Latest / Fit for Hiking / Ep. 76 Biggest Mistakes When Starting a Fitness Journey
Transcript
- Hi, my name is Brady and I'm a long time fitness professional and midwest girl turned mountain living hiking addict. And combining my knowledge of fitness and passion for hiking, I've helped hundreds of women get lean and strong for the trails. Think of this as your one stop shop for both education and inspiration on all things female wellness, trail talk and adventure. Hiking, female metabolism, motherhood, nutrition, travel and fitness are all topics you'll hear discussed here. If you are outdoorsy and active, looking to level up your health, unlock your potential, and become inspired to live your most vibrant life, you're in the right place. You're listening to the fit for hiking podcast. Hello and welcome back to another episode of the fit for Hiking podcast. I am so grateful to have you joining me today for this episode. And today we are talking about biggest mistakes that you tend to make when starting out a fitness journey. Okay, so we've done some episodes about like top mistakes that I personally have made or that I have seen really commonly after working in the fitness industry for 11 years now. Um, however, these mistakes are specific to when you're starting out. And maybe you're hiring a coach for the first time, or you are really getting serious about starting a health journey. And these are some of the top mindset and just action based mistakes that I've seen. Um, and that I've also done myself over the years. Um, so if you are just kind of starting to dabble with a fitness routine, maybe you're on the cusp of it. Maybe you really want to head into the new year with some serious traction with fitness and see some big changes. Um, or maybe you're hiring a coach for the first time and you're like, okay, I really want to buckle down and do things differently than what I have been doing. Then this episode is for you so that you can avoid making some of these big common mistakes. I have ten of them for you. So let's dive into it. Okay, so when one is first starting out on a fitness journey, this is one of the top mistakes I see. Number one is expecting progress within the first few weeks. Um, I get it. We're all kind of like creatures of this society that is very much like instant gratification. Um, however, typically we end up where we are over the course of months or years of kind of being negligent of our health or bodies, um, where we're just kind of doing what feels good. We're going with how we feel in the moment. Um, you know, spending too much time being sedentary. Consuming too much. Consuming too much of really highly processed things. Alcohol, sugary things. You know, over time, day in and day out, for months or sometimes years, sometimes decades. Okay, so you have to think about the amount of time that it's taken to get you to the place where you are right now, where you're feeling like crap. I gotta make some changes. Right? So it didn't happen overnight. Like, likely this has been evolving for a very long time, and you've slowly gained weight and gotten to the point where you're not happy with your your body composition. Or maybe it's not even a weight thing. It's more of just like you've gotten really weak, you've gotten out of shape, you're not happy with where you're at. Either way, it hasn't happened overnight. So we can't expect that. We start making some changes and that things are just completely overhauled and right where we want them to be. Over the course of a few weeks. I think oftentimes we just have these very unrealistic, um, expectations of what this process will look like, and especially if you're going about it in a way where things are actually going to stick, where you're really taking the slow, steady route. Um, then you got to be patient and you got to look at this like a marathon, not a sprint. And if you're obsessing over the outcome. All the time, especially in those first few weeks or months. You're just going to be frustrated all the time, and you're way more likely to just kind of throw in the towel because you're going to say, well, this just isn't working. Instead of looking at the habit formation and looking at the small adjustments that you're making, that will add up over time. Um, so this is this is something I really, really highly discourage against people expecting just complete different 180 transformation in the course of, you know, a month or three months even things take time, especially depending on how much you want to change about your physique or your health at that current moment, and kind of where your starting point is. Also how compliant you are to the program will absolutely affect the rate of success. So if you are expecting overnight success, yet you are still kind of doing the same stuff that you've always done, then that's a very silly expectation, right? I really don't love a lot of like the transformations that you see on Instagram that are like, you know, four weeks and I dropped £25 and blah, blah, blah, blah, like. That is just setting people up for, you know, just really unrealistic expectations in their own journey. When we see things like that. And typically those types of transformations that are so fast are done using really unhealthy means, um, typically people are just not eating or doing like two days or using things like ozempic. Um, it's just not going to pan out. Well, typically those people usually are the ones that regain the weight and then some because they went about things not the best way for their metabolic health. Um, so adjust your expectations accordingly. About a pound a week is really appropriate if you're just looking at fat loss. Yes, you can lose more than that, but it'll most likely be water weight and you're probably not going to keep it off. Okay. So we really want to focus on just about a pound a week on average if you're looking at weight loss. And even that is going to be about a 500 calorie deficit seven days a week. That's tough, especially if you're already kind of a smaller person, smaller