(How Maintenance Helped Me Finally See Results After 40)

If you’ve ever felt like you’re doing everything right — eating clean, working out, tracking your food, yet your body still gives you the middle finger, you’re not alone.

That was me.

I was frustrated, stuck, and honestly? Mad. Mad that my body wasn’t bending to my will.

But one day, scrolling through my favorite Reddit thread — “Am I the A**hole?” — it hit me:
Welp, I was the ahole.**
Not to anyone else… but to my own body.

The Hard Truth: My Body Wasn’t Broken — It Was Burned Out

For years, I’d been trapped in the same cycle, always dieting, always pushing, never letting my body breathe.

I told myself I was being “disciplined.” But what I was really doing?
Trying to control a body that was begging for a break.

Here’s what I’ve learned coaching women over 40:
Most of us know how to diet.
What we don’t know is how to maintain.

And maintenance?
That’s where the magic actually happens.

The Maintenance Phase: The Secret Weapon No One Talks About

About 18 months ago, I decided to do something radical stop dieting.
No cuts. No bulking. No extremes.

Just maintenance.

My coach and I focused on stabilizing my food, workouts, and mindset. The goal wasn’t to lose; it was to hold steady and rebuild trust with my body.

Sounds simple, right?
It wasn’t.

Because after years of “go hard or go home,” maintenance felt foreign. It forced me to slow down, tune in, and get curious instead of critical.

I realized I’d been living off shakes and bars — nearly 40% of my protein came from supplements. My calories hovered around 1,100–1,400 a day. I was under-eating, overtraining, and wondering why nothing worked.

So we made small, strategic tweaks:

• Swapped some shakes for knife-and-fork protein

• Ate before workouts

• Added veggies and fiber to meals

• Focused on consistency, not perfection

And slowly, things started to shift.

What Happened When I Stopped Hustling

My energy came back.
My sleep improved.
My mood stabilized.
My body composition changed fat went down, muscle stayed strong.

Was it fast? Nope.
Was it sustainable? 100%.

For the first time, I wasn’t chasing smaller — I was chasing better.
And I finally understood:
Maintenance isn’t the boring middle it’s the foundation for long-term fat loss and hormonal balance.

Why This Matters for Women Over 40

Once you hit your 40s and beyond, your body plays by different rules.
Hormones shift. Recovery matters more. Stress hits harder.

You can’t bully your metabolism into submission anymore.
You have to partner with it.

That’s why maintenance is so powerful it gives your body the space to recalibrate, rebuild, and respond again.

If you’re constantly dieting, your body’s in defense mode.
But when you maintain, you tell your body, “Hey, we’re safe.”
And only then does it let go of what it’s been holding onto.

The Flip Flop Life: My Maintenance Mindset

That “Am I the A**hole?” moment was the spark for The Flip Flop Life my program for women who are done with extremes and ready to find their rhythm.

It’s built on one truth:
You don’t need to try harder.
You need to try different.

We focus on ease over hustle, curiosity over control, and sustainability over struggle.

Because the real magic?
It happens when you stop fighting your body and start listening to it.

Your Next Step

If this hit home, I recorded a full episode about it on the Fit Girl Magic Podcast “Am I the A**hole to My Body?”

In it, I walk through:

• The biggest mistakes women make in maintenance

• How to rebuild trust with your metabolism

• Why eating more can lead to better results

• And the small shifts that changed everything for me

Listen in and ask yourself:
Where might you be pushing too hard — and what would happen if you got curious instead?

And if you’re ready to stop being the a**hole to your body, The Flip Flop Life is officially open.
This is where we rebuild your health with ease, balance, and confidence no more Monday restarts, no more burnout.

Facebook group https://www.facebook.com/groups/fitgirlmagic

Free Resources: https://www.fitgirlmagic.com/freeresources_podcast

Website:  http://www.kimbarnesjefferson.com 

Flip Flop Life 

The post Am I the A hole to My Body|324 appeared first on Kim Barnes Jefferson.

First up, there is CLARITY. It’s like trying to navigate a maze blindfolded. You’re not quite sure what you’re aiming for, or worse, your goals keep flip-flopping like a fish out of water. It’s time to break that cycle! Sit yourself down and get crystal clear on what you really want. Think of it like punching in an address into GPS, the route becomes clear. Whether it’s weight loss or a change in body composition, CLEARLY define those goals and let’s work some magic!

Next: breaking free from autopilot mode. Do you wake up, do the same old routine, eat, sleep, repeat. Yawn! You know I’m all about automation however is that automation serving you? If not, it’s time to shake things up! Take a good, hard look at yourself and ask the hard question is my routine getting the result that I want then…. It’s time to break that monotonous cycle.

Trust me, I’ve been there too. I was on autopilot for almost a decade. Sometimes, you need an outsider’s perspective to point out what needs changing. Whether it’s adjusting workouts, revamping your nutrition, or seeking working on your self care, it’s time to ditch that autopilot mentality and embrace the magic of a new approach!

Now, let’s dive into the basics. Yes, they may seem boring, but guess what? Boring gets results, my friends! It’s time to strip it down and get back to the foundations of success. Embrace those healthy habits and routines that pave the way for consistency. Think of it as your Fit Girl Magic Formula: great habits lead to a killer routine, which leads to consistent action, and boom—results are on their way! It’s all about finding that sweet spot where challenges meet doability. Trust me, you’ve got this!

Ah, mindset, my queen! It’s time to address the elephant in the room. Sometimes, we doubt ourselves. Let’s not let our past traumas or negative self-talk hold us back. But here’s the deal: you are a force to be reckoned with! Your mind may be playing tricks on you, but it’s time to reclaim your power. It’s time to let go of those hidden scripts and stories that keep you from reaching your goals. Challenge those rigid beliefs and embrace a mindset of possibility. You’re the captain of this ship, and you’ve got what it takes!

Last but not least, trust. You gotta trust yourself on this journey. Stay present, ask yourself the tough questions, and take daily actions that align with your goals. Sure, perfection isn’t the aim here, but consistent effort and commitment are key. You’re in control, my friend! And hey, if you need some extra support and guidance, don’t be afraid to ask for help. There’s strength in seeking assistance. Together, we’ll navigate the waters and make those dreams a reality!

So, Magic Makers, it’s time to assess where you’re feeling stuck and share this dose of truth with someone who needs it. We’re all in this journey together, and together, we’ll break down those barriers and unleash our Fit Girl Magic! Let’s do this!

LINKS

Facebook Page:
https://www.facebook.com/kimbarnesjeffersoncoach

Facebook Group:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/fitgirlmagic/

Website:
https://kimbarnesjefferson.com/

Podcast:
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/fit-girl-magic-healthy-living-for-women-over-40/id1476883661

5 Days To Consistency challenge – This 5-Day challenge will help you create a personalized plan and develop habits for long-term success in just 5 days.
https://kimbarnesjefferson.lpages.co/5-days-to-consistency/

What you ought to know about hypnosis:
https://chtbl.com/track/479199/traffic.libsyn.com/secure/fitgirlmagic/Ep2018920-20Final20Podcast.mp3
I was an over-exerciser! 
https://chtbl.com/track/479199/traffic.libsyn.com/secure/fitgirlmagic/audio1257875384.m4a
Ted Lasso Monologue:
 https://youtu.be/aze06ki_GIU

The post 5 Things Keeping The Weight On appeared first on Kim Barnes Jefferson.

