freedom when I hit my goal Weight” or “goal Income”.
Instead how about focusing on how to experience Freedom every. single. day.
One of the many ways I choose to do this is to read whatever I want each night.
=> Back to the Before Sleep Ritual …I am protective of what thoughts I’m going to sleep with. I don’t want it to be crappy T.V. or a random face-book feed or even my fav sci-fi book. So last thing I’ll look at is a blog that inspires me, with a positive message from a person I respect… the type of thoughts I’m happy for my unconscious mind to be running with for the next 7 hours.
That’s it. The day that is most effective and at the same time makes me feel most happy.
There is a final disclaimer… A Fun One!
EATING PLANT BASED IS SO MUCH EASIER THAN I EXPECTED!