Simple Mindset Tactics That Help You Lose Weight

Allie Cass is a former figure pro turned functional health and fitness coach who helps stressed-out women optimize their metabolism, up-level their mindset, and shift from surviving to thriving. As a former competitor, most people think it’s all about how many squats you are doing, how many hours you spend at the gym, and how much you eat, and yes, it is about that… but It’s also about the mindset that keeps you going.  That mindset is going to overpower willpower.  That mindset overpowers motivation. That mindset is what keeps you going, and Allie brings that into her coaching practice! So how do your thoughts really affect your health??

Only 1-2% of the world pushes their body to that level we do, and for me, it wasn’t about the carbs or cardio, but if I looked back, it was being able to shift my mindset. To go into game time mode.  Did you have that same realization for yourself?

I grew up as an athlete.  And going into a physical competition reactivated that focus and mental drive to take me from that moment to get to whatever that goal or outcome was.  It’s all about the mindset.  And of course, the strategy does too, but how much are you going to adhere to it or show up to that strategy?

One of the biggest mindset shifts that helped me at that point in my life was setting the intention and the goal that I wanted to achieve and then forgetting about it.  Stop focusing on the end result and focus on the step you need to take right now. This moment and this day.  Approach every action and every day with the same mindset that you will get to your goal, and you won’t be so stressed out in the process.

Strategy.
So many clients come to us and think we are Maytag, they are a washing machine, and they need to be fixed! You don’t need to be fixed.  I can give you the best strategy on the planet, but if you’re in a place where you cannot adhere to it, you are not going to stick to it.  Life happens. The moment life happens you look at the plan and say well, I can’t go to the gym or, I am traveling and can’t prepare meals, then you are lost and spinning out of control.  If you cannot execute it or stick to it long-term, what does that strategy really mean to you?

Our time and abilities look different for everyone. As a coach, you have to come at it and say, what is your client’s life like? And help them accept their life.  We all get caught up in it’s us… I suck, I can’t do this. We always spiral. So, what can work for you? What can you actually do?
How do you start with clients who just say they don’t have as much time as they used to, etc?
It’s always so important to have that level of expectation at the beginning. I don’t expect you to go to the gym for 2 hours. I don’t give you workouts that are 2 hours. What are the expectations you are placing on yourself and are they realistic? How do they match up with your goals? For so many of us, our identity is spending hours in the gym, doing things a certain way, and being a certain way. And not shying away from that.  How do we step away from that identity to say less is more?

It’s important to commend people for honoring a rest day. The more we go and the more the spotlight shines on the “less is more idea” it will help! We fell into that diet culture and fell hook line and sinker that doing more is better.  But it’s not good for our bodies in the long run! We were in this mindset that if we are not doing all the things then we suck! And that is simply NOT true.

This comes back to adherence. We all have a goal, so are the steps trying to get there realistic for you?  What is your timeline and does your goal line up with that timeline?
Yes, we have run 8-week and 12-week challenges and it’s fine to ignite something in them to reenter the scene and maybe stick with it for a while.  But I have some clients that say they just want to do this for a set amount of time and then they have this expectation that if it doesn’t work in that time they are going to stop, and that is not how it works. If you are not at a foundation level of being extremely healthy and minimally stressed, it’s likely we aren’t going to get there in 3 months.

One thing I learned from working in the corporate world is finance.  I love learning and investing, and I love to ask people if they have heard of compound interest. That is without doing anything drastic, showing up, doing what you can, and taking small steps every day is all about.  That is what is going to get you much further in a year, 2 years, or 3 years than these crazy quick things that keep you in an ebb and flow.

Set your intention.
This is what I want, now what is the next step? So many of us get caught up in losing 30 pounds before vacation.  Then we step on the scale, down half an ounce, and think it’s not working.  That is when the drastic police start running around in your head.  Give yourself enough TIME For a goal! Focus on the actions opposed to the outcome during this process.

Micromanaging.
Many clients come to us to give them something else to do.  Why would I have you try something else if you didn’t try the first thing? We tell them to try something and if they don’t, then they want something else.  They want us to micromanage what they are doing.  Your body wants to do one thing and when we tell you to turn right for a change when you are always turning left, it’s hard for them to make that right turn. And they don’t want to make that turn.  If you want results but continue to do what you are doing, you won’t implement what I am suggesting and you are doing the same things, how are you going to get change? How are you going to get different results?  We need our focus point to be on one action at a time.  As a coach, we are trying to take away friction and resistance.  I can tell you want to do all day long, but it doesn’t mean you will do it.
So, what is going to work for you right now in your season?

Stress, mindset, and our results.
Our brains take a lot of cycles and if I am worrying about something, it’s really hard to give my body the energy to lift and digest my food.  Movement is good, powerful, and can be a stress reduction when you are NOT in a stressed-out state.  Sometimes the struggles we are having are not tied to the workout or the nutrition, but it’s what’s going on in our life or what happened in our past traumas that are making it hard to get to where we want to be.

So many people discount what is going on between our ears. It’s our life, it’s who I am. But the things weighing on you can make things more challenging.  When you resolve them, you can then start to move forward in making those changes.  Sometimes weight is a protection mechanism that your body doesn’t feel safe. It doesn’t feel like it is time to not have the weight. The weight is your armor. Your body is here to help you survive and make it through life and it is going to do whatever it needs to protect you.  The emotional and mental toll that we experience throughout life manifests in that exact way because our body seeks to protect us from those things as well.

The mindset is what keeps us stuck.  We have to find a strategy that we can find adherence to.  It’s not adherence for 6 weeks, it’s adherence to what you can see yourself doing for the rest of your life or even 6-9 months! If you don’t see this, you will be on to the next and next.  How can we help our clients long term?

You have to start to put together what our realistic expectations are for you so you can be excited about them. You can make a plan for them and at the end of the day, it’s sustainability that is what you are looking for!

Follow Allie and reach out to her if you have questions!  I am so in alignment with her, and she knows how to stop the insanity, and make things more simple so that weight loss doesn’t feel like we are on a “diet”!

What is one thing that makes you feel magical?
Just connecting with other people. Having conversations that feel impactful, meaningful, and very growth oriented. I feel magical right now having this conversation with you. And I feel that same way when I can have a conversation like that with a client or someone in general where I can give back, make that impact, and further the conversation in the direction it needs to go. For me it’s that connection really. When I feel like I isolated myself, I come back to that need for connection.

LINKS

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