Let’s define these, shall we!?
Consistency: These are the things I can do regularly at 80%!  I heard someone say, “One of the ways I had to get out of my own way was I had to go for the B-.  All of us want to go for the A+ but we have to go for that B-!”  When it comes to life, we can’t nail it on the first try and that’s what people are always trying to do!  The first place I see people always getting tripped up is being consistent!

Being consistent has all these rules, or so we think, and people always think we MUST do something…  But if we take a step back and say why we always have so many stops and starts is because we’re trying to do all the things. But we’re not trying to figure out how we can still be consistent with our health when we have a life!  All of us have life, we have jobs, we have families, and we have other obligations that we try to get going. So the thing that keeps us from getting our goals, keeping our goals, keeping the results that we want, is that we don’t have consistency!

So you know what that means right?? We have to stop following the rules!
Stop seeking perfection! We are not going to be perfect! We have to lower our expectations… because we expect way freaking too much!! We need to start coming up with realistic expectations.  Realistic expectations on how long it is going to take us to lose weight.  Realistic expectations of how we work and how our bodies work.  We need to be able to come up with our “non-squishy” goals. Like.. “Get healthy” for example.  That’s a big word, it encompasses a lot within it.  So… define the word healthy for you.  If I say healthy, what am I working towards?   Is this getting me to where I want to go?  Is this working for me?

We need to find a place that says, “This is what consistency looks like for me.”  What is it you can do? Keep it easy and simple. Let’s focus on the things that are going to move the dial! That is going to GIVE YOU your results!  Stop running around chasing all these things. It’s just far too much!  Because when you are chasing multiple things, it makes it pretty dang hard to see the results.  So, we want you to have the least amount of tasks as possible.  1-3 is a great place to start and write it down!  “Based on my season…. In the next 90 days, what are 1-3 things I can focus on? This will be my focus for the next 90 days.”  This is where we get to that consistency thing ladies!!!

Accountability: Everyone is accountable to someone else…  You know you better than anybody else in the world!  So here is where you really have to own your stuff!  It can’t be everyone else’s fault.  We have to start to own why we are not taking the action. Motivation comes from action, the more actions I take the better I feel about it. And the better I feel I am going to be more motivated!

Arthur Ashe said, “Start where you are, use what you have, and do what you can.”
This quote brings me to a great 3 step process here!
Step 1: You have to be aware. This is like a food log for example. This log is so you can be accountable for what you are putting in your mouth. This log is so you can see what it is you are eating and if it will get you toward your goals.
Step 2: Feedback. How can I give you feedback if I don’t know what you are eating… Are we mindlessly eating? What did you eat last week? Take an assessment of what is actually happening. Then say, “Okay, based on where you are, what can I do now?” How can we adjust your foods, adding or taking out? All of these things matter, and we need feedback to be able to adjust.
Step 3: Do what you can. Like the Arthur Ashe quote. Some of us need to slow down and press the pause button. And this is where you want to do this. Slow down… The way I get to my goals is the way I keep my goals!  If I get to them slowly and steadily, I am going to keep them!

Be honest with yourself! What trips you up?  No matter what you do, what is the one thing that causes you to stumble over your feet?  Time? Kids? Aging parents? Work? What always trips you up?  This is how working with a coach will help because we can brainstorm ways to help navigate these trip-ups.  If, then scenarios – pause and brainstorm what trips you up and how you can use these IF-THEN scenarios to navigate those trip-ups.

And ladies…. Give ourselves GRACE! We will mess up and it’s ok!  But we will learn from this!  Have the mindset that we have to be open to other things.  We need to break free of our rigid mindset and be open to the possibilities of it looking different.  You are mortal!  You can only do what you can do. So be grateful for all the things your body does and what it has done for you!

As a coach, my goal is to teach you that daily accountability. The weight doesn’t come overnight, it is that our habits were always a few steps behind our body, and we just didn’t notice until we put on a pair of pants and were like, “Woah they don’t fit the way I want them to!”  We have all been there! It is ok! But as a coach, my goal is to help you come up with a game plan. And be specific… you can’t say I want to be healthy or I want to lose weight, what does it mean? Break it down!  Be specific. What does healthy look like to you so you can develop goals to chip away at your definition of healthy?

My goal is not only to work with you to support you but also to work with you to brainstorm strategies. I see different things and talk to a lot of people, and a lot of the time my clients teach me things! They teach me things about new foods or show me things or a scenario they tried that works! So I do a lot of group coaching calls because I know that there is someone out there that has had the same challenge and maybe tried something different that I didn’t think of and it worked!

As we work together I work with you to understand what is actually tripping you up and moving the ball forward. It could be these little things that you think are big because you are in it, but we need to start using DATA and not DRAMA!  You’re emotionally connected to that drama, to that problem, but as a third party, I can come in and take it from another angle and say, “This is what I am seeing and how can we use some of the data around it and not the emotions”

Where is that resistance lying?
Many of us think it’s discipline. But it’s the discipline to learn new tricks.  Where are we getting stuck? Am I holding resistance to not switching up what we are doing? Why are we so resistant to change if what we are doing is not getting us what we want?

Finally.. Look at the roadblocks.
By doing this, we can finally get to the point of releasing old stories and old mindsets. Then we can say I want it to be easy! I know this is how much time I have to devote to the gym. I know this is how much mental effort I want to devote to my food.  These are the 3 things that I know if I do them every day I am working towards my health! I know that if I get into this type of workout, I feel really good and I don’t resent the workout.

Why am I not getting my results?  It’s coming down to 2 things. I am not consistent! I am chasing things that are challenging for me to be consistent. So I am asking you to give yourself 90 days.  What are 1-3 things that you can do consistently? And it’s not something you are doing right now.  This is what we need to do. Those are the types of things we have to get into. And we are not accountable. We have to be accountable to do these things on a regular basis that will make us feel “healthy”.

Then we build and build and build. And we end up building a foundation for a house that even the big bad wolf can’t blow down!!!!

LINKS

Facebook Page:
https://www.facebook.com/kimbarnesjeffersoncoach

Facebook Group:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/fitgirlmagic/

Website:

Kim Barnes Jefferson

Podcast:
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/fit-girl-magic-healthy-living-for-women-over-40/id1476883661

Belly Fat Code Wait List — We start spring 2023!
https://www.fitgirlmagic.com/bfc_masterclasswait_spring2023/

The post Are You Making These Weight Loss Mistakes appeared first on Kim Barnes Jefferson.

She’s a client who I’ve worked with several times over years – usually after being away from fitness for some time because she found herself in an off track where she was eating more fun foods than healthy.

