Challenge yourself for change
But I think 2024 is the year to focus on grace. This is where I see a lot of issues for my students and myself too. If I can’t do all of it I may as well not do it at all. That is one of the biggest health fallacies.
- Ericka Thomas
Transcript
Welcome to season 4 of The Work IN
Here we are in Season 4 of The Work IN. Happy New Year everyone! This year is fresh and new and as I often do I’m looking back over the last year. What worked and what could have been better? What do I want to keep and what can I let go? What needs to change? I learned so much in 2023. There are things I know I’m outgrowing for sure. There’s a lot that I want to keep. One of the things that I love doing is this podcast. I thought I’d take today and share my personal health challenge for 2024 and what you can expect this season.
One of the things I struggle with in general is a tendency towards black and white thinking. The all in or all out. This shows up for me in lots of ways but often in health patterns. If I do a new year diet it’s all in or all out. I have never mastered the gray areas when it comes to health. But I think 2024 is the year to focus on grace. This is where I see a lot of issues for my students and myself too. If I can’t do all of it I may as well not do it at all. That is one of the biggest health fallacies.
The fact is everything counts. Any tiny little shift towards something healthier makes a difference and over time all those little differences add up.
In my quarter century of experience in the fitness industry I’ve done a lot of diets, health challenges and cleanses. And because I, like most of us, can do almost anything if we know there is an end to it, I’ve been pretty successful with them. Meaning they all did what they were intended to do. And that’s the thing about any kind of diet, challenge or cleanse. They all work.
What they don’t tell you is in the small print, the tiny, infinitesimally small print that says those results may vary and are not guaranteed to last even 72 hours after completing the diet.
And that's the thing. If you want different results you have to do something different, not for 30 days, 6 weeks, not even 6 months or a year. If we want that change to last forever then you have to be willing to do it forever.
That’s why we say the best diet is the one that you’ll stick to…for the rest of your life.
I’ve never been interested in dieting for that very reason. And also because we’re all so much more than only what you put on your plate.
The body is a network of systems and they all support and influence each other. When one gets to the new year and discovers an extra 15 or so pounds one might think simply cutting back on the calories will do the trick. And maybe it’s that simple.
But what if we’re also a year older. What if our relationships have changed. What if our family has changed. Or our job. What if there’s more going on with our health than the number on the scale? What if we struggle with sleep or joint pain or blood sugar or too much alcohol. What if we have some new medications? What if we have some chronic illness or autoimmune disorder?
All of those things and more can affect the way our body responds to the typical diet and exercise prescription of calories in calories out.
As I’m recording this I’m sitting here in some extra snug pants and struggling a bit with my own body image issues. Fit pros are notorious for getting sucked into the funhouse mirror of perception about how we look when we stand in front of a class. I can’t tell you how many of my colleagues, myself included, struggle with disordered eating and overtraining. I think what we all are seeking is the holy grail of health. That “perfect” diet and exercise plan that will make us feel comfortable in our own skin.
That phrase “comfortable in your own skin” is something that I want badly. For myself and for my students. It isn’t possible until you can convince the mean girl who lives rent free in your head to stop picking at you. The fact is that you can change everything about how you look but if you can’t see it it will never be enough to change how you feel.
I think this is why diets fail for so many of us. It’s never enough if we don’t know how to love what we see. We don’t know how to find comfort in our own skin. We don’t know how to quiet that vicious voice and turn it to our own favor. We don’t know how to offer ourselves the kind of grace we give to literally everyone else we know.
Today I wanted to share with you a personal challenge that I’m weaving throughout the next few episodes of The Work IN podcast. I’m honestly not sure how long it will go but for sure for the entire month of January. You are welcome to join me. This is a very informal challenge. There’s no prize at the end except what you learn about yourself and your own results.
This challenge is based on all the best aspects of other diets and challenges I’ve used in the past.
Things like Clean by Alejandro Junger, The Whole 30, and Game On, as well as current health science from Robert Lustig and others.
Working name for this is The Work IN Cat 5 challenge.
I’m taking 5 categories of health: Nutrition, Exercise, Sleep, Nervous System, Connection and making one or 2 shifts in behavior in each.
Here’s what I’m doing for the next 4 weeks:
In the nutrition category: ½ my body weight in ounces of water per day, No sugar/ultra processed foods + No alcohol
In the exercise Category: Adding in 3-4 days of at least 15 minutes of resistance training.
Sleep Category: Maintain 9 PM bedtime 6 days a week + Limit caffeine intake to before noon.
Nervous system Category: Revive 15 - 30 min morning meditation 6 days per week
Connection Category: No TV during the day or during meals. No tech after 8 PM. Weekly shadow journal. 1-2 x per month do something with friends tech free.
That sounds like a lot. It might be too much if you’re starting from scratch. If you are then I suggest only choosing one habit you want to drop and one you want to start and stick with that. Most of what is on my challenge is building on things that have worked for me in the past. So I would encourage you to do the same. What has worked for you in the past?
Is there something that you love to do that you never have time to do?
The point of this type of challenge is that you customize it to it where you are right now. If there was one thing that worked for everyone there would only be one thing. So make it your own. I’ll be making a simple challenge tracker that you can use if you like. It will be available in the show notes.
Over the next few weeks you’ll be getting some specifics and encouragement to support your cat 5 journey. Beginning next week with a special guest Kristy Kryko of Purple Dog Sober to talk to us about gray area drinking and dry January. If you’re a little black and white thinking about drinking I hope you’ll tune in.
Thanks so much for listening! Happy new year everyone! Be sure to head over to the show notes at SavageGraceCoaching.com/theworkin to grab that tracker and I’ll see you next time on The Work IN.
Hey there!
I’m your host Ericka Thomas. I'm a resilience coach and fit-preneur offering an authentic, actionable realistic approach to personal and professional balance for coaches in any format.
Savage Grace Coaching is all about bringing resilience and burnout recovery. Especially for overwhelmed entrepreneurs, creators and coaches in the fitness industry.
Schedule a free consultation call to see if my brand of actionable accountability is right for you and your business.