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#117 - 3 Mindset Shifts & 3 Habits Of The Most Successful Clients
2 Playsin 12 hours
Most people don’t fail because they don’t want to change. They fail because they’re stuck in the wrong mindset and focused on the wrong things.
In this episode, we break down the mindset shifts and real-world habits that separate the people who finally make it stick from the ones who keep starting over.
- Why trying to be perfect keeps most guys stuck — and what to focus on instead
- How the most successful clients think about food, progress, and long-term change
- What “strategic ignorance” is and how it quietly sabotages your goals
- The underrated mindset shift that makes fitness sustainable (and actually enjoyable)
- How simple tracking and awareness (not obsession) leads to better results
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Transcript
Introduction to the Fit-ish Project
00:00:03
Speaker
Welcome back to the Fit-ish Project with your host, as always, Latham Bass, where we make fitness and health simple for regular people like you and I. Another weekly episode coming at you this week.
00:00:17
Speaker
Before I get into that, if you have not and can leave a review, I really do appreciate that. As always, the mission is just to get this out to as many people as possible who can use this information to improve their health and overall just improve their lives.
00:00:32
Speaker
But getting into the episode for this
Key Habits for Impressive Fitness Results
00:00:34
Speaker
week. So I was on a couple of client calls yesterday, just some check ins, and it got me thinking about what is making these guys see such good results.
00:00:44
Speaker
So one of the things that I try to do in fitness and just in health in general is try to figure out trends, try to see patterns, try to figure out like the highest leverage things that people can do as far as making changes and being able to improve their life and ultimately feel better, look better and achieve all those goals that they have. And I think now with just social media and the abundance of information everywhere, there's a lot of very confused people.
00:01:10
Speaker
But a lot of these things don't have to really be that confusing. And so I just started thinking about it a little bit, like these guys are seeing really good progress. And so I just started thinking, like, what are the things that make these guys successful?
Mindset: The Key to Long-term Transformation
00:01:22
Speaker
Like these guys have lost 30, 40, 50 pounds at this point. They've improved their strength.
00:01:27
Speaker
They've improved their habits. They've improved their consistency. And they've done just a complete 180. So like, what are the things that are making them successful? And when I started to think about it a little bit, I was like, okay, there's obviously the tangible things that they're doing. You know, they're lifting this amount of times per week. They're getting this many steps. They're doing this with their diet and things like that. And so the tangible, the practical part of it is definitely a piece of it But I think even more so what I wanted to dive into is the mindset part of it, which I think a lot of people really struggle.
00:01:57
Speaker
And one of the most important things with this whole just making a transformation and just really being able to improve and not just for the short term, but for the long term is figuring out that mindset piece is really cultivating the right mindset behind getting the progress that you want to get and being able to do it in a way that feels sustainable and in a way where you can actually see yourself doing this for the long term.
00:02:20
Speaker
Because I think without that, without really having that shift in to a mindset that promotes doing this for the long term and promotes doing this in a way that's sustainable, you can get some quick results just by doing the tangible things, just by doing the the practical parts of it.
00:02:35
Speaker
But like if you don't really believe in it and you're not consistent with those things and it's not something that you really have a good understanding and a good grasp about why it's important, and why you're doing it, you're ultimately not going stick to it. And you become the habits that you do on a consistent basis. So like if those are things that you're only able to maintain for a short amount of time and you're just doing these things because you want a quick
Embracing Progress Over Perfection
00:02:57
Speaker
result.
00:02:57
Speaker
you might see some temporary results but those things are never going to last and so i'm going to get into three of the mindset shifts that i see with people who are successful and who have had the most progress and then i'm going to also get into three actual practical tangible things that these people are doing on a regular basis because i always want to leave you with something practical that you can take away from the episode that you can start implementing right away and so getting into this Starting with the mindset piece of this, one of the biggest things that I see people struggling with when it comes to trying to achieve some of these bigger goals and really make a impactful transformation is they come in with this expectation about how they need to just be perfect.
00:03:42
Speaker
It's the all or nothing mindset that so many people approach fitness with. And as I've talked about ad nauseum on this podcast, it does not work. I very, very rarely Ever see somebody who just dives full in and just goes absolutely nuts on their workout routine, their diet, just completely does a 180 like overnight and seeing that stick. I've never had anybody who has done that. It's always been one of those gradual things where they come in and there's some peaks, there's some valleys, there's a learning curve.
00:04:13
Speaker
There's figuring some things out, there's falling off a little bit, making some mistakes. And then over time, we start to build a good foundation. And eventually we start to get to a place where this stuff starts to become easier.
00:04:23
Speaker
But when you come in with the wrong expectations, it really sets you up for a really bad experience. And so the old mindset as people come into this, it's a lot of like, if I can't do it perfectly, I'm not going to do it at all.
00:04:35
Speaker
And that's obviously not going to get you very far. And then as we kind of transition to this, I think the new mindset that you want to start to move towards is Rather than all or nothing, it's thinking always something like what's something that I can do today in order to get better. And that's why I talk about the 1% mindset so much, because I saw this earlier today, somebody had said anything above zero compounds.
