I have to be honest, I had no idea how the quarantine was going to impact my clients. I thought there was a chance that people would quit or put things on hold until they could meet face-to-face. That did happen for a few (and I was happy to put things on hold and I hope they are doing great!) however, the clients that stayed consistent are really blowing my mind. To the extent that I think that the student has become the teacher!
I sat down to brainstorm why they are excelling so I could help anyone who is struggling to stay consistent. I also want to help people who are doing well understand why. This is a critical (and often missed) step when you are making nutrition changes because we tend to give the credit to the wrong area and then struggle to reproduce it. This is why we have huge success the first time we do something and then flounder the second.
They kept planning
It can be tempting to just want to wing it when we are 10 ft from our kitchen at all times. However, the real benefit of meal planning is to cut down on decision fatigue and your mental load. Right now, mental depletion is hitting new heights because everything that we are doing is new. Even a zoom call takes a higher level of focus than a simple meeting or conversation. By the end of the day we may feel like we have done nothing because we barely left our chair, but our brain is fatigued and looking for an easy win. In fact, the majority of the emotional eating I have been seeing is really decision fatigue.
What to do with this information
Start with a simple plan for the week. Paying close attention to when you feel the most depleted and making sure that you don’t put extra pressure on yourself during that time. It is fine if your plan includes ordering in, just make sure that you have a plan of action so you are being proactive and giving that brain of yours a rest.
They kept moving
With awesome free workout classes, my average clients exercise has gone up. This is awesome! However, the movement during the day has plummeted. As we learned in Sneaky Saboteur: Sitting, sitting for long periods can increase both fat storage and appetite. Not to mention put you in a Groundhog Day funk.
What to do with this information
Get a baseline of your current movement. I find steps the easiest, but if you don’t have a way to measure that, shoot for time. Once you have a baseline, build on that. I suggest increasing in either 2000K steps or 20-minute intervals. Remember, we are shooting for improvement so the total number isn’t as important as the progress. As an extra incentive, check out the Vizer app, which donates a meal to the Food Bank every time you exercise. It is how I have personally been motivating and it is a great cause!
They shifted expectations
When I bring this up, people typically jump to the idea that I am encouraging people to give themselves a free pass. Yes, maybe if I said this to the average person, that would be true.
But I’m saying it to you.
The fact of the matter is the people who I work with and who read my blog are exceptional. They are phenomenal leaders and parents and hard workers and are honestly holding this world up right now. They also set such high expectations of themselves (especially in this one area) that when they fall short they feel like a constant failure.
That suffering then causes people to vacillate between giving up or doubling down – neither of which are going to get you to where you want to go. In fact, when I speak to my average client that comes in telling me that they had the worst week ever, typically they are talking about one small misstep that they catastrophized and decided to quit everything. Instead, when they learn to shift expectations, they are able to take a breath and keep moving forward. This is why Setbacks in such a critical part of the Emotions pillar of the Hunger Solution.
What to do with this information
Remember, change comes from consistency of action. If your expectations are keeping you in the “Do everything perfect or do nothing at all” cycle, they need to shift.
Look back on the last few weeks and see if there are moments that you felt like derailed you. Would easing up the pressure in this one area help? Perhaps finding an alternative that is not as perfect, but you can do consistently? Or did you unnecessarily catastrophize an indulgence that caused you to derail? This one can take a little bit of soul searching but the ability to shift expectations and manage setbacks (or imperfection) is the common theme among all my most successful clients. In or out of the quarantine 😊