female to start. So make sure that you are not expecting the impossible, especially if you're working with a coach or a team. Um, you know, understand that they are going to ideally if they're, you know, good at what they do, they're doing things the right way. And sometimes that's a little bit slower than what we would like. But it's all for the health and betterment of your metabolic health and making sure that this actually sticks for you so that you don't just regain the weight as soon as you're done. Number two is only adjusting workouts when you have a big physical. Um, I think oftentimes we put way too much stock in workouts when it comes to fat loss or seeing body composition getting more toned, getting more lean. Yes, workouts will absolutely affect the shape of your body, kind of your composition. So how much muscle to fat ratio you have? So your overall body composition will be very much affected by your workouts as well. Your health, your mental health, so many different health metrics, how you're feeling day in and day out, your confidence, your strength, your performance. There are so many benefits of exercise, but if we're just purely looking at getting leaner or thinner, then you're going to have to adjust more than only your workouts. Okay, so think about it like this. Your workouts are going to affect largely the shape of your body okay. So kind of where you have muscle versus fat um, your body composition, how toned you are. However, your nutrition and lifestyle components are going to affect the size of your body. Okay. So you can do the same exact lifting plan as somebody else. But if they are eating in a calorie deficit, they might get really lean, really toned. And if you are eating in a surplus, you might feel really bulky and like puffy and and kind of bigger. Okay, so not great. Maybe in your body if that's not your goal, if your goal is to get leaner, it's not all about the workouts. You have to pair your workouts with your nutrition dependent on your goal. If your goal is gaining weight or gaining muscle, you're going to need a calorie surplus. If your goal is getting leaner or more toned, you're going to need to be in a calorie deficit, however you achieve that. Um, and whatever works best for you, um, number three is still trying to revert back to what you did before while expecting a new result. This sounds so like, duh, why would you do that? But it's very much our human nature to go back to what is comfortable and kind of what we're used to. We are creatures of habit. We have patterns that we get stuck in, especially the older we get. And it can be really, really hard to disrupt those patterns and create healthy habits in a new way. So this is very common. I've seen this now with coaching hundreds of women over the years Where people will sign up for something, but then they kind of still want to do the same things that they've always done. Um, because it's comfortable. And even though it didn't necessarily elicit the results that they wanted, it's what they know. Right? And so it feels more safe than doing something unknown. Um, so, for instance, like when we have women try to come out of a really, really low calorie state, so we'll like slowly bring calories up, do a reverse diet, have them eating more food, have them lifting weights instead of just doing tons of cardio. It's very uncomfortable because it's new and it goes against what they've been telling themselves that they need to do for maybe years, sometimes longer. Um, however, what they've been doing is clearly not making them happy, otherwise they wouldn't be here in the first place. Correct? So you really have to get honest with yourself. Am I willing to do something different if I want a different result? Um, it's not just about signing up for something. It's not just about getting the gym membership. It's not just about saying that you're going to, but actually following through and doing something different to get a new result. And if you're hiring a coach, hopefully you have some trust in them and you have seen some testimonials. Something has prompted you to put your trust and investment in this person or a certain coaching team. And so, you know, actually listening to what they're telling you to do from their experience and expertise, instead of just trying to still hang on to what you want to do. Um, because sometimes it's not about what we want, but if we want a new result, we have to be willing to do what's necessary, right? Um, and obviously combining that with some preference, like, I'm not saying if your coach is telling you to, you know, do something that you hate, that you have to just blindly follow along. You can say like, hey, I really don't like that style. Or can we do a little bit of this too, because I really enjoy this or that. There might be some compromise involved. But if you, for instance, have only ever done cardio and your coach is saying, hey, we really do need to do like a couple strength training days a week, can you compromise and do a few strength training and a few cardio so you're still getting in what you enjoy, but you are giving your body a new stimulus, adding some muscle to your frame to get a more toned appearance, improving your metabolic health, your bone density, all the benefits of strength training. Um, but still getting to do what you enjoy as well. Number four only using your body weight as a progress metric. This is a surefire way to feel very frustrated in your fitness journey, especially if you're starting to lift weights. A lot of times when we begin lifting weights for the first time or doing strength training of any sort, we actually can gain weight because you're going to be retaining extra water. You're going to be putting on some muscle, ideally, and it's going to be more dense than body fat. So you're just going to sometimes gain some scale weight, even though favorable things are happening with your body composition, maybe you're leaning out and losing body fat, but you're the scale might either stay the same or even increase for a little while. So if