00:04:57
Speaker
And so it's not about doing everything perfectly. It's about doing something and making a little bit of progress because every single day that you're stacking on top of the other day is moving you up that ladder, is getting you better progress, is moving you towards those goals, is solidifying those habits that we want to have. And so when we start approaching it like that and we stop restarting every Monday or thinking that everything has to be perfect and we just start taking more imperfect action and just showing up and being able to just keep that momentum rolling, you start to see much better progress because
00:05:28
Speaker
There's so many times now like that I hop on a call or like I look at a check in form from somebody that I've been working with for six months or a year or something like that. And then I start to look back at some of the places where they started and now some of the things that they're doing. And it's incredible.
00:05:42
Speaker
Like I was talking to a guy yesterday and he's never been a runner. and has gotten into running and was just talking about like how it feels absolutely nuts that he is running 15 minutes without stopping.
00:05:55
Speaker
And that's huge. Like that's a huge accomplishment. And I was talking to him and I was like, I feel the exact same way about running. Like I used to look at people who ran and think that there was something like mentally wrong with those people. Like what are they doing out there running?
00:06:08
Speaker
But then you get into those things and you start to see the benefits. You start to see the payoff. You start to see the progress. And then now you're doing things that you never thought that you would be able to do. had another client who had sent in a check-in form.
00:06:20
Speaker
they were They did seven push-ups and hadn't been able to do any kind of push-ups since high school. And this is 10, 15 years later. like It's just little things like that that once you get into this and once you start making that progress, you start having these big breakthrough moments where like you're seeing these crazy strength increases in the gym.
00:06:38
Speaker
You're looking in the mirror one day or looking at an old picture and being like, I can't believe how far I came in this journey. And so a big part of this is just being able to embrace that progress over perfection mindset, because that's what's ultimately going to lead to those big results that we want to see.
00:06:54
Speaker
And right along with that, just focusing more so on progression versus perfection is not letting one day, like one off day, turn into multiple off days and turn into this big spiral. That's one thing that I've also noticed when people start to embrace this mindset of progress or perfection is something that they start to do really well because everybody falls off. Everybody has mistakes. Everybody goes through phases where things aren't as consistent.
00:07:20
Speaker
But they don't let one day turn into like multiple days or multiple weeks or multiple months where they're not doing anything and they're digging themselves in this hole. Because the sooner you can get back on track, the sooner that you start making more progress. And it doesn't have to be this big thing that's like everything has to be perfect. It's like, no, OK, I had a maybe like a little bit of a crappy day or.
00:07:41
Speaker
I missed a workout or two and I'm just going to get back to it. Like I don't need to overstress it or make it any bigger deal than it is. I learned from it and I get back to it. And as you start to embrace that a little bit more, you realize that that's what this process is supposed to look like. It's not a straight line up. It's not just always progress. There's some dips here and there. It's like when you get into the gym, not every single workout that you go in there, you're going to increase your strength. In fact, you're going have a lot of days where you walk in there And you're actually weaker than you were the week before or the day before. Like your workouts just aren't as good.
00:08:12
Speaker
You're not able to lift as much weight. That doesn't mean that you are regressing backwards. That just means that you're having a day where like you're not hitting as good of numbers as you normally would. And that's the same thing for nutrition. That's the same thing for your habits. Like you're going to have days where you're not always on point.
00:08:27
Speaker
But the fact is, if you can just continue to show up and do something and just keep that momentum rolling, you're going to be in a lot better place than so many more people. It's not about that intensity about like just going 1000% every single day. It's about just getting a little bit better each and every day. And I think that's so much more sustainable. Like when you take that pressure off yourself of having to be perfect all the time, and just realizing that as long as I show up, and I do what I can do on that day, and I'm hitting my targets that I want to hit. I'm doing my daily disciplines. I'm checking off those boxes that I need to check off on a pretty consistent basis.
00:09:02
Speaker
Not that I'm perfect, but on a pretty consistent basis, I'm doing those things. I'm progressing in the right way. And once you start doing that, you realize that time is on your side because again, everything that you're doing is just compounding day after day, week after week, month after month. And you don't have to be perfect.
00:09:19
Speaker
Like perfect is not sustainable. And so just making that progress when you start to do those things, and then six months down the road, 12 months down the road, two years down the road, you look back and you're like, I'm in such a different place.
00:09:32
Speaker
And I actually did that in a sustainable way. And I'm still doing these things years later. And I'm only getting better at those things, which is a really encouraging place to be. And so Shifting from that perfection mindset, focusing more on progress is the first thing that I've noticed that a lot of really successful clients do.
00:09:51
Speaker
The second thing that I think is extremely important when it comes to like some of the mindset transformations is around food and around your diet, because there's no way around it.