That seems so familiar! Anyway…this email hit me hard too, so take a listen to the advice I shared.

The post What To Do When You Fall Off The Diet Wagon|0708 appeared first on Kim Barnes Jefferson.

I get it! I wanted that too for so long! I dreamt of a mythical plan that would come down on the tablets like in the movie the 10 commandments, telling me what are the good foods, bad foods and if I were to follow this for the rest of my life I could get any goal that I want! BUT THAT ISN’T GOING TO HAPPEN!

There is no one size fits all. I know that some of you have been dieting since you were 15 and it just isn’t working. There is no wiggle room, you are either on the wagon or off the wagon. Ladies, I’m here to tell you that being healthy CAN BE effortless and I want to help you get to that point in your life with your health and wellness!

You do not have to keep pressing the reset button. You are not a video game, you don’t have to keep pressing the reset, reboot button over and over again! Most of you HATE not being able to eat what you love and drink the drinks you love and eat the foods you love. Right” We want to go out with our families for dinner and not be over-analyzing the menu before we even show up! AND most of you hate diets because there is NO wiggle room. You are following a program or not following a program.

I want to help you with this. I want to help you get off of the diet wagon and get on the LIVING YOUR LIFE wagon! So, this is all about strategy and how you can work your way towards that. In past shows we went over Consistency and why that is imperative to reaching any goals you set for yourself. And we have also gone over Accountability and what it means to you to be accountable. How do these strategies that we talk about today go hand in hand with consistency and accountability’ How does this lead to having a balanced life’ The life you want to be living!

Like I said, I want you to have that life that is balanced. A balance of having fun or being more restricted because it’s your choice. Eat the cake on your birthday or your family’s birthday. Eat it, love it, and you are done. There is no working it off! I don’t want you to worry about eating something bad and punishing yourself. THERE IS NO PUNISHING yourself here ladies!! Listen, I was that person that was on the wagon and off the wagon. So I have been there and done that.

Deep in my mind as I was going through my crazy, I said to myself it has to be different, it can be different. I don’t see other people stressing out about this! There are so many other things in my life, I just can’t spend any more brain power on my food and my workouts!!! I wanted a life where I can put perfection on the shelf! I wanted to get out of my own way! I wanted to be done feeling guilty for not working out for a certain amount of time and I was done trying to be perfect!

So. If you are living off salad, water and gum, this is for you!

This is my superpower ladies! I work with clients to create a repeatable program that works for THEIR LIFE, and I base it on my 5 C’s! (I know there are 6 I can count! LOL but two of them go together, so I say 5!!)
1. Clarity
2. Choices
3. Connection
4. Creativity
5. Courage
6. Consistency

We have to get crystal clear as WHAT THE HELL YOU WANT! What are you looking for’
Let’s get precise and do a little at a time. Some of you are chasing several rabbits at the same time. And that is not going to work! Because guess what” If you aim at nothing, I always hit it.

If I had to choose, what would be my priority’ What is the number one thing I want’ The best way to reach your goal is to focus on what is the most important thing to you at that time. And remember, this goal doesn’t have to be huge, it can be small! The words might seem small, but the concept is huge!

In the goals:
What are the things you want to achieve’
What is on the high burner’ The thing that is most important to you.
What is on the medium burner’ The next most important thing.
What is on the low burner’ Something that doesn’t take precedence over the others and doesn’t need a lot of focus on.
Focus on one thing at a time. That will get the most attention! You want the most attention in that high burner and then you sprinkle the rest of the attention onto the rest. Also, I want to mention, we are all going through different seasons in our lives. For one person their career may be on the highest burner a few months out of the year and then the other times of the year their fitness goals may move up to that spot. Do you have a period in your time that is like this, and you are busier at a certain time vs another’ Take that into consideration as well.

CLARITY is simple! We have to get clear about what it is that you want. You want to be crystal clear about where you are going and where you want to get to with your goals. Talk about it, voice it to others, voice it to YOURSELF! Make sure you know what it is you want.

When you get clear on what exactly you want then you can make CHOICES! And the choices are,This is what I want and what are the choices I need to make.I want those choices to be stupid easy and it needs to be simple! So take that #1 burner spot and this is where we focus on the non-negotiables. These are the things you aren’t already doing that feel easy. (This has to be measurable.) So an example would be, I want to moderate my drinking, so I will only have 1 drink during the week, or only 2 on the weekend. What are your scenarios’ Get specific! Because what gets measured gets done!!!

This is where it gets hard.. Now you have to CONNECT. You have to FEEL THIS GOAL. This is your motivation. What is your reason’ Because your motivation is going to come from your why!! What is my motivation and why do you value this goal’ Why did you make this goal’ Health reasons, disease, family, fit into my pants in my closet’

This is where you get CREATIVE! We are going to work together through some mental and external barriers, and this can take some time. You may feel stuck because you like certainty, plus, you have been doing this the same way for years and you just don’t know the right way! Get ready to DO THINGS DIFFERENTLY! With certainty I can say change is good, I can say to get different, I have to do differently.
If you are looking in the mirror with whatever you are doing and you like how you look, rock on with your bad self, tune me out. But if you are at the point where you are saying to yourself I CAN’T DO THIS ANYMORE, this feels so hard, I am never going to achieve my goal. This is for you.

You ask must ask yourself hard questions. What do I have to lose’ What does success look like to me’ Can I sustain what success looks like to me’ It’s a lot of inner work, I will be honest.

But right here is where you and I together can dig deep and figure out where we can get started. We want to get you to a place where you want to be without the guilt and stress.
A mentor once told me, You can go hard, you can go fast, but you cannot go hard and fast for long?. So where is the easiest place to start with you’ This is what we do when we get creative?

You are going to take baby steps to strip away and get to the ultimate goal!

COURAGE! Do you have the courage to continue to stay the course, to prove yourself wrong, to prove yourself that you don’t need a 2-hour workout’ (That you can get it done in 30 minutes.) I want you to start picking up small victories and keep an open mind!
Mindset is having the courage to do things differently. Shift the focus to the process so you have a repeatable process, that way if something goes wrong, you can look back and say this is what I did and this is where it fell apart or this is where I got good results!
What part of your process isn’t working for you’ This will help take consistent actions.

CONSISTENCY. You can control the process, but you cannot control the outcome! What did you do this week’ Did you go to the gym and get in 3 workouts, did you honor your process’

You cannot expect results if you don’t stick to the process to get those results.
Big rocks move the dial for you when you are trying to lose weight. I can always improve my process, but my results will always come from my process.

For example, my big rocks I need to do to stick to my process is a caloric deficit and moving my body 3 times a week. I am on the road to weight loss and setting myself up for success. The more I do it and repeat the process, the more my body will respond to these inputs! What can I do day in and day out that doesn’t feel hard, doesn’t feel like heavy lifting’ Because guess what”’ The way you get your goal is the way you keep your goal! Also, a little note. Plan for obstacles. Things are going to happen. Life is going to happen. So be prepared for when LIFE HAPPENS!