we're only looking at the scale, we're going to feel pretty defeated, right? Especially if our goal is weight loss. So here are some other things that you can use as progress metrics that are much better at telling the whole story, showing the whole picture as to what's going on and showing that progress. One is measurements. You've really got to be taking measurements if you're looking at body composition changes. You need to take measurements okay. So if you're working with a coach this should definitely be something that's included. Our team does this when our ladies first start out we do measurements at the waist, the widest point of the hips, the arm and the thigh. Those are the four main ones. We have options for others, but those are the four main ones that are going to show the most. And as to where women most likely are losing fat or experiencing body recomposition. Um, and then we remeasure every single month so you can see that progress take place. And we're doing the exact same spots. So there's that consistency. Um, progress photos is another great one because you're able to. Really document and see that progress, especially when it's slow progress. You might not feel like anything is happening day to day, week to week, month, month. For myself, personally, when I went through my own £25 transformation, um, you know, I didn't really feel like much was changing. I wasn't paying attention to the weight. I was just kind of doing my thing, changing some habits. And I'm really glad that I took some progress photos and measurements because I did lose quite a bit of scale weight, but I also lost like 12in or something crazy. And now I can look back at photos and videos from 4 or 5 years ago, and I'm just amazed and blown away at how much things have changed. And things continue to change over the years as I keep refining and working on myself. Um, so definitely don't be afraid to take those photos and expose the areas that you want to see. Change in how your clothes fit as the next one. Um, obviously you're going to know which pants, which shirts are extra tight and you're going to feel that difference. Um, so even if the scale is not moving, look at some of those things and see, Am I seeing progress here? Um. How you feel doing everyday activities? Going up and down the stairs, grocery shopping, walking with your family, long days on your feet. Um, doing chores, bending over things like that. How is your energy? Is your energy improving or are you feeling overall just better? Confidence in your body, performance on your hikes, your daily walks, the activities that you like to do? Are you going up in the weights that you're using at the gym? There's so many different ways that we can see progress, and if all we do is look at the scale, we're really selling ourselves short here because there's so many other ways that exercise and lifestyle change can benefit our our lives. Number five is taking extreme measures that just aren't sustainable. Um, when you're first starting out, it is really tempting to like go all out, like just full send, right? Or like, especially if you're kind of an all or nothing like Type-A personality. You might think, okay, well, if I'm going to do this, I'm going to do it, I'm going to be perfect. I'm going to go all out. However, the issue with this is that when we try to change too much, too fast. It is just a surefire way to burn out. So if you try to implement ten new habits and break five other habits all at the same time, you might be successful for a few days, and then you're going to want to revert back to old patterns when things get busy, or you get exhausted, or mentally you're feeling drained or something unexpected comes up, and then when you can't follow through, you're going to feel like you have failed, and then you're just going to probably want to quit. This is a very common cycle for many people. So when we take those extreme measures that aren't sustainable, it's kind of setting us up for this failure cycle, right. So instead of that going about the route where we just tweak 1 or 2 things initially, it might not feel like you're even doing that much, but really nailing those few things before you try to work out six days a week and, you know, have veggies for every single meal and cut out all alcohol and cut out all sugar and minimize carbs. Don't eat out anymore. Walk 10,000 steps a day like this. All of this at once is too much. We need to layer things in. So very much going along with that is number six, which is just trying to change too much too soon. So practice habit layering 1 or 2 things. Nail it for a month, even longer if it's a really hard thing to implement, or if you're breaking a habit, if it's a really hard habit to break, and then if you need to, you know, go a little longer with those, do it. Then once you feel like you have those down and they're pretty much second nature, you don't have to think about them so hard anymore. Then you can start to add in some other things. This is a much more realistic and sustainable route to behavior change, versus trying to do everything at once and feeling very all or nothing with it. Number seven is not having an exit strategy for a diet phase. This one is super common. We go into a diet or, you know, some sort of big attempt at overhauling what we're eating, changing our nutrition, and we have no idea how to phase out of that. So I want you to ask yourself this before you start anything. What is my exit strategy? If you are deciding to go keto for a month, or deciding to cut carbs, or deciding to cut sugar, or deciding to eat a crazy low amount of calories, or do ozempic or whatever it is, it's kind of an extreme approach to nutrition. What are you going to do when you inevitably can't keep this up? Because none of those things I would say are realistic for life. So how are you going to maintain your results once you stop doing this one thing right? So if you're working with a coach, you should be able to talk to them about, like if I'm in a diet phase, how are we phasing out of this? Like what's