My bags are packed and I’m ready to go …
I’ll be heading out to Orlando today for a long weekend in the sun (well, hopefully … it’s mostly for business).
Every time I travel or go away it makes me reflect on how I used to feel / act during these times.
To put it lightly … it was a total shit show.
I used to live in food prison
I was either: A. completely riddled with anxiety about not being able to stay on point with my diet and regretting the trip altogether, or B. eating and drinking enough for a large family, only to feel like a failure upon my return home, which often led to my vow to do better (AKA restrict harder).
Sounds like a blast, right?
I actually spoke to someone who recently joined our coaching program and she echoed those same sentiments. Actually, she said that one of her goals in working with us is to hopefully be able to confidently book a vacation without obsessing about her nutrition or body.
That one hit home because I’ve been there so many times.
You know what’s interesting … we often assume it’s our inability to make quality decisions on vacation.
We blame our self control or lack of discipline.
What I’ve learned is that it has nothing to do with the trip itself …
And everything to do with the space around the trip.
What I mean is this …
Most people (or coaching programs) will have you starve yourself, eat super low calories, restrict, and “save up” calories so you’ve got more wiggle room to enjoy your vacation.
The thought process is that your weekly averages matter more than what you do in any single day.
So, if you eat very low calorie for a few days or longer, you’ve got more calories “in the bank” to work with.
While it may work for some, I’ve found it often has the opposite effect.
Why? Because by the time you get to your destination, you feel like Andy Dufresne after tunneling out of Shawshank and crawling through miles of shit to get there.
That feeling of being an escaped prisoner leads to zero control.
And, to add insult to injury, you’re likely feeling that on the other side of that trip is another stint in Shawshank.
Fuck that.
What if you never felt restricted in the first place?
What if you were able to just enjoy yourself without feeling like your vacation was simply a conjugal visit?
What if you came back from vacation and actually maintained all of your progress despite having a freakin’ blast?
It’s amazing how often that happens when you ditch the constant restriction.
In fact, just this week Coach Trish got a text from her client that said “I weighed 162.6 this morning, which is exactly what I weighed the Saturday before our trip (that was a new low at the time, btw). Did not track or even remotely worry about what/how much I was eating the entire trip. 🤯”
It may feel mind blowing to the client, and we still love those stories, but it’s common for us at this point.
Mainly because we don’t restrict, we don’t deprive, and we don’t create a whole bunch of food rules. We don’t have any foods that are off limits.
Most importantly, we make sure our clients are eating ENOUGH and feeling like this is just part of their everyday life.
Which it is. But, it usually hasn’t felt that way.
Before, it felt like a chore. Before, it felt like a constant stress. Before, that brief escape from food prison felt like heaven until the guilt and shame settled in and the process started all over again.
Once you are shown a different path … you’ll never go back.
This is often what our clients say to us … I can’t believe I did that for so long.
Yeah, me neither. Sometimes we have to learn the hard way.
The important part is that you learn from past experiences and use that information to make better decisions in the future.
It’s easy to assume you have to starve yourself before a trip. Especially if you’re going to be in a bikini and want to look your best.
There’s nothing wrong with that.
However, it’s much more effective to look your best without the constant restriction to get there because I can assure you that the more extreme the method, the less likely the results will last.
In my opinion, it’s more fun to hit an all-time low on the scale and then maintain that while still having a great time on vacation like our client just did.
That is the result of making progress in the most sustainable way possible. Where she still feels like she can enjoy herself and the plan is a perfect fit for her lifestyle.
She’s able to eat enough to support her metabolism so that she can lose fat on more calories and not be impacted by an indulgent trip.
She’s also able to use that time as a stress relief instead of a stress addition like what would happen in the past. We discuss and monitor her daily stressors to know when we can ramp things up and when we need to pull back.
We also make sure she feels her best by providing recommendations based on her brain chemistry which we know from her personality type. That means we can keep motivation consistent, mood stable, and energy high which leads to greater consistency and sustainable results.
Sustainable is the key word. When you feel more like yourself, it’s easier to maintain and sustain your results.
We also make sure she’s eating the proper ratio of macros for HER needs and to support her training and recovery.
Say goodbye to food prison and hello to food freedom
All of this has been accomplished through our 6 month signature 1:1 coaching program and she’s only getting started! It doesn’t take long to see and feel a difference with our approach.
That’s why our clients are consistently able to get leaner, feel better, and dramatically improve their relationship with food.
No more tunneling through shit to escape Shawshank.
Just freedom. Freedom in how you look. Freedom in how you feel. And, freedom in your confidence to sustain those results for life.
If that sounds like something you’re interested in, it won’t be accomplished by doing what you’ve always done. You may need a different approach.
Which we can provide. To see if we can help, simply shoot me a message on FB.
I’d love to chat to see if it’s a fit. And if we decide that is, I can invite you into the program 🙂