So, to work on consistency, you have to work on those 3 non-negotiable things that you do every single day. By doing these every day, it will move that dial in the direction you want! These are the 3 that I do, and yours will be different, but this is what I need to do.
1. Move my body every day
2. Big ass salad for lunch
3. Slept for 7+ hours every night

Do these every single day and it will be like clockwork. Then when they become easy then you can add 3 more! And so on and so forth!

So, are you ready to create your plan!”!

While creating your plan here are some questions you are going to want to ask yourself! This is what I call my REPS formula!
1. Is your plan realistic for where you are in your life’
2. Are you excited about it’ Can you hop out of bed any day of the year and be like yeah, I am going to crush this workout’
3. Can I make a plan for it in my life’ So, my life doesn’t revolve around my plan’
4. Is this sustainable’ Can I see myself doing this for the next 5 months, 6 months, 5 years’ So, it feels good and effortless!

This sets you up so that there is NO reboot button or restart yourself ever again after we work together!! There is no unplug and replug! There is no restart every single Monday. So if you have been doing any of these things, this is the time to start! You have nothing to lose but the weight?

So join me and sign up for my Reboot and Refocus waitlist and don’t ever worry again about making a promise to yourself that you cannot keep!

No better time to start then right now!

LINKS

Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/kimbarnesjeffersoncoach

Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/fitgirlmagic/

Website: https://kimbarnesjefferson.com/

Reboot and Refocus
https://kimbarnesjefferson.lpages.co/rebootandrefocus_waitlist/

Are You Ready To Be Consistent

Accountability Is The Key To Weight Loss

The post Strategy: The Secret To Weight Loss appeared first on Kim Barnes Jefferson.

I want you to get pissed off and say I AM DONE chasing my tail. I AM DONE doing the same things over and over and not getting anything for my effort!

This may sound a little hard, but we have to say it? TOGETHER. So, repeat after me ladies? ?If I want different results, I HAVE to do something different!? Louder for the people in the back!!!! Something must change in order to get a change! Some people think they have to hustle harder or diet harder. BUT NOOO it starts by thinking differently instead. Here is where I want you to say, ?I am ready to think differently Kim, I am on the edge of my seat, get on with it!? Let’s go!

I am sick of people thinking that ?You need to struggle to hit your stride?. This is so false! I couldn’t bust my plateau after 3 years because I was do the same damn thing. To break my pattern, I had to do something radically different. I had to break up with my old way of thinking of reduction & struggle. I wanted to find a way that I had balance and could not feel like I was always going 90 miles an hour with no control. So, it starts by asking ourselves better questions. Dive deeper into our own psych, mindset and thought process. Because I kept doing the same thing because I was comfortable, so we need to get a bit uncomfortable?.

I am going to dive into 6 different things that I want you to think about in how you are going to change the way you lose weight, and I am going to start with what is the most important and work my way down. Think like a pyramid. We are starting with the biggest section and working our way up to the top smaller part. (But you will only move along through the pyramid if you have mastered every other step. Ok’!)

Quick thing, this is all a precursor to my FREE COURSE I am offering. It is a 5-day mini course that basically takes a little bit of time each day and gets you up and running so that you can stop spinning your wheels! Check it out and join me!! It’s called #foreverfatloss

Ok, back to it! So what are these 6 things’ Remember, 1 being most important, then work your way down the list.
1. Being Mindful of what you are eating.
2. Think about calories (intake to nourish yourself)
3. Think about what nutrient density is. And food quality.
4. Break up with good food and bad food list (macros. etc)
5. Nutrient timing. (Only if you are consistent with everything else)
6. Supplementation . Why are you supplementing’

The first thing before we move to the first one is I want you to really start thinking about your food and being more intentional about when you eat vs. always eating to the clock. I bought into the fact that I had to eat 5 meals a day. And you do not need to! The 1st question I had to start asking myself when I was eating. AM I HUNGRY” When you make this transition I want you to ask ?Am I hungry or am I eating to eat’?

Our digestive system needs breaks in our digestion. Our body needs time to go into the full digestion process and break down in a way that our body can utilize it. If you want to learn more about this in depth, I have an entire podcast on it called the 1-2 Punch.

So first, be more mindful about what it is we are eating.
Did you eat a meal, and you don’t even realize what you just ate’ Slow down when you eat and savor what you are eating. Visually enjoy it, smell it, and actually stop and taste it. Then, eat until you are 80% full, not until you have a food baby! Enjoy the food that you are eating, enjoy what you have made rather than just woofing it down and not taking it all in.

Next, think about calories and what you need to nourish your body.
For years I said calories don’t matter if I am eating whole clean foods. Well, I was eating whole clean foods and I ate my way into 30 pounds extra. I was overeating too many calories for what my body was burning. So, what you do is you calculate how many calories our body actually needs a day. So, if it needs 2000 calories a day, then you need 14,000 calories in a week. If I look at my calories as a bank account, I don’t want to go over budget because then we GAIN WEIGHT. If we are under budget, then we are going to LOSE WEIGHT!

I want you to remember that it is not about hitting 2000 to the penny. Some days you may go over, some days go under. But if I am around that 14,000 at the end of the week, I am doing fabulous! So please don’t make yourself crazy! This is what you have budgeted for the week, so try and stay balanced, because your hormones will thank you!

Now, I know that some of you are going to roll your eyes at this one, but are you even tracking your daily calories’ I know you hate tracking, I do too. But you don’t have to track forever. Because when things aren’t doing well, that is when you track! Food has a direct impact on your hormonal health, and a direct impact on your training as well.
So, I challenge you to track protein and vegetables. How much protein are you getting in a day and how much vegetables are you getting in’ If you can track those 2 things and let the other nutrients go into place, you’re in a good place my friend!

Third is to think about the nutritional density of your foods and food quality.
This is what I like to call ?Good, Better, Best.? Buying good food that you can afford. This comes down to choices! We want to choose foods that have the highest nutrient quality. Apple juice, good choice, better choice apple sauce, and the best choice is the apple. Get what I am talking about’ A poor choice of food in the moment doesn’t make you a bad person though so remember that!

I want you to try out ?If – Then planning.? This is what it would look like? ?If I have 1 margarita, then I will make sure I have a protein filled meal. ?Think through with your strategy before you get into the situation will make things easier on yourself when you are going out or enjoying a night with friends or with your sweetie. Be prepared for what you are going to do in those situations and never make yourself feel bad afterwards!

The 4th thing on the list is I want you to break up with the ?Good Food & Bad Food List?. You need to break free of that food police! Let’s stop vilifying our foods! Stop judging the food that you eat. There is no good food, bad food list and there never will be.
There are foods you can eat more of and foods you should eat less of, but no good and bad. Just enjoy yourself and move on when you go out. Food is not your enemy. Own your choices, own your SHIT and move on. But always respect your body. DO NOT treat it like a dumpster. And don’t eat like an ass hole!!