next? Because you're not going to be dieting forever. We should never be in diet phases longer than a few months. Then we need to let our body be at maintenance. We need to kind of rest and and give your body a chance to adapt and and recover. That way you're not just getting into this metabolically adapted state, super low calories. Also, it's just beneficial for your mental state to now be dieting all the time. Um, so there's physiological and mental benefits to diet breaks. Um, and also, you know, ideally you get to where you want to be and then you're just maintaining. So then you're moving to a maintenance phase long term. That should be a part of your exit strategy. So if you're taking extreme measures for a short amount of time, then that kind of puts you in a pickle for when you are trying to simply maintain. Because then what do we do? Right? Um, so one, I would go back to saying, don't take extreme measures, don't cut out food groups, don't do something that is completely unrealistic for years and long term. Um, but also have some sort of strategy of what is this going to look like when I get to a point in life where I don't want to diet anymore, I don't need to diet, or I have a ton of social things coming up or a big trip, and I don't want to have to keep track of calories, or I don't want to have to be focusing on this. Okay, so having a coach who you can talk to this about, who has a strategy for you is so, so important. Big part of what we do with Mountain Metabolic coaching. We want to make sure that you can maintain the results after you are done with the program. Right. This program isn't something that you're going to be in for life. So how are you maintaining? Because it's crazy how high the rebound rate is for weight loss, especially when it's done in a in a poor manner. So we want to make sure we are not falling into that category. Um. Okay. Number eight, comparing your progress timeline with other people. Um, this is just not beneficial for anyone because we all are very, very unique in our body types, our predisposition for holding on to weight in certain places, genetics, um, our, you know, compliance with the program, what we all have going on in our own individual lives. Like if I have a client who is a single 25 year old girl, it's probably going to be a little bit easier for her to keep up with things versus a mom who's working and has three kids. It's just different. I can say that from my own personal experience, because I've been there as a as a 25 year old, you know, person without kids. And now I am a mom of one, and I have another one on the way, and I'm running a business and things are just very different. I don't have the time that I used to have. I have to work a lot harder to prioritize my health. Not saying that it's not hard as a 25 year old. It's always going to take sacrifice. It's always going to be tough, and everyone deserves kudos for making positive changes and healthy lifestyle changes. But it's not the same situation for everybody. It's just not. So comparing your journey to someone else or your rate of fat loss, or whatever it might be, is just kind of a moot point. And also, there's a lot of things to consider in terms of history of dieting. And typically women who have spent significant time dieting in their youth or have had eating disorder pasts are going to potentially have a harder time with weight loss just because of the metabolic adaptations that have happened over time. And this isn't the case for everyone, but that's why it's not black and white, and that's why we can't compare our journey to somebody else. So as hard as that is, I know it's so hard. I still struggle with the comparison game on Instagram. I'll compare myself to other coaches or other people who are in similar positions as me, and I'm like, oh my gosh, I look so ordinary compared to them. I don't even look like a fitness coach or, you know, whatever. Like we have these irrational thoughts instead of just focusing on our own progress. Me versus me, you know, five years ago versus today, if I could just focus on that and making myself better, my mental state is so much more positive, right? You're just going to bring yourself down if you're constantly comparing yourself to other people. Number nine is expecting linear progress, um, and just ultimately not taking into account. Seasons of unexpected roadblocks, maintenance seasons, pregnancies and things like that. Like, this is real life. There are going to be times where your main focus is not going to be on fat loss or body composition, like it's just not going to be realistic all the time. And even if you're the most devout fitness person in the world, it's not going to be able to be your focus all the time. Things will come up family emergencies, health emergencies, seasons where you're moving, seasons where you're changing careers, um, relational struggles, having kids, being in pregnancy or postpartum. Um, there's just so many times in life where it's not going to be our number one priority. And during those seasons, we're really going to be more so focusing on maintenance of our current habits, our current physique, things that make us still feel healthy even in the midst of stress or or craziness, or not being able to keep up with our typical routines. So you have to expect that across the span of your life, which ideally your fitness journey is the rest of your life. This is just this is it. Now, if you are committing to this, this is your life now. Um, and that's how it should be. You should always just be able to prioritize our fitness and health in some way or another. But in certain seasons, that will be able to be more of a priority than in others. And I've really had to work on this for myself, because a few years ago I was running a fitness studio. I didn't have any kids. Um, I was in a very different season of life. I didn't have a business yet. Um, so I was able to work out all the time. I literally worked at a fitness studio, so it was as easy as it could be as far as accessibility. Um, and now things are