Willpower Is Not Your Problem
We’ve all been there. Started the day with good intentions and due to exhaustion, stress, and a plane sense of being overwhelmed, those good intentions are out the window! What if I told you that your success isn’t ridding on how much willpower you have to get through the day? Our emotions and state of being are closely related to the habits and food choices we make. It’s a complicated web and it’s okay that you can’t just power punch your way into success with pure willpower. Let’s address your overwhelming sense to build you up. You can be successful with three strategies because willpower is not your problem!
Your Connection With Others
When you feel overwhelmed, do a scan of your emotions and what you are really needing. When I feel like I want something that is not part of my healthy Metabolic Balance lifestyle, I ask myself, “What am I really wanting?” Sometimes it is a sense of loneliness when you feel overwhelmed. Do you feel like it is all on your shoulders? Like you are the only one suffering the way you are? We are meant to be part of a community. Reach out to your family and friends for support and connection.
Now, what if you are missing that community to reach out to? Find an interest and join in. Put yourself out there. See what you can be a part of. It shouldn’t feel like it is one more thing for you to do. Instead, it is a place to go and enjoy connections with others. You have an opportunity to build relationships! So, when that sense of overwhelming creeps up again, you have support and your willpower will be renewed.
Your Physical Activity
Stress a lot of times is called the fight or flight response. Any type of stress response implies some kind of movement in response. You either fought or ran. But, you had some kind of movement to get out of it. The movement to take you out of your stress response is important to calm the body and reset to a homeostasis (healthy) state.
When I say, “to be physically active”, this can cause a whole other stress response. We often think about the traditional “working out” and in sets the guilt of not getting to the gym. Or, hitting play on those videos at home. Or, even simply walking outside your door. The idea to reduce stress and move your body is to find a “happy” activity that benefits the process of calming the stress response. This movement should bring you energy, clarity, and calmness, while most importantly, reducing your sense of being overwhelmed.
Let’s think outside the box of being physically active and going to the gym or doing a workout routine. It can be simply taking a walk. Go kayaking, find an easy hiking trail, do yoga, do yard work (that requires movement), etc. Allow yourself to live outside the box which is a typical expectation of physical activity. It’s always important that you enjoy this activity!
Your Grateful Practice
When you have a sense of being overwhelmed you get on this negativity wheel. Sometimes we focus so much on the things that are going wrong in our minds. Or, the things we don’t have support with or control over. It becomes a trap. So when you feel this spiral starting and a little stuck, start by adjusting your mindset and remembering all the things you are grateful for. Writing down what you are grateful for can help you see more of what is going well for you than wrong. Start with three things each day. Then build until you release that sense of overwhelming and are more grateful to set your mindset in a positive thinking pattern.
Writing three things down that you are grateful for each day is a great healthy lifestyle habit. As a reminder of these things, you can write them on a sticky note and put them on the bathroom mirror. That way you see them every morning and are reminded. You could also use a journal, whether a physical notebook or a journal app on your phone so you have it with you. What is important is you take time to see what is going to work best for you. Also know that when we try something new, it might not always be the right fit, but then you try something else. This is called a growth mindset and something we coach you on to have as you develop your Metabolic Balance® lifestyle. Take on the things that don’t work, and try them in a new way! There lies your success!
Your 3 Ws
Your want, your why, and yes, your willpower is there! You might just have things get in the way of it sometimes so you have to address those issues, like a sense of being overwhelmed, and allow your willpower to be uncovered and shine through. You do have the motivation to be healthy. You do have the want, why, and willpower! Personal development is essential to changing your lifestyle to achieve your health goals and weight goals. It will continue to help when you reach those goals and are looking for the next goal, which can be just maintenance.
Your Personal Journey
We believe in personal development so strongly at FCM Coaching and believe it is a cornerstone to your lifestyle change achievements with a personal nutrition plan that we have at least 3 coaching series full of education and personal development. We also discuss these during our coaching calls these concepts and help you think around your struggles to continue to develop to be able to uncover and allow your willpower to shine through! Learn more about your nutritional plan from Metabolic Balance® and how it works with your program; then book a Discovery Call to talk to us about how we can support your health journey!
Stop the Yo-Yo Effect, Finally
While everyone is hitting the gym, look at changing the way you think, eat and move so you can have that yo-yo effect be a thing of the past.