You will hear macros a lot, and macros are the components of calories. What are our foods made up of’ The 3 major macros are proteins, carbs and fats. We have to calculate it and track them, because we cannot set it and forget it. Set your macro intake on your hunger, energy and cravings, and if you are sleeping & your stress levels. Because no matter how hard you diet and exercise, if you don’t have sleep and stress under control, it will chisel away at your results, and you won’t have any!

The 5th item on the list is nutrient timing. Nutrient timing involves eating foods at strategic times in order to achieve a certain outcome. And I hear people all the time trying to focus on when to eat their protein and when to get it into their day when it comes to building muscle and working out. Or eating at a certain time to burn more fat. But here is the kicker if you are not consistent with alllll of the things above. The nutrient timing isn’t going to mean squat! So, when do I do my protein, when do I do my pre workout, etc. It won’t matter if you cannot do the steps above and become consistent with those habits.

And the last thing you need to do, after everything else is Supplementation and why you are supplementing. You cannot supplement to make up for a bad diet? you just can’t do it. Not having a nice base level of nutrition is never going to go away because you need to have knife and fork meals. When you eat knife and fork meals, you get a thermogenic effect which starts burning calories while you are eating. And guess what? When I drink a shake, it’s already predigested, so there is no burning of calories while digesting and breaking down the food. It is already in a liquid form, so it requires little to no energy to digest it.

What protein powder supplementation is really meant to do is be an aid. You are not getting enough bang for your buck with it. So, I want you to do foods first then think about what you are using the supplement for. If I am not being consistent with what I am eating, does the supplement make sense in my world”’

So, if this was helpful at all and you want to dive deeper into this, I have created the #foreverfatloss. It’s for those you who start a diet with all the right intentions but never seem to follow through. This is your never go on a diet again. Grab the link below!!

LINKS

Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/kimbarnesjeffersoncoach

Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/fitgirlmagic/

Website: https://kimbarnesjefferson.com/

#foreverfatloss mini course

https://kimbarnesjefferson.lpages.co/hlf_2021

Podcast:
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/fit-girl-magic-healthy-living-for-women-over-40/id1476883661

The post Are You Ready To Dominate Your Weight Loss Fundamentals appeared first on Kim Barnes Jefferson.

So,we’have to’move their attention and shift their focus. He does this by having them stick with 2-3 habits’at a time. Because it ALWAYS comes back to sustainability. If we can sustain 2 new big things a month, then you’re going to have a massive shift that is going to last a lifetime. When we try to do more than that, it gets’really tricky’and really hard to’sustain.

What are ways you work with your clients to pull them back and talk them into what resistance is and why slow is the new fast’

Resistance comes in a couple different forms. Physical resistance, injury, lack of preparation and resistance from our stories. The best way to remove resistance is to figure out how you are sold by the stories your mind tells you.But the biggest resistance’to making a change’is’by’not’making a decision. This is the most common among his clients.So,get clear as well as what you are doing

Some say their brain doesn’t do things or is not organized.My brain doesn’t do’that;I am not organized like that.It’s just that you don’t do that YET. Your mind isn’t there YET.It’s not necessarily that you can’t get there and develop that’subconscious habit, it’s just not there YET!

Let’s dive more deeply into NLP (Neuro- Linguistic’Programming ).what is it anyways’ Let’s take the example of setting a goal for the New Year. Some will set a goal and they have an environment they are trying to create. Next piece of the puzzle is the behavior. After this some people get to the next level, which is thinking about skills and what they need help with to achieve this behavior and’environment goal. These skills’could be food prep, quality movement, or sleeping could be a skill. And once they have done’this..It usually stops after this.

Matt works with them to start thinking 4 layers deeper.

The first’level’involves Stories. What are the stories I need to have’in order to’achieve this goal’ A story might be, I am’unstoppable,and I am able to prepare my food each and every day. I enjoy eating healthy is a story.. What does your mind tell you every day’ That is the story.You are not your’thoughts;you are the thinker of your thoughts!!!Changing those stories is so you can start telling yourself different things to get better results!

Next’is’values‘and the values that someone hasI’value my health. If’you’don’t know what’you’value, it is hard to figure out where we spend our time. How do you change your values’ And you do this by just deciding to value something more. You just decide to value something more. It’s like putting your oxygen mask on first, kind of thing. And when you shift your values, new stories come up!

Then we have Belief. At a core level, what do you believe’ Do you believe” (this’is where it gets’real) There’are many people out there that believe no matter’what they do they will always go back to where they were from a weight perspective This can be the subconscious belief or conscious belief. You don’t need to believe it at the very beginning. This is’actually something’that can build as you change your’stories and change your values. Motivation’actually happens’after you get started if you’didn’t notice’in your own personal experiences. A lot of people think they’have to’be motivated to get started, but as you get moving you create habits and the #1 habit Matt teaches people is’DO IT ANYWAYS HABIT!This is a massive game changer!

And last is our Habits.Habits are so tied to beliefs. If you don’t believe that you will be successful and get healthy and lose’weight.Then you probably won’t.If you’don’t believe you can achieve the goal, it’s already over. End game!! When this’happens,you won’t create those habits you need to move forward.

We don’t get what we want, we get our habits It’s about your habits and creating these’little, small’micro’habits that will lead to bigger ones!

The last part of Logical levels and NLP is IDENTITY. This is everything, how you’re’being. And most people try to do everything but at a deeper level how are you’being..

Are you being committed’
Are you being responsible’
Are you being’self-integral’
Are you being ready’
Are’you being’willing’
Are you being invested’

What’are’the ways right now you are being that are necessarily serving you!!” Think about integrity. If we are not keeping promises to’ourselvesHow can you change that’

Being 100% responsible, being committed and being’self-integral’and when you shift’those 3 it creates a complete ripple effect of your overall health and wellbeing.

The only thing not on the logical levels that Matt does that really helps people is just examining what your lowest standards are. We have standards in every area of our lives, our relationship, and our jobs. But we also have lowest standards in what we will put into our body

It is really paying attention to what is your lowest’standard’Is your lowest standard screwing you over’ Because when you get your lowest standard to this point, and you get it to a point in which it allows you to maintain and sustain, or improve’

So pay’attention..What do you allow in your life”’Do I allow people to treat me a certain way or allow my own thoughts to talk’shit’to me.” Don’t allow this to happen, don’t allow outside influences to change what you do or’what’you’want’to do.It all starts WITHIN YOU!

And’this..THIS is’all mindset!!

What makes you feel magical’

What makes me feel magical is 2 parts.

My ability to connect with women, I feel like being a male that can connect and NOT KNOW what they are going through, because I will never know, but I understand on many different’levels,and I can’relate’and I can really align and be there to support.

I do it in a subconscious way. I can’actually go’in and do hypnotherapy that allows people to get free like that. Let 20-30-40 years of stuff you have been holding on, gone.

Blows my mind! But it just started to make me realize that I have another tool in my tool belt to create magical results for people and give them what they truly want.

Feel blessed to be able to work with so many amazing women in my program and communities and I just love my life, and this is what I am on the planet for. My Dharma and such grateful people let me do this every day.