very different for me, and I can't expect that everything will constantly just be linear or that I'm going to be perfect every single month and just always be better. Always be better, always be better. Ideally, we are constantly refining, but there's going to be times where we're just getting by and maintaining. And for me, that's been my pregnancies postpartum when I was hardly sleeping. Um, those were the main ones for me the past few years. It's been my pregnancies have been really, really hard. I've tried to, you know, still work out. However, I'm not trying to lose weight or focus on body composition during those times, right? Same thing with postpartum. I was more focused on having enough breast milk and trying to just get some sleep and basic health, um, you know, just taking care of my physical and mental health on such a basic level because I was in a really hard phase. So don't expect things to be linear. If you're expecting linear progress, you're always going to be feeling like you're failing. And number ten. This kind of goes along with number nine. Don't expect perfection in your journey okay. So often I'll even have you know, this happens all the time with our metabolic clients. They'll start out the program. Maybe they start out really strong. And then a few weeks in they get sick or their kids get sick, or something unexpected happens with work, or they have to take a trip or x, y, you name it, something happens. Real life circumstances happen and it feels like it totally derails them. And then they think, oh my gosh, I have failed. I've wasted my time in this program. But that's just real life. These are just real life circumstances that we have to somehow figure out. How do I still take care of my health? How do I still prioritize myself a little bit during this chaotic thing that I didn't expect? Right? How do I stay at least somewhat consistent? And that is the struggle. It's never going to be perfect. There's never going to be a perfect time. It's never going to be easy day in and day out, week in and week out. There's going to be weeks where like, you feel like, okay, I'm getting this, this is great. I got it down. I have a great routine. And then weeks when everything just feels chaotic, you've had a million wrenches thrown into your week, and you're just wondering how you're even going to get one single workout in. That's real life. So if we're expecting perfection from ourselves, that's when we tend to just feel like a failure all the time, which then leads us to give up or to do the thing where we the pop the tire analogy of like, if you have one bad day, that'd be equivalent to having one flat tire and deciding to just splash the other three, right? It doesn't make any sense, logically that we would do that. But in our minds, when it comes to our fitness and health, sometimes we think, well, I had I had such a bad start to the week, so I'll just start again next week. And the the rest of this week is just a fail. It's just a wash. Screw it. Like I'm not even going to try. And this is such a dangerous mindset to have because then we can just do this on repeat throughout the entire year, and then the next year and then the next year. So instead of seeking perfection or waiting for perfect circumstances to follow through with things, just show up how you can week in and week out with messiness and everything. And the progress might be slow, but it's going to still be progress. It's like little deposits into your bank account over time, even if it's not $1,000 every time. Even if it's $5 one day, $10 the next day, $1 the next day, 100 the next day. That's still adding up over time. Okay, so showing up is going to look different for you every day, every week, every month. But as long as we are still showing up and making those little health deposits, it will add up. Over time. You will see the benefits. Okay. We made it through number ten. You guys, thank you so much for listening. I hope that this is helpful for anyone out there who is wanting to get serious about this stuff, wanting to start a fitness journey, maybe wanting to work with the coach. If you are in the market for a coach. We are running a very exciting Black Friday sale for Mountain Metabolic. Um, if you're listening to this in November of 2024, then it is still relevant for you. Um, so starting November 15th through December 1st, we are offering our coaching by three months. Get one free. Okay, so that's $450 value. Um, if you want to learn more about what we offer, what this looks like, what you're getting for this, um, then you can apply at the link in the show notes for a call, and we'll chat about it, see if it sounds like a good fit for you. No strings attached. You can just chat with me and see what you think. Um, we do have limited spots for this deal though, so it is first come, first serve. So if you are hearing this and you're interested, I would definitely encourage you to apply sooner than later if you want to get the deal. That way the spots won't get taken up too quickly. Um, so again, this will be valid until December 1st, but apply sooner than later because these spots might be gone before then. And once we get to ten spots, the deal's done. Um, so apply at the link in the show notes. You can also message us at the Fit Underscore for Hiking Instagram page and say Black Friday deal. Just send me a message. Black Friday deal and I will get a call scheduled with you. Thank you so much for tuning in. You guys, I appreciate each and every one of you for listening and I will chat with you next week. Thanks for tuning in to this episode of the fit for hiking podcast. As always, I hope it leaves you feeling inspired and informed on how to take your health and adventure into your own hands. For more content like this, be sure to follow along with my daily posts at Ponytail Underscore. On a trail that's ponytail underscore on a trail. You can also stay up to date on my new episodes being released at Fit Underscore for hiking, and find more free resources at Pony Tail on a trail.com. Happy and healthy trails.