00:10:02
Speaker
The things that you eat and just your diet in general is a very, very large portion of making any kind of fitness goal possible, whether that's an aesthetic goal of like, you want to lose weight, you want to lose fat, or build muscle, whether that's you want to feel better, whether that's you want to just improve your overall general health, your diet plays a massive role in all of those different goals and anything that you're going to do. So making sure that you are able to dial in your diet and actually really find a way of eating that suits you is extremely important. And I think one of the things that I really look for in people when I'm working with them is like they switch from this like,
00:10:40
Speaker
mindset of like, I can't have this certain food or this food is going to make me fat or like these things are just 100% off limits. And they shift to a more like, I understand what my body needs and I can still eat food that I enjoy and food that helps me hit my goals.
00:10:54
Speaker
But I don't have to be so neurotic or so just emotional about food because food is meant to be enjoyed. And there's no reason to feel guilty about eating certain foods. And I think once you start to realize that,
00:11:07
Speaker
It's such an eye-opening experience and it helps people to embrace actually eating in a way that like feels good and is enjoyable because there's so many instances in life where food is a part of that and it's meant to be enjoyed with other people and it's meant to celebrate and just all different things like that. And if you always feel like you can't be eating certain things or you feel crappy about food or like you just have this really weird relationship with food, it just takes some of the fun out of life. And that's not a place that I want to be. And that's not a place that I want any of you guys to be. So
00:11:40
Speaker
starting to just really try some different things and figure out like, okay, this is how I'm going to start eating. And I have these certain foundational habits and I have maybe some of these guidelines in place.
00:11:51
Speaker
I know at times I've talked about how these like food rules that I have in my life helped me a lot. And it's not that I can't ever have these things or certain things are off limits. I just choose in a lot of instances that certain things aren't worth it.
00:12:04
Speaker
So I was talking to a client last night and he was getting ready to make some dinner. And we were just kind of talking a little bit because he had had And somebody who had came up to him and asked him, he's like, hey, you're looking great. Like he's but he's lost about 30 pounds at this point. So he looks pretty different and he's not a huge guy to begin with. So like he he looks really good and people are noticing, asking, you know, what are you doing? And it's the classic, like when people see that you start to lose weight, one of the first questions that they'll ask you is like, what's your diet like or what diet are you following or things like that?
00:12:32
Speaker
And I get where this is coming from. And I understand why people ask that. But a better question would be like, okay, what's your thought process behind eating these things? Because people will put labels on these foods and they'll be like, oh, like I can't have pasta. I can't have bread. I can't have a sweet. I can't have ice cream. I can't have this. I can't have that.
00:12:49
Speaker
And there's a time and a place where like cutting out some of those things and maybe scaling back from some of those things is something that you choose to do and something that you want to do in order to hit your goals. But if you're somebody who loves pasta, cutting out pasta for the rest of your life is probably not very sustainable.
00:13:04
Speaker
If you're somebody who likes to eat some sweets or likes to have a drink here there, cutting those things out 100% is just not going to be sustainable. And so instead, you need to understand the principles behind eating and understand energy balance and prioritizing protein and eating more fiber and fruits and vegetables and having some of those really good solid foundational eating habits and then you start to build what that's going to look like for you and then once you have this better relationship with food about okay these are my foundational habits but i also want to make sure that this is a diet that i actually enjoy because while having a diet that is important and fuels you and makes you feel good and helps you hit all your goals and all those things are important
00:13:42
Speaker
If you don't enjoy it, you're not going to do it long term unless you're an absolute psycho and you just don't care at all. Or like you're a bodybuilder and like that's your thing and you just stick to eating strictly for performance, like more power to you. But that's not me. And I don't think that's most people listening to this because you want to be able to go out to eat. You want to be able to enjoy a nice meal with your wife or husband or whatever, like your family. And so understanding these things and having some of these things in place is important like there's times that I will choose to crush an entire Domino's pizza with a buddy of mine and we'll have some wings and we'll have you know a little dessert or whatever and I don't feel any guilt about that kind of stuff anymore there was times where I would do that on a regular basis and that probably wasn't the best thing for me and I would feel bad about that and now I'm in a place where I'm like if I want to have those things I'm gonna have those things but it's not the normal for me and so getting to that place where you can be like okay
00:14:36
Speaker
Everything's on the table if I want it to be certain things I shy away from or I don't want to have on a pretty consistent basis. And that's perfectly fine. But like if I want to have some ice cream, if I want to have some of this or have some of that, like I don't feel the need to completely cut those things out because I think that thought process in place helps a lot to make this a more sustainable thing down the road. And one thing that I've also really started to understand why this is so important is because When you have a certain thought process around food and around the things that you want to eat and you're really consistent with those things,
00:15:11
Speaker
you feel more in control. And a lot of people really struggle around dieting or around eating healthy because they feel like it's not a choice to them. They feel like it's something that they have to do. Versus like if I go into a weekend, let's say, for example, this weekend, I'm 4th of July, I'm going to hang out with some friends, i'm going to have some alcohol, I'm going to eat some food, I'm going to enjoy myself.
00:15:30
Speaker
I'm going into that knowing like I'm not necessarily like worried about eating some extra calories or having some pizza or some burgers or things like that. If I was going into that with the mindset of like, I need to be 100% strict and I can't have anything, I can't enjoy myself, I could probably do it, but I'm not going to enjoy it. And long term, that's just not sustainable. And I feel like it's not, I'm not getting the full enjoyment out of the experience that I want to get.
