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This may seem like a random post but I felt compelled to share this with you after my chat with Tom Blackman on the #NoFilterNeeded Podcast last week.
We discuss lots of things but one of them was what Tom calls ‘The Diet Trap’ and it got me thinking about my own past experiences with dieting.
What I am about to share with you is a rather extreme case, but the lesson is there nonetheless, and it’s applicable to any quick-fix diet or fitness regime which is why I stop myself from rushing into any drastic weight loss right now (despite putting on quite a few pounds during this pandemic) and I encourage you to really look at the big picture and consider all eventualities and repercussions on every part of you before you run headfirst into dropping your lockdown weight like a hot potato!
 
These before and afters were taken exactly 7 weeks apart.
And although I believe everyone can do anything that they put their mind to, it doesn’t always mean that they should – of course this is always for you to decide.
Today I just wanted to use my personal experience to show you a bigger view of the picture here so you are more informed for your own choices.
I’m sure you’ve been tempted by a before and after photo which has an accompanying ‘blueprint’ for the same success if you want it…
BUT
What that picture, blueprint for success, don’t tell you is how you are going to feel and what you are going to experience after.
Doing a body transformation like this isn’t sustainable, as I’m sure you understand, as did I…or so I thought.
The diet and the show were really the easy part in the grand scheme of things and compared to the physical and psychological repercussions that I contended with afterward.
Slow metabolism, obsessive behaviours and body dysmorphia are far more difficult to grapple with than the diet itself, and although these may not appear in big, obvious ways they are there nonetheless.
I learned a lot about myself doing this and I gained some really useful insights and hands-on knowledge, however, this didn’t come for free.
I have absolutely no regrets (I NEVER have regrets!) but as much as a part of me would love to do something like this again because I’m goal-driven (and a bit of a control freak) I know it would do more harm than good and would send me backward.
Basically, when the 7 weeks came to an end and I hung up my sparkly bikini, I couldn’t unlearn what I had learned and that’s annoying when you just want to resume your normal life again, because basically, you can’t.
The 7 weeks of dieting had to come first above everything else. I was willing to (at a quieter time for my businesses) sacrifice everything else in my life for these weeks including seeing any friends and family. This was, of course, my choice but I wanted to give myself the best chance of succeeding and so I eliminated all possible distractions that could knock me off course – it was only 7 weeks…
but it wasn’t just 7 weeks as the mindset I practiced daily for those weeks didn’t just disappear overnight so I could go back to normal. It left me attempting to live in 2 minds and ultimately 2 worlds which had me battling both each week, each day even, to live happily as one lifestyle was not conducive to the other.
So what I wanted to say to you today is this:
Remember to always look past the thing that you want and before you drop everything and run after it, think hard about what getting it will mean for the rest of your life.
When it comes to quick-fixes, they are often not. They may be a catalyst for a fix that you’ve been looking for but to keep it you’re going to have re-arrange some things, potentially your whole life. If you’re ready to do that then that’s fine but if you want to still hold onto some stuff then don’t because you’ll end up in a worse place than when you started.
Huge change and personal transformation can be a result of hitting rock bottom; when you are at rock bottom you can surrender everything and you build good foundations and a strong structure from scratch.
But when you’re not willing to surrender all then you may find yourself building on unsupportive foundations which means it’s only a matter of time before it all falls apart.
I’m certainly a little cuddlier these days and that’s fine. It’s a temporary situation that we’re all in and we’re getting through it the best way that we can.
It’s tempting to want to get a grip on something when everything seems so uncertain but I do advise you not to do with your body. By all means, exercise and get out and about like you normally would, but throwing yourself into hardcore fitness regimes and diets without thinking them through fully first may have you bouncing out of them far worse off than when you started – both physically and mentally.
Check out this post on making your lifestyle work with you. and you can learn about the diet industry marketing tactics, using break cues to avoid mindless eating and the elements of a successful diet by listening to this episode.
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