Ep: #22 - The Power of Making Small Daily Commitments for Life & Weight Loss

Faye Casement Author

Mar 22, 2023 |

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Do you ever feel overwhelmed?

Overwhelmed by your to-do list, overwhelmed by how much weight you have to lose, overwhelmed by the stress of everyday life.

It can be tough to stay on track right when there is so much going on.

This could lead to you feeling down on yourself because you didn't meet your expectations Your life and weight loss goals get impacted because it feels so hard and unachievable leading to quitting.

In this blog, I am going to dive into this a bit more and talk about how making small daily commitments for yourself can help you stay on track, and avoid feeling overwhelmed, so you can get sustained results in life and weight loss.

The Pitfalls Of Expectations

There is no doubt that life can feel challenging at times - whether it's getting your weight under control, getting buff at the gym, trying to meet work deadlines, or simply trying to keep the house tidy.

Every day you likely start out with a set of expectations.

Expectations about yourself, about others and about how life should generally go down!

You have hopes, dreams, and wishes, and these all mash together and you set out about your day.

It's possible if you are like me you also have big dreams and you wanted them to happen, yesterday!

But what happens when your expectations are not met?

Judgment. Judgment of yourself, judgment of others and judgment of the situation.

You may not like to admit it. I know I don't like the idea of being a judgey person but judgment is part of being human. It is inbuilt in all of us.

The problem with judgment unless it is discerning is it can lead to you feeling emotional whether that be stress, beating yourself up, getting frustrated, feeling disappointed or any other emotions.

When trying to make changes in our lives, whether that be weight loss, fitness or work-related it is easy to get caught up in thinking we should be making massive leaps and bounds each day.

We see people on TV or read about them in magazines, on social media about people who have achieved what we want to achieve and it looks like they have done it so quickly and easily. It's tough mentally as we feel broken and not enough.

So what do you need to do to break the cycle?

In short…you chunk it down.

Great Expectations - The Big Plan

So great expectations, not the book or film but in life. What is it you want to achieve? Who do you want to be?

When it comes to making changes in our lives, we often focus on the end goal - the end result that we want to achieve.

It can happen again in all life areas but it is particularly true when it comes to weight loss, as you may fixate on the idea of reaching a certain number on the scale or fitting into a certain size of clothing.

While it's important to know where you are going it can create overwhelm.

This certainly happened to me at the start of my journey I wanted to lose 70lb and it seemed so daunting and unachievable. I'd never lost that amount and didn't think it was possible.

The goal was just too big and my brain was trying to defend me, to keep me safe from feeling the emotional turmoil of failure.

It would throw up all the evidence to try to keep me safe and playing small:

"Why bother it is too much"

"You have never succeeded at a diet before"

"We shouldn't have to be doing this!"

"Dieting suck"

Going into weight loss with these thoughts is what makes weight loss hard and a battle but ladies you do not have to battle anymore.

You can chunk it down.

Why not aim for just your first lb or first 7lbs make it easy.

It's all about hacking your brain.

Increase the pressure and it leads to sabotage. Decrease the pressure and retain motivation.

Great Expectation - The Daily's

So what about day-to-day expectations?

What I have personally found is that I have loads of things I want to do and achieve across all areas, work, home, my business or in my well-being. Plus I wanted them yesterday.

I have once more expectations!

And again, mostly of myself, sometimes of others although not as much as I used to thanks to my self-coaching and also the situations that occur when working on these.

This is life

But what can happen if this goes unchecked?

Overwhelm over all things you want to do and think you should do

Overstretching compounding the issue

Unmet expectations

We all know what it feels like to let ourselves down. It's that sick feeling in the pit of your stomach when you realise, "I didn't do it again."

It's that feeling of shame, inadequacy and just not being good enough.

When you feel you have let yourselves down you are likely really hard on yourself.

If this sounds familiar then I want you to know that you are not alone.

This is something that we all go through and it's perfectly normal.

But it is ok to make mistakes, to have an off day, to f up.

But this is where mindset work or as I call it mind ninjary comes in so as to not let it derail you from your goals completely.