Facebook Page:https://www.facebook.com/kimbarnesjeffersoncoach

Facebook Group:https://www.facebook.com/groups/fitgirlmagic/

Website:https://kimbarnesjefferson.com/

#foreverfatloss’mini coursehttps://kimbarnesjefferson.lpages.co/hlf_2021

Matt Travis:
https://www.facebook.com/thepotentialu

https://www.instagram.com/thepotentialu/

https://www.thepotential-u.com/the-mind-body-business-transformation

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Lindsay Saenz

One piece of advice I would give to someone continuing their health journey about how to stay consistent. Would be to focus on the daily action steps. I know that it’s really easy to try to do all the things instead of the end goal and really hone in on the healthy habits you can do day in and day out. This will help you keep the momentum going for you!

Leslie Logan

First of all, the fact that you’re even wanting to hear this advice means that this is something you really, really want. If that is something you want, I want you to celebrate any time you think about being consistent, because our brain really does pay attention to the way we react to things! Do you get stressed out because you’re not being consistent, just know that your brain is not going to look for ways for you to get consistent. Make sure you are celebrating any win!

Here is what I want you to do!!

I believe that what is scheduled is what happens. So, I want you to grab your calendar and plug in a date with yourself where these goals happen. Whether it is planning your shopping to get the healthy foods that you’re wanting to put on your plate, or it is when you’re getting in your workouts, I want it in your schedule! Because what is scheduled is what will happen. And if life happens and you miss a date with yourself, first of all, there’s always something called rescheduling. But second, I don’t want to get mad at yourself going back to what I said above, our brain pays attention.

Don’t miss a date with yourself, if you miss an opportunity to do something that’s consistent with your health and fitness goals, you cannot get upset. You have to just take a moment, strategize how you won’t let that happen again, and then celebrate yourself for thinking about that thing. Because your brain is paying attention to how you react to your health and fitness goals. And if you’re stressed out about them, it’s not going to look for ways to be consistent if you look for ways to not be consistent. Celebrate even the fact that you’ve thought about doing it and that’s going to help you be more consistent toward those health and fitness goals.

Just take time to schedule dates with these goals. And then celebrate anytime you think about doing that for when you do them. You’re going to get that easy win and it’s going to make it easier to add more and more things in the future and stay consistent with those as well!!!

Laura Cavallo

For me, this is a two-part piece of advice. #1 is to start small. Many people who are either starting or having trouble sticking to a routine, get so overwhelmed because they think that their workouts have to be an hour and a half and that they have to cook three square meals that have super healthy, delicious food. And the reality is, is that when we go from one extreme to the next, the next is often very hard to stay consistent. So, I find with my clients that just starting with one small habit, one small change, whether it’s drinking one or two glasses more of water per day, going for a 20-minute walk, or just meal prepping one thing on Sunday for the week, gets them into that routine of success with small habits. Just doing something every day, even if it’s just something small.

#2 is not to rely solely on motivation as a way to stay consistent. The reality is that even for fitness coaches, wellness professionals, even athletes, we aren’t always going to feel motivated to exercise. And that is just the reality. So, the more that we can normalize not being motivated to exercise or eat healthy all the time, I think will help to release that shame and that guilt of always needing to be on top of it and always feeling like we need to be the best or be perfect.

As women, I find that my clients tend to carry a lot of shame and judgment and guilt around being perfect or not being perfect or not doing something all the time when in reality, we’re human beings and life happens, and things happen. So, the more that we can stop relying on motivation itself and focus more on just doing something small every day, the more wins we’re going to get under our belt, the more joy, and excitement and the more accomplishment we’re going to feel in the smaller habits.

Then, after time as you build up smaller habits, you can start increasing how many of those habits you do, or the length of those habits, the length of those workouts, or even the complexity of those nutrition habits that you might implement. Then you can get rid of that shame, that guilt, that judgment and know that we’re only human and that if we fall off the horse just to get back up and keep trying. I think we’re going to find a lot more success with those habits if we can keep those two things in mind!!

Ashley Fillmore

I absolutely love this question.!!! Because oftentimes, when you’re getting started on your health and fitness journey, you feel so overwhelmed with trying to do all the things. Either you’re trying to eat perfectly workout every single day, hit your water goal, get all your sleep in, and it can be a bit overwhelming.

The secret to sustaining your body composition change, and improving your health is making sure you’re going at your own pace. I like to set many goals with my clients, and we generally will focus on one to three dial movers for them. That will allow them to not feel so overwhelmed, get burnt out on trying to do too much too soon. And it allows you to really measure progress.

Just getting started, I suggest that you focus on one to three dial movers. Ok what are some dial movers” Here are some examples I give my clients.

• Eating a whole protein at every single meal.
• Making sure they move every day, anywhere from 10 minutes to 30 minutes. Or if you have a little more time, great.
• Making sure you’re eating your vegetables.
• Making sure you’re getting in some walking.
• Making sure that you are food journaling.

Everybody has their own unique goals. But really focus on 1-3 of those things, and that will help you move the dial in the right direction without feeling overwhelmed.

Always remember, this is a marathon and not a sprint. Sustainable change happens over time. Unfortunately, it doesn’t have that instant gratification. But if you keep with it, show up consistently and trust the process, you are going to see amazing results.

Ask yourself today, what are 1-3 things you could start doing today that are going to push you in the right direction.” Pick things that you know are going to work for you and tackle those harder barriers down the road after you build up some momentum and confidence!!!

LINKS

Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/FabFitSquad

Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/fitgirlmagic/

Website: https://kimbarnesjefferson.com/

Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/fit-girl-magic-healthy-living-for-women-over-40/id1476883661

What’s your fitness personality https://kimbarnesjefferson.lpages.co/whats-your-fitness-personality

The post Who Else Wants To Be Consistent With Their Health’ appeared first on Kim Barnes Jefferson.

1. Nutrition
2. Mindset
3. Habits
4. Exercise

Now, we have the 4 pillars, BUT what are you going to focus on first’ Here are 4 steps to figuring out what you are going to focus on first.

1. Make that CHOICE, where are you going to focus’ Nutrition, mindset, habits or exercise’
2. Make it soooo clear as to what your goal is. Make sure everyone on the street knows what your goal is.
3. CONNECT to that goal. It is your WHY.  You can see your vision of yourself achieving this goal. You are willing to get creative.
4. COURAGE… Courage to keep ongoing. It isn’t going to be smooth sailing!! Something doesn’t go the way you want, and you give up. So you have to keep going and fight through the malarkey! The BS story’s you tell yourself.And then working through this, you will get consistency.

Alright, so you have figured out which you are going to focus on first, now let’s dive more into each one of these pillars so you can gain a better understanding of each.

