Weeks 1&2 - Pacing

We had a great session this week! Thank you to everyone who joined us - we had a really good turnout and some fantastic discussion. Anyone who missed it, feel free to jump right in to our discussion now, and please join us next time, on January 29!

If you missed it, here is a brief play-by-play:

1. "Tiptoe if you must, but TAKE THE STEP!"
Each week we will give an award to everyone who can name some kind of victory they had - whether it was completing one of their goals, or maybe it was a single instance of success when normally they would have slipped. Perhaps someone even went above and beyond their goal! Our awards are little magnets with a quote on them, and TAKE THE STEP was on it this week. Everyone received one because, hey, sacrificing an evening to come to this meeting? That's a definite victory! It shows you want this and are ready to act!

2. Pacing 
One of our participants described the importance of pacing while running. If you start out at a sprint, you quickly run out of steam, get discouraged, and may even drop out. The same is true of a weight loss journey. When you try to be "perfect" right away, you run out of steam, get discouraged, and drop out. We are shooting for something better than that - consistent lifestyle changes that, over time, will shape your life and get you where you want to be. For GOOD!

3. This is NOT a diet!
Diets typically have you change many habits all at once, and usually the expectation is that you won't have to keep eating this way once you have "arrived" (i.e. lost X number pounds, dieted for X long). When you have this mindset, you are constantly either on or off a diet. Neither is very pretty. You are either killing yourself to be perfect, or you are bingeing on "bad" habits until your next diet starts. We want to change that mentality to something healthier.

4. Think small 
The most important thing we talked about is the importance of setting small enough goals that they are achievable. If you set too big a goal and undershoot it by a little, you feel guilty and are less likely to have confidence that you can achieve your next goal. If you set a small goal, and do the same amount of work - maybe you even go above and beyond - you feel amazing! It boosts your confidence and are ready to take another step - maybe even a bigger step - next time.

We practiced breaking down large goals into smaller, more achievable chunks. For example, if your goal is to stop skipping breakfast, there are many smaller goals beneath that. You could set a goal to buy or make easy breakfasts so that you will have them available (IMPORTANT - the goal would be to BUY the food only. If you eat it, that's just extra points!). Even if the breakfasts aren't healthy, eating it is a victory! If you are able to switch some to healthier choices, that's going above and beyond!


CHALLENGE: Think of a habit that you would like to change/add. Break it down into as many smaller pieces as you can. What is the smallest possible step you can take THIS WEEK? Share it below!

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