00:15:54
Speaker
Versus like if you go into that experience and you're like, okay, this is my plan. I'm going to stick to that plan. I'm not going to feel bad about it. And then when I'm back Monday, day I'm just going to be right back on my stuff. And so when you have a plan going into that and you have certain guidelines and you have certain principles and you stick to those plans, you feel more in control and then you don't have that guilt around those things. And that's again, there may be certain times where like maybe you do go on a certain certain social event or like you go on some certain thing where like there is maybe some extra food or some alcohol. And at that time, based on your goals or whether or not you feel like that's worth it, you choose to pass on that stuff. And that's completely okay. But I think
00:16:31
Speaker
Having certain expectations going into that and having a plan going into that is really where the magic happens. Because again, then you feel like you're more in control versus like the food controlling you and like you're not actually being able to fully enjoy yourself.
00:16:44
Speaker
And so have a
Fitness as a Lifestyle Change
00:16:45
Speaker
plan. And when you go into it, stick to that plan and be okay with that plan. The third thing that I would say is they really embrace that this is not a quick fix, this is now a lifestyle.
00:16:56
Speaker
And so lots of people have tried different things when they come to me for help and lots of people have tried diets and programs and things that have gotten them fast results, but most of that does not stick.
00:17:07
Speaker
And so the new mindset is I want to actually build something I can sustain for the rest of my life. Get rid of that quick fix mindset because it just doesn't work. It doesn't last. And that's one of the main reasons that like when somebody comes to work with me, I require them to work with me for at least three months because Once I know that I have them for a solid three months, I can actually help them do this in a way that's going to be sustainable. And the expectations that people have when they usually come into these things is like, I need to lose a crazy amount really fast. Otherwise, they get discouraged and they don't think it's working or they don't think it's worth it.
00:17:41
Speaker
But when you do this the right way, it's supposed to take some time. All good things take time. I mean, when I got into running, like I hated it for the first two and a half months. And now it's something that I do on a regular basis.
00:17:53
Speaker
When I started doing yoga, like I started doing yoga this year and it's a habit that I've tried to really implement. It's still not my favorite thing to do, but I definitely am seeing the benefits. And it's something that I am starting to look forward to a little bit more each week. And just because I know that if I didn't set a timeframe and do it for a certain period of time, like I just wouldn't want to stick with it. And so it's one of those things that like you start and you're not super comfortable, like you don't love it at first. It's not something that you're good at, but you have to give it some time in order to actually commit to that thing and start to see some of the benefits. And then once you see the benefits,
00:18:25
Speaker
That's where a lot of people start to really like these activities. So a lot of people will not enjoy working out or eating healthy or just any certain sort of healthy habit at first. But then you start doing it for a while and then you realize, wow, like my mood is way better. I feel way better. I don't have as many aches and pains. I'm starting to lose weight. I'm starting to...
00:18:44
Speaker
actually have energy throughout my day. And once you start to feel those benefits, as well as see those benefits, that's what becomes really motivating because progress is one of the most motivating factors that we have.
00:18:55
Speaker
But so many people don't ever give it a real shot because they give it two weeks or 30 days and that's it. You got to give it a real chance to actually get to a point where you can make some real good, sustainable progress.
00:19:07
Speaker
And I think when you get to this point, when you get to this point of like, okay, I've given it a good solid amount of time and I've realized, okay, I am actually making really good progress. And not only am I making progress, I'm doing it in a way that finally feels sustainable.
00:19:22
Speaker
I'm not crushing myself every single day in the gym. I'm not working out two hours per day. I'm not eating a hundred percent strict diet and I'm still able to make progress. Wow. This is something that I think I can do for the longterm. And then when you realize that, when you have that light bulb moment, you're like, okay, i've been doing this for like three or four months now, and I've made pretty solid progress. What's going to happen if I can continue to do this for a year or two years or five years or 10 years?
00:19:45
Speaker
That's when you start to have these moments of like, I could really accomplish all these goals that I have, and I could really change my life. And that's a really cool place to be. I was talking to a client who been working with her just over a year it's been a couple weeks past a year and she is down 52 pounds which is nuts and it's one of those things that i always reference i'm like if you can lose a pound a week for an entire year you'll lose 52 pounds and she's dang near almost did exactly that it took her just over a year to lose 52 pounds and it's like 52 pounds is absolutely life-changing for people like being able to be consistent for a long time you can get absolutely crazy results
00:20:25
Speaker
And one of the things that she said to me is like, I can't believe how much better I feel just mentally and physically and my confidence in the gym and outside the gym. But she's like, I'm so excited for the future because this has been a year. And like, this has actually been the first time that I know that I can sustain this lifestyle. And so I'm really excited to see like where I'm going to be in the next year.
00:20:45
Speaker
And I think once you really get into that, once you really find a plan that is sustainable and you know that you can do consistently over time, it's such a great moment because like the things that you can accomplish once you have a plan that's sustainable, it's like you use time as one of your best friends versus being an enemy. Like for a lot of people,
00:21:04
Speaker
Health and time is not a good thing because they have really bad habits and their health is in a bad place. And over time, it just continues to deteriorate. But if you have good, healthy habits, that time starts to become your ally and it starts to become something that's only helping you rather than hurting you.