Nutrition
The first we are going to talk about is Nutrition! The great Jack  LaLane always said Nutrition is Queen and fitness is King and so many want to do it the other way around. You want to exercise your way into whatever your goal is, vs focus on nutrition. Nutrition is a loaded freaking question and you have to know what the hell you are eating! So, tracking your food will be key here and I know a lot of people don’t like to do this. BUT look at tracking as your bank account. You need to know what is going on in and out of that bank account, so you NEED to know what is going in that body. So, this means you are going to have to track calories and figure out how many calories you need daily to lose weight. Let’s start with taking your goal weight and multiplying it by 10, 11, or 12. So 160 x 12 = 1920 calories I need daily to get to that target weight. Or 160 x 10 = 1600 calories to get to your target weight.

Play around with what you are taking in daily and adjust as you see you need it. If you have more than 10 pounds you want to lose, I want you to do these goals in 10-pound increments. I don’t want you to starve. I want this to be attainable. You start here and tweak it as you go. So, you are going to ask yourself, are you hungry, what is your energy level like, are you craving, what is your sleep like, and what is your stress like If it is all working well, then stay with this 1920. If all of that stuff isn’t working, then we need to start looking closer at this number.

You must track your food, especially if you are one of those people that life always happens, and you just don’t eat as much as you should, or you are easily tempted. I challenge you to sit down and write about what you are going to eat for the next 24 hours.

Soups, shakes, scrambles and salads. In all of these things, you are able to get a variety of foods. And they are soo easy to add in protein and eat them any time of the day, as long as it makes it easy for you to get in quality meals.

Exercise

Pillar number 2 we are going to talk about is Exercise. For many people, exercise is easy. And then there are other people that ask me, how do I burn more calories’ But what if you are not able to spend 1-2 hours a day at the gym’ So, I want you to think of exercise as a vitamin. It is nice to have vitamins and they are good to take it. But it’s not the same as taking blood pressure medication. Right’ Exercise is a nice way to put the cherry on top of the sundae.

You have to make a choice. What are you trying to accomplish with this exercise’

• Maintenance’
• Fat loss’
• Build strength and muscle’

Can I add more strength to my life’ Pure strength’ The harder you push on that cardio, the harder your metabolism is going to push back and up those cravings. So the best way I know how to burn more calories is to add more muscle to your body. (NOOO you won’t look like a man and get bulky!) This would include strength training to get your body looking fit and fabulous!

Habits

I have done multiple podcast episodes on pillar number 3, habits. Habits are my jam and I know for a fact that if you don’t have strong habits, it’s really easy to flip back. One way to create better habits is to stack your habits. This just means to add an extra habit into habits you are already doing throughout the day.

Taking drinking more water. In order for me to drink coffee, I need to drink water in between cups. This is a great habit for me to create so that I can make sure I am getting enough water throughout my day. I also set my class as a trigger for water. I make sure I drink 16 oz of water before that class is over.  This is one simple one that you can start with! BUT DO NOT try starting 500 new habits at once Pick 1 whether it is trying to break a habit or create a new habit throughout your day. Here is where you have to get the courage. You have to get creative as to how to break a habit or get the courage to and add one in and commit to it.

Let me know in the comments what habit you’d like to start or stop.

Mindset

The last and simply not least pillar of weight loss is a mindset. And the 2 biggest types of mindset I see are striving for absolute perfection & the all-or-nothing approach. Perfection, everything has to be perfect, but we have to tweak things as we go so it’s not personal. All or nothing, either eating amazing or no, Can having 2 chocolate chip cookies, take you out of the game.

The key to mindset is to you have to set smaller goals. Create a 24-hour plan. When you wake up and go to bed, this is what is going to happen. And when you write down that blueprint, it is going to stick in your head. It may take more time but write down that plan because I want you to write it out so you can see what you are doing every day. If you see you eat chocolate cookies every day. How is this adding or subtracting from your goals’

Writing things down also helps you to ask better questions. IF & THEN. If I have chocolate chip cookies, THEN I am only going to eat one or THEN I am not eating off my kid’s plates. THEN, these are healthier alternatives. But trust me, there will be times with fun foods, but what is going to happen on the other side of that. Balance So the more you restrict and ban things, the more likely you are going to lose your shit!

So how do you blend foods and not ban foods‘ Instead of thinking about the need to take away… think about What can I add’ Focus on something like protein. Can you add 20-30 grams of protein into every meal you eat’ Can you have at least 1-2 servings of vegetables with 2-3 meals’

I need you to start asking yourself, “HOW DO I BREAK FREE OF THIS and get that consistency’So, start by thinking in terms of HOW CAN I WIN. NOT How can I mess this up’ How can I achieve the goal today’

So what pillar are you going to start with first’ What are the goals you are setting for yourself in your journey. And how can I help you achieve these goals’

STARTING in January, I am going to be doing a 30-day Challenge. And it’s all about strength. How do you build strength’ It comes in 2 forms. Strength in your Mindset and in your body. The more strength you build in your body, the less you have to focus on calories because you will then have more muscle in your body to burn those calories!

If you got stronger and had more muscle on your body, how could that change your life’

So if you want to get lean and sexy this coming January 2021 join here
And let me know in the comments and on the socials. How can I make this journey as seamless and effortless as possible” LMK!

LINKS

Guilt Free Summer Action Guide

Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/FabFitSquad

Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/fitgirlmagic/

Website: https://kimbarnesjefferson.com/

Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/fit-girl-magic-healthy-living-for-women-over-40/id1476883661

Lean and Sexy Over 40 https://kimbarnesjefferson.lpages.co/leanandsexyjanuary

The post Don’t Just Sit There Start using these 4 Pillars Of Weight Loss appeared first on Kim Barnes Jefferson.

Kersten Kimura is a personal trainer and a women’s health coach. Her goal is to help high-achieving women recover from the burnout that’s caused by overtraining, under-eating, and too much stress. After recovering from severe burnout, herself, she now teaches women how to find the healthy middle ground with food and fitness and get results without doing anything extreme. She’s speaking my language because, I WAS ONE OF THOSE GIRLS!

I can totally relate to Kersten and her clients that she works with. If I didn’t workout every single freaking day and if I wasn’t sore all the time, I was a failure. If I wasn’t burning a certain amount of calories when I was doing cardio, my thought was then why do cardio and eventually my body gave me the middle finger. Maybe you are an over trainer, or you have overcome it, or you are in it and you just don’t know it. That is the focus of the conversation that I had with Kersten and she dropped some serious knowledge bombs for me to give to you guys!

When you are in that overtraining mode, you think it is totally normal, you think that everyone does it. You think that you are no excessive, you are not crazy and that your body can take it. But guess what girl, I see you!!! I have been there, and it is just a matter of time before your body decides to not do what you want it to do and you are going to crash.

Kersten’s schedule was intense. She worked out 6 days a week running for about 60 minutes a day or 10K (6.2 miles for us ugly Americans ) then she started training for marathons and the running turned into more and more miles every day. She was eating less and running more, and sometimes would not eat and go run for hours at a time. After 6-7 years of this, she found strength training and how strong it made her and the muscle she put on but it meant she had to eat more. She started eating better with more calories, but the OVER TRAINING was still there.

