Back when I was a corporate trainer I had the opportunity to go through Situational Leadership II. It was a great program that I taught to managers and it dawned on me last week how applicable it is to the fat loss journey. Many of my girls are in different stages of the fitness lifestyle; beginners to advanced they all have a place in PNP.
Last week we were all discussing on our private message board how intimidating it can be for a beginner to see the menus and exercises the longterm girls are doing. I decided to convert the SLII information into terms of fat loss so that we could all understand the no matter how “advanced” you might be we all fight the same fight. Here’s what I wrote to them and then I’ll tell you my current stage and battles.
Stage One - Blind Excitement…this is where you are stoked and ready to go. You finally hit the place where you know you have to do something with your life, found a plan that is for you, got your stuff, and been to the store/signed up at the gym. Everything is shiny and new and you are ready to go! This stage lasts about 1-3 weeks.
Stage Two - Reality Zone…here we are, grumpy from caloric deficit, tired from excrutiating workouts, hormonal most of the time, temptations all around us, and our minds are doubting what the heck we are doing to ourselves. Often in this stage you haven’t seen much happen on the scale and you are a far enough from your last
measurement day/weigh in day that the excitement is gone.
Stage Three - Gaining Momentum…in this stage you know what to eat, you are pretty faithful to the exercise program, you have a few questions as you learn more and more about exercise and eating right, but you just need a little push and shove along the way. You still have questions, but you pretty much know what you are doing and can
get yourself through crisis and such without too much help.
Stage Four - Cruise Control…here you are, super confident, you know what you are doing, you get your schedule and go for it without hesistation, you eat well, you enjoy your spluge meals without problems, and you find yourself cheerleading others more
than yourself these days. This is the stage we all dream of getting to.
The funny thing about these stages is that they are completely fluid. Everyone moves from one stage to another, forward and backward through the entire journey of fat loss. You don’t skip stages on your way up or down, you might move very quickly, but you don’t skip one.
This brings us to Corinne. What stage do you think I am? It would be easy to shout out FOUR! Well, you would be wrong. I’m a Stage One right now! Believe it or not that’s me. Recently I started my new build out phase. It’s very new to me to try and put on weight. For a former fat girl it’s hard to get your mind around that concept. I’ve actually sent my scales to live at my husband’s office because seeing the numbers change wildly was about to put me in Stage Two. For now this new way of eating and exercising has me excited and ready to go. I’m learning more and more each day and it’s great. Catch me in another two weeks and we might see a Stage Two pop up.
The key to these stages is recognizing where you are in the process. Knowing that all of these stages are normal might help you to move through them better. Stage Two is naturally the danger zone and where most people quit. Identify when you hit that stage and find strategies to help you move through it. Tomorrow I will talk about the things you can do it help you out of Stage Two.