00:21:19
Speaker
And so... So embracing the lifestyle is just such an important thing. And like when it comes to this, like making this change and like being motivated, there's a right way to do this. And I think there's a lot of wrong ways to do it.
00:21:29
Speaker
That's not saying that there's only one way to do this. But I think in general, there's some really big things that you have to embrace and have to really understand to know how to make change in the right way.
00:21:40
Speaker
And so to get a little bit sciencey on you, not not too crazy, but a little bit sciencey on you, when it comes to changing and seeing successful change, there's three main things that are
Autonomy in Fitness Journeys
00:21:51
Speaker
spoken about. And so the first thing that people who want to be successful with actually making change and having lasting change is they need to have a sense of autonomy.
00:22:01
Speaker
And all that means is that you need to feel like you are in control of your decisions. Because if you're just following some program blindly and you don't understand it, or you're just following some coach telling you exactly what to do, and they don't really give you any rhyme or reason as to why you're doing certain things, and you don't feel like you have any choice in your training or your diet or why you're doing the things that you're doing, you're not going to be nearly as motivated versus if you have some skin in the game and you feel like you have an opinion in this.
00:22:28
Speaker
And so Any of my clients can tell you I ask a lot of questions. like Anytime I'm on calls or like messaging messaging them or things like that, like I'll ask them questions. I just don't give people the answers right away because I want them to have some say in it. I want them to think about certain things. I want them to actually...
00:22:45
Speaker
think about what's going to be the best route for them. Like, are these things that you can sustain? Why do you want these things? Are these things that actually matter to you? Because if you don't have that sense of like control and you're not part of this process, you're not going to stick to it long-term. And so it's really important that you start to take some of that ownership and really start to embrace that and really take some control and responsibility around this whole process. And so that's the first part is that that autonomy piece. The second part into making a successful change is that you need to have a sense of competency.
00:23:15
Speaker
And all that means is that you have the ability to be successful at something. And in order to do that, you need to have the background knowledge. And so just kind of understanding like things like diet and energy balance and progressive overload. And then you also need like the skills.
00:23:30
Speaker
So you need to have the skills to actually do these things. So to lift and to eat right and to meal prep and to make those decisions in order to be successful. And then you need to actually see some progress as you're doing those things.
00:23:42
Speaker
And so when you have some of those things, when you start to have those skills and you have some of the knowledge and you start to see some of those progress, you start to feel more competent because nobody really enjoys doing things that they suck at And this is a reason that a lot of people never stick to fitness or their health goals is because when they start, they're really bad at it.
00:24:00
Speaker
They haven't been doing these things for a long time. Nobody ever really taught them about how to eat or how to train or how to just live a healthy lifestyle. And I was in the same exact boat. Like all this stuff was new to me. And so when I started, I was bad at a lot of it. I didn't really understand it. I didn't know a lot about it.
00:24:16
Speaker
But I think part of this is coming in with just that growth mindset and being willing to just be bad at things for a while and giving it that adequate amount of time to actually start to be good at things and start to build better habits and start to see progress.
00:24:28
Speaker
But the article other part of that is actually doing this in a way that makes sense, doing it in a practical way, being able to actually learn some of the things that you need to learn and being able to develop some of the skills that you need to develop.
00:24:39
Speaker
Because when you can do that and do that for a long enough period of time, you're going to start to see all that progress that you really want to see.
Community and Support in Fitness
00:24:47
Speaker
And then the third part of this is relatedness. And so what this means is you want to feel connected and supported by other people.
00:24:56
Speaker
And so there's that old quote that says, if you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together. And there's a lot to this. Like as human beings, we are community people. Like we need that support and we need those relationships.
00:25:08
Speaker
And anytime you're trying to make a change, it's really difficult to do things completely on your own. It's possible. It's definitely possible, but it is much harder than when you're doing things so with a team or with a community or with a coach or with a training buddy or with somebody else who is doing that certain thing that you're doing.
00:25:25
Speaker
I had a ah post that went pretty viral recently on Instagram and it was, An underrated tip is to hang around people who also prioritize being fit and healthy. I think it hits home with a lot of people because we all know that.
00:25:37
Speaker
Like we start to become the people that we hang around and we know that we want a sense of community. We want that support. We want that guidance from other people. And so anytime that you're trying to make a big change, it's really helpful if you can get around other like-minded people or people who understand what you're going through, which is why I think coaching is such a important thing for a lot of people.
00:25:57
Speaker
And because like I've been in these situations and so when clients come to me with these issues, like I know exactly what it feels like to be in a spot where like you feel like you're doing all the work and you don't really feel like you're seeing the progress. I know what it's like when you look in the mirror and you're like, man, I've made progress, but like I don't feel like it's enough or like I'm struggling with like my body image or like.