Her workouts still consisted of 6 days a week and even on her rest days, she still had to do something. She always had this huge fear that if she didn’t work out 1 or 2 days a week that things would go to shit. Sound familiar”’ As Kersten did more and more strength training, the running fell off a bit, but she was working out an average of 90 minutes to, sometimes up to 3 hours!  And a lot of these workouts were extremely intense with HIIT and power walking. And this went on for a while.

There were signs that Kersten was overdoing it and pushing herself way too hard, but she didn’t want to think anything of them or pay any mind to them because she was way too focused on her how she look, how much she weighed and how long she was training for. Looking back, she used her training as a way to measure her self-worth. She was cold a lot, she had irregular and missed periods, she was not sleeping and she didn’t realize that this was part of something bigger until in 2016 she started getting really exhausted a lot and she knew than that something was up because she just wasn’t motivated anymore… She wasn’t excited to work out like she used to be. She just thought life was catching up to her.

Kersten had gone to see an acupuncturist for another injury and when she started talking with them about her health, she then realized that these symptoms she was having were not normal, they weren’t supposed to be happening. The acupuncturist started asking her all kinds of question, from her sex drive and period to sleep and right there she said that she didn’t have any of those! And that is when the acupuncturist told her that her body could be reacting this way because she was too active and told her that she needed to take it easy and slow down at the gym

Kersten was waiting for this. For this permission. She didn’t know how to do this, but she had wanted some sort of external permission to slow down... And hearing it from someone else that she can do it and that she should do it for her health, felt sooooo good! She knew that this acupuncturist was right, she knew that she had hit rock bottom, she just could not admit it. And this holds so true to so many of her clients even though a lot of them hate it when they hear me say this exact thing to them.

Slow Down…

For many of us, it has to be a cascade of events to finally say, maybe there is something wrong with me, maybe I need to see someone. Maybe I need that permission to see someone.And I truly hope that this podcast gives someone permission to slow down because if someone had given me permission to slow down, I would have slowed down before I broke down. Before I completely crashed.

Kersten said it best If you don’t hear your body whisper, you will never have to hear it scream.You get these whispers from your body all of the time, and you (your ego) are still saying I know better and ignoring the whispers. But when your body does scream, it will shut down functions and coming out of that will take much longer than if you had listened.  How many times have you been laying in bed and your body is like, Girl, today is not the day and you are like NOPE you don’t know what I need!! YOU ARE NOT LAZY!! THS is your body telling you to slow yourself!!

The line between being dedicated and being obsessed is very vague! And sometimes you don’t know where exactly that line is drawn.

You don’t have to be crazy about the numbers, you don’t have to be a perfectionist and get 30,000 steps in every day or burn 3,000 calories a day and stick to strict caloric intake or workout for hours a day! Make peace with numbers.  Numbers now are a tool to experiment with, not something that runs your life and days. If we are able to get 10,000 steps then great, if not then don’t beat yourself up about it. These numbers are simply just data now.

I want you to think about your bank account, this is a great example of what I am talking about. If I have $3,000 in my bank account, and I want $5,000 in my bank account, I know it is not an overnight thing. I have to do a few things and it will not happen today, but I will eventually get there. For many of us, we think that the more we do now at this moment is getting us to our goal faster, but instead, you just need better tools to figure out how to get to that $5,000.

So, to help people with all of this, realizing they are overtraining, Kersten has created the 3 Phase Approach: The Recovery Burnout Spectrum which consists of the Burnout Phase, the Healing Phase, and the Balance Phase.

Burnout Phase

By the Burnout Phase, you are overtraining and under eating and being really stressed out in general! You are doing a lot of workouts and being super perfect with your workouts, you are under-eating or dieting constantly and your metabolism starts to slow down. In return you have no sleep, you get headaches, no periods, constipation, hair loss and just feeling really drained.

Healing Phase

The Healing Phase you have to start doing the opposite things that you were doing before. So in order to get better, you have to nourish your body which means getting enough of all 3 macronutrients. Not cutting all the carbs and giving your body the fuel, it needs. You also have to slow down and do less.

Balance Phase

The Balance Phase is when everything is healed and things are going well. You are mentally feeling better and your relationship with your body gets better as you enter into this phase. This is the middle ground. You start working out a little more intensely, but carefully this time. Can bring back your Fitbit and Apple watch as long as it doesn’t make you obsessive. You can start tracking your steps and be conscious of how much protein you are eating. THIS IS THE MIDDLE GROUND where you can make choices based on how you are feeling and what your body needs. And you add in your knowledge about basic nutrition and exercise that you have learned.

But let me make this clear There is no 12 weeks to burnout free and healing and balance, there is no finite timeline.  It is a listening to your body process.Everyone is so different. 12 weeks may be enough to get out of that damage phase for some people, but for others, they may require 24 weeks or more to get out of it.

How do you help someone who is at that burnout phase who is TRYING to step into that healing…’

Sometimes people see that there is no other choice and they stop completely!!

And others need a gradual approach and it consists of baby steps, like going from 1 hour of cardio to going to something that’s easier on your body. She doesn’t take everything away from you… And Kersten eases each person in and insures to give the mind and body time to adjust.

We know that you see people who have these perfect bodies and you want to be just like them, but in order to get that, it’s not about working out more and more and rest very little, you have to workout hard AND rest hard too! That is why people look the way they do and look as good as they do!! Balance!  You can have it all, but you have to take the first steps to heal and what comes after that.

I want you to take some stock, are you that person who is caught up in the workouts that must be a certain time, you cannot eat a certain thing, you have to take in certain calories, do you have a LOT OF RULES’  Maybe its time to take a step back from the rules and see where it takes you. And ask yourself, “Are you in any of these phases right now’Which phase are you in’.

If you are unsure, reach out to one of us! We would love to help go over this more in full and help you get to that next level.  With things like this, it is really imperative that you have a support system, that you have a coach and mentor to get you through this. HELL, I have been using a coach for 3.5 years after my burnout!  And if you are in that burnout phase please!! Kersten is the one to help you!  No shame at all, just reach out to her if you have any questions. And if you know someone who needs to hear this, share it with them, they do not need to suffer in silence!

What is one thing that makes you feel magical’

“Getting a really good, full night’s sleep. Sleep has been a problem for a very long time. When I stopped doing so much it got a lot better. But I am still sensitive to it. So, if I do too much during the day, I know my sleep will be affected. A night of truly a good nights sleep is what does it for me.! Kersten

Another episode you may like is this one with Natalie Newhart, The Secrets to Heal Metabolic Damage

Links:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kerstenkimura/

Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/balanced-vibes-podcast-healthy-fitness-food-and-mindset/id1509566999

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCXUL86gzaJKANEC2ZrB9CzQ

Website: https://urbanjane.co/

Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/FabFitSquad

Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/fitgirlmagic/

Website: https://kimbarnesjefferson.com/

Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/fit-girl-magic-healthy-living-for-women-over-40/id1476883661

The post Are You Ready To Break Up With Overtraining’ appeared first on Kim Barnes Jefferson.