The holiday season is upon us. Hell for some it kicked off last month with Thanksgiving! It’s a time for rest, relaxation and family.
Many folks find diets (or healthy eating plans) tough to follow this time of year. I know I do and I don’t even have a social life!
It often leads to feelings of frustration, even cases of “what’s the point of even trying to follow a diet and exercise plan?” which is how one client was starting to feel.
He’s a serious recreational physique athlete and our plan is to take him to the next level, which requires a solid foundation of diet and training habits to build on.
However, diet consistency has been an issue. Too many cheats on the weekend which have both held him back and stressed him out.
We were finally making headway when Thanksgiving hit and his diet went sideways again, and now he has an unexpected trip out of town with friends.
But rather than feel excited about it, he’s frustrated. He wants to get the most out of our coaching and feels he’s letting himself down.
I told him he needs to look at it differently.
Here’s what I wrote:
So we just wrapped Thanksgiving, now you got 5 days away with friends, with at least a few big meals and drinks and fun.
On the one hand, these are very good problems to have. I’m jealous.
On the other hand, back to back stretches of next-to-no training and way too many calories is a great way to accomplish nothing, even back slide.
So you have two ways to look at your situation:
“I am pissed off because I am paying for coaching to reach a physique goal but am not putting myself in an ideal place to be 100% successful.”
OR
“I am paying for coaching to reach a physique goal AND learn a bunch of things about my body.
“But I also have a life that I want to enjoy and I don’t have a contest I’m competing in, so I’m willing to sacrifice a bit of progress to maintain balance. I will simply work that much harder and be 100% on point when I’m back home.
“Because I wanna do this for life, so that means figuring out the tasks I can easily weave it into my lifestyle and what will take more concerted effort.
“And because it’s for life, I have my whole life to work on it.”
You can guess which perspective I think is best.
– Bryan