00:26:16
Speaker
I'm really struggling because I feel like I hit a plateau or I had a couple crappy days or I'm not just I'm not feeling good. Like, I don't know you know what's going on. Like, i I'm struggling. Like, I know all those feelings. I've been in all those situations. I've struggled with all the things that all you guys have struggled with. And so when I'm around that and when I'm able to just provide a little bit of insight and just relate to them, it helps a lot along this journey. And I think that's why.
00:26:42
Speaker
The people that are very successful are that way because they get around people who can help them in those aspects. Because again, you can do a lot of this on your own, but very few people are successful in doing this for a long time by themselves. And that's just the facts around it.
00:26:57
Speaker
And so finding some people that can really help you and support you is really huge within this whole journey. And so that's kind of the mindset piece. When it gets more into the tangible piece, this is pretty straightforward. But these are just some things that I've noticed that, again, the clients who get the best results, these are things that they're doing. So obviously, active people are typically more healthy.
00:27:17
Speaker
And that's just pretty basic, pretty straightforward. You know, that's that's not rocket science there. Like that makes a lot of sense. And so people who are successful within their fitness goals, they train and they move regularly. And so when it comes to training,
00:27:30
Speaker
At a minimum, they're getting in the gym at least twice a week. Most of my clients and most people that I know who see really good results and who feel good and look good and all that stuff, they're getting in the gym on average, I'd probably say three times, sometimes four times a week. But at a bare minimum, at least getting in the gym or working out twice a week just to kind of maintain and feel good. and And when you start to get up into three or four times per week, you can really start to make some good progress that way.
00:27:53
Speaker
On top of that, one of the things that I've noticed is they find ways to get active that's not inside the gym. And I think this is really overlooked. And so sometimes that could be just getting steps in their day.
00:28:06
Speaker
This could be like sports leagues or like hobbies or yard work or maybe in their job, they're kind of physical, but... at a whole, like they just find ways to get a little bit more active, not just in the gym, because we're more sedentary than ever.
00:28:22
Speaker
And that makes it hard to be more fit and feel good. Because if we're sitting all the time, that's just not what we're really designed to do. We're designed to walk and run and move and bend and squat and lunge and pick stuff up and carry and all that different stuff. But we don't get that stuff as much anymore unless we're in the gym.
00:28:39
Speaker
And so you need to find ways to get a little bit more active outside of the gym. And so again, whether that's playing in rec league, whether that's playing with your kids, whether that's seeking out different ways to just get outside and get some steps in, like it doesn't really matter. Just find some things that you enjoy doing and seek out ways that you can start to be more active. And that's going to help a lot.
00:29:00
Speaker
and with that i've also noticed that people who are just more fit and just who like have more success around fitness they start to create this mindset around just being more appreciative of what their body can do and so one thing that i think about is like anytime that you're sick or you're injured the only thing that you really ever care about is just being healthy again and being able to move and do all the stuff that you want to do and so One thing that I've started to think about more and more, especially as I get older, is like, this is actually a privilege to be able to do a lot of these things that I'm able to do, to go out and play basketball with some of my friends and run up and down the court or go play volleyball or go on a hike. Like, that's a privilege. That's not something that everybody has the opportunity to do, whether it's from a health issue that they couldn't control or maybe some health issues that they could control, some lifestyle factors where they're overweight or they haven't taken care of their body they're not strong enough or their joints are really hurting. Like,
00:29:52
Speaker
Being in that position where it's now affecting the quality of your life is not a good place to be. And there's a lot of control that you have based on how well you take care of your body. If you're able to live that kind of life that you want to live, like the quality of your life is directly correlated with the health that you have.
00:30:09
Speaker
And I heard this on a podcast recently, and they were talking about this specifically, and they were talking about People in the bottom 25% of their VO2 max, which is basically just a way to measure your fitness level or your aerobic fitness, like how cardio healthy you are.
00:30:25
Speaker
The bottom 25% were 400 to 500% more likely to die from any cause than the people who were in the top 10%. So the people who were the most fit in the top 10% had a four to five times less likely chance of dying of any reason than the people who were in that bottom 25%.
00:30:44
Speaker
This is not to say that you need to be in that 10%, but obviously getting more fit, getting more active, just seeking out ways to be more healthy and just move more is such a huge part of just staying healthy and living a longer life and a better quality of life and realizing just how big of a factor that exercise and activity plays in all of that is huge. And so find some ways that you can start to just be more active. It's not about being like a gym rat and having to work out six, seven days in a week and two hours of cardio here and tons of stuff there. It's just being more conscious about that and wanting to be active and work out so that you can have that energy to do all the things that you want to do and show up the way that you want to show up and have a body that doesn't feel like trash all the time.
00:31:31
Speaker
The second part of this, the more tangible part is around diet. And so when it comes to dieting, I think one of the main principles that I've talked about many of times on this podcast, on social media, on different things like that is shifting more to whole foods. And I won't go over all the reasons for that because I've done that a lot of different times, but it's just one of the very simplest things that you can do to start improving your diet is just to eat more whole, minimally processed foods.
00:31:56
Speaker
Eating those foods, you're going to feel better on average. You're going to eat less food. You're going to just overall make eating ah better quality diet easier by making that one shift. And so you don't have to be perfect with this. And that's why I like the 80-20 rule because it still allows some flexibility in there to have some different things, to have some processed foods, to have some desserts and not get so crazy pigeonholed into having to be so strict about it. Because as I talked about before, I don't think that's really beneficial either.
00:32:26
Speaker
That's not realistic and that's not how most people want to live. And that's just not how most people are going to do things. And so taking a more realistic approach where you can follow this 80-20 rule and yet still be able to hit all your fitness goals, to feel great, to look great, I think is a really good route for a lot of people to go.
00:32:42
Speaker
And when it comes to just this as a whole and starting to really build meals around eating more whole foods and just being more satisfied and fueling your body and supporting your goals, this is going to take a little bit of trial and error.
00:32:54
Speaker
This is not something that you figure out overnight. And that's one of the things that I really try to preach to my clients is like, The diet that I follow is not going to be the same diet that you follow and probably not going to be the same diet that somebody that you know follows. Like it takes some time to figure out the things that really work for you. But I think as a whole, that general rule of just eating more whole foods is a really good place for a lot of people to strive for. And you're going to find that once you start to eat more whole foods, when you start to have some guidelines, when you start to figure out some things that work really well for you,
00:33:25
Speaker
you'll be able to implement more methods and more tools in your tool belt in order to achieve different goals. And what I mean by that is so like I have clients that travel a lot or clients who will try to do some sort of like intermittent fasting or clients who do like calorie cycling. But all those things are just certain methods. Those aren't the basic foundation. Those aren't the principle because you need to have that good foundation to always fall back to to your certain ways of eating.
00:33:49
Speaker
When you have these other tools like fasting, like calorie cycling, like maybe a low carb diet here or there to use for different reasons. Like you have these certain things that you can use, but you always have that default that you fall back to of your solid eating habits of your solid foundation of just sticking to mostly whole foods.
00:34:08
Speaker
Because as I said earlier, like, if your diet is just something that like you don't actually enjoy, and it doesn't feel sustainable, it's not going to be something that you're going to be able to do long term. And it's got to check all those boxes. Like you have to enjoy It has to make you hit your goals. It has to make you feel satisfied. And it shouldn't be something that you really hate sticking to because again, we want this to be sustainable. And so trying some different things with that in mind and just remembering, okay, as long as I can start to move towards eating more whole foods, I think I'm going to be in pretty good shape. And then you try some different things and find meals that you really enjoy and find and different ways of eating and different methods that may work for you. But really striving to
00:34:47
Speaker
just feel better and be able to like think clear and just be being able to perform better all will start to improve by making that one simple change of just gearing more towards whole foods.
00:34:59
Speaker
And then the last thing that I would say from a practical sense, from a more tangible sense is that people who are successful, they track the things that matter. And so this doesn't mean that you get super crazy and obsessive about these things, but like one of the things that I always do, especially really early with clients is I start to have them track certain things. So They track their workouts, like they're putting in how many reps and sets that they do.
00:35:20
Speaker
They track their steps. And so we start to keep an eye on those things. We start to track food. We take photos. We track consistency. And we look at weight trends over time. And because what you start to track, like what gets measured are the things that get managed.
00:35:35
Speaker
Because based on science and things that we know through research, just by starting to become aware of something, it starts to change your behavior and so you think about this from a practical sense like if people are watching you do certain things a lot of times it can affect your behavior and that works the same way for yourself too like when you start to become more aware of certain things it's going to naturally start to change your behavior and that's the first part of changing is starting to become more aware of these things and so when you can track some of these things and actually tangibly see these things it helps a lot you don't have to get obsessive over these things we just want to start to create more awareness
00:36:09
Speaker
And this is something that a lot of people who have lost a lot of weight do. There was a study about this and they called it self-monitoring, which is basically just a way to keep themselves accountable and just pay attention to some of the data and make sure that they're trending in the right direction.
00:36:22
Speaker
And this is really something that people do in all different areas. Like in sports, they track stats. In businesses, they track different numbers and metrics. In fitness, they do the same thing. In your finances, you track certain things because again, what gets measured is what's going to get managed.
Tracking Progress and Metrics
00:36:36
Speaker
And so Being able to have some data and look at things a little bit more objectively starts to help a lot to see whether or not you're moving in the right direction.
00:36:45
Speaker
And I was listening to a podcast recently and it got me thinking about this idea a little bit more because like, I know that if people track certain things, it's going to open their eyes a lot and be able to change their behavior. And so like, I'm thinking, okay, like, why wouldn't people do that? Like, why wouldn't people just track their food?
00:37:02
Speaker
If they know it's going to help them. And they know that it's a guarantee. If I track my calories and I hit these calories, I know that I'm going to be able to lose weight and hit my goals and things like that. Why wouldn't that just be obvious that people do?
00:37:12
Speaker
And one part of that for sure is like, you know, it does take a little time. It takes a little effort. People are busy, things like that. But like, The cost of trading 10 minutes of tracking your food in order to lose 100 pounds and completely change every facet of your life and make it better, it just it seems obvious that like, why wouldn't I make that trade-off?
00:37:29
Speaker
But there's a little bit deeper meaning to this. And I heard this concept on a podcast and it really got me thinking a little bit. And it was this term that was called selective ignorance. So basically choosing not to know something so that you don't feel guilty or discomfort or this sense that you could be doing better. And so to explain that a little bit more, like,
00:37:47
Speaker
you or probably somebody that you know, has been scared to go to the doctor or maybe the dentist or do something because they didn't want to know the outcome. When you think about it logically, it's like, okay, if you have an issue, you want to go to the doctor and figure that out. So you can figure out the best plan forward. Or if you have something going on with your mouth or your tooth, like you need to go to the dentist so that you can actually get that problem fixed and be better off. Or there's something that you know you need to address, like even though it's uncomfortable, it makes more sense to just address that thing. But oftentimes we avoid those things. And I think this happens a lot with fitness because people don't necessarily want to have to take responsibility. And once they know and they've seen, okay, I am eating more than I thought, or I'm not being as consistent as I thought, or I'm eating more things that I don't want to be eating, or I'm not doing the things that I should be doing.
00:38:37
Speaker
It puts that responsibility on you which to me, that seems like a good thing. I want as much responsibility as possible and have that feeling of control and know that like, okay, based on my decisions, I can change.
00:38:49
Speaker
But some people choose not to do that. They would rather be blind to this stuff and pretend like it doesn't happen or there's something else that's to blame for the reason that they're not being able to make progress. And so I think when you really start to track these things and when you just get a little bit uncomfortable, like that's going to help you tremendously. And yeah, it sucks a little bit at first to be like, okay, yeah, I'm eating way more than I should be. And I need to make some of these changes or I'm not being as consistent as I thought. But having that information and just being true and honest with yourself is one of the best things that you can do.
00:39:18
Speaker
One of the first things that I always have people do when I start working with them is tracking calories. And the reason that I do this is so that they can really see like, they can see, okay, yeah, yeah I am I'm eating too much, or I'm eating too much of this, or I'm having too much of this or not getting enough of this. And like,
00:39:32
Speaker
Once you can see that on paper, once you tangibly start to see those things, it should be empowering because now you know, okay, I know what I have to do and I can be objective about this. And I know the steps that I need to take in order to see the progress that I want to see.
00:39:45
Speaker
But if you continue to avoid those things just because it's uncomfortable or because you don't want to have to take responsibility, well, there's not a whole lot that anybody can do for you. But when you start to track these things and if you want to actually make change and be successful and hit all those goals that really matter to you, I think tracking the things that really matter is important.
00:40:04
Speaker
And so with that being said, that is what I have the three for the mindset, the three for the more practical, tangible type of things. And I think one thing to just kind of wrap this thing up is just understanding like there's a lot of uncertainty that comes with change, like especially when you want to make a big change. And that's why a lot of people choose never to do it because it's uncomfortable because you don't understand it. Like you don't know all the steps.
00:40:26
Speaker
You don't know everything you need to know when you start. There's going to be a lot of times where you're uncomfortable or you're having to do things that you kind of suck at. And that sucks. Like nobody really enjoys doing those things. But Bigger picture is like success is not really random. Like none of these things that I mentioned on here are things that like you can't do. And they're not things that like my clients came in, like knowing these things, like they didn't know all this stuff. They just knew that, okay, I have the ability to figure it out and I want to figure this out. I don't need to be perfect. I just need to continue to show up and be consistent and get a little bit better and start to shift my mindset and really make this a lifestyle and build better habits. And once I can do that, I know that I'm going to eventually get to my goals. And so
00:41:05
Speaker
The last tip I would just leave you with is like when you start to have those days where like you're feeling really uncertain and you have that doubt and you have those fears, like the best thing that you can do is just continue to show up. You only have two options. You can either quit or you just continue to show up and you start to figure it out and you get better and you see progress. And one of those things is going to probably leave you with some regret and wishing that you had showed up. and One of those things is going to lead you to your goal eventually.
00:41:28
Speaker
And so when you think about it from that and just step back big picture and and and really understand like what's at stake here. Like it seems pretty obvious, not always easy, but like showing up and being able to really continue to push forward, even when you don't feel like it is a huge part of success and just getting to those goals and living a better life and making a big transformation. So hopefully you got a little bit of value out of this. Hopefully this was helpful.
00:41:52
Speaker
With that being said, one-on-one coaching, there's a link in the show notes. I know, like I said, a lot of this stuff is, it's simple. But it's not always easy. Like there's a lot of different stuff with the mindset and just different things that you have to start to adapt and start to see things in different ways. And that's exactly what I try to help people do with this coaching process and do it in a way that fits your lifestyle, your needs, your goals and all that good stuff. And so if you do want some help with this, you can always check out the link. We'll have a conversation and see if you're a good fit for that.
00:42:19
Speaker
But with that being said, that is all I have for you. I really do appreciate you listening. If you like this and you want to share it with someone who think it gets some value out of it, that would be awesome as well. But we will see you next week