But there are practical steps to take to try to avoid it.

The Key To Managing Expectations

So what is the key to managing expectations?

Setting Realistic Commitments & Small Doable Actions I talk about these also in my previous live/blogs LINKS "Gathering Awareness 4 Weight Loss" & "Stepping Into Action where I run you through the principles I cover in those modules of the full Triple-A-Way™️ Weight Loss Program

Setting Realistic Commitments

It wasn't until I changed my mindset and started to focus on making small daily commitments to myself that things started to change for me.

Once I started making these small changes, the weight started to come off, I have also applied the same principles at work, in my business, housework etc it can be applied everywhere.

There is no point starting off with a big grand plan or a to-do list as long as your arm that you could not realistically achieve. All you are doing is setting yourself up to fail.

In weight loss, for example, we are conditioned by the diet industry that you have to restrict, you can only eat 'good' food...you should do this...you should do that but at the end of the day if that is not realistic for where you are at right at that moment or realistic with a little push you are making your journey so much harder. If you are knuckling your way through it yes you may lose weight but you won't be able to sustain it and it will lead to quitting on yourself repeatedly and regain most likely.

It comes down to hacking your brain again...feel restricted your brain is going to fight you tooth and nail as that is not a feeling it tolerates and you are putting your body into self-defence mode it will throw up shady thoughts, it will through up urges and cravings etc.

This is why I encourage my Triple-A Women to be super realistic when planning their food. There is no point saying you are going to eat salad because you think you should only to then break your diet and declare yourself a failure. You would be better to realistically and then level up from there far more sustainable and you will stay more motivated.

Same works in other life areas. Want to get your house spik and span? Don't reel off a big list it will look daunting. Set yourself one or two things you can do chances are you will do more and not end up procrastinating.

So the key is to make small daily commitments that move us closer to our goal without putting a ton of pressure on yourself that you cannot sustain.

Are you thinking this sounds great but surely I won't get anywhere sounds too easy!

The Importance Of The 1%

Well, this is where the stepping into action part comes in. You need to create just the right nudge in the direction or your goals that feel easy and doable but yet will push you forward.

It is about gathering wins so you can keep motivation and in momentum which in turn is consistency rather than go hard and go home, go and go home which makes it feel hard.

This by far is how you build lasting success.

At the heart of it all is still self-discipline. You are committed to doing something every single day, no matter what, for yourself and then you start to form a habit that becomes second nature over time. It allows you to focus process leading you to your big-picture goals without feeling overwhelmed.

And over time, those small steps will add up to big changes in your life.

So what are you waiting for? You can start this today. You don't need any special tools just literally start where you are.

Not sure where to start - the answer is simple: start with one.

Yes, that’s it. Just choose one change you’d like to make and focus on that.

Do your best to stick with it for 30 days and then reassess. After that, you can add in another change if you’d like or keep going with the one you have.

Or you can just take it day by day or even meal by meal which is what I do.

The beauty of starting small is that it’s much easier to stick with a new habit when it doesn’t require a lot of effort. And once you get in the habit of making daily changes, it will become easier and easier to add more into your routine.

Ideas for Small Changes

Some examples of small, achievable changes you could make include:

- Committing to going for a 10-minute walk each day, even if it’s just around your neighbourhood. One of my business coaches Molly Mahoney an epic human by the way, you should go check her out if you have a business, she has been doing this recently starting with 5 built up to 8 and so on.

I should point out that your brain will likely tell you it is not enough by the way but not every thought is true we are playing the long game here folks. No point trying to run a marathon, quitting, and never running again!

- Maybe aim to choose one healthy meal or snack to eat every day, such as a salad at lunch or an apple as a mid-morning snack.

- Cutting back on screen time by 5 minutes each day.

- Spending 10 minutes each day decluttering your home or office.

- Leave 2 bites behind at dinner etc.

RECAP

Small changes made consistently over time can result in big results. This is especially true when it comes to making healthy changes in our lives, such as weight loss. Just start with one change and work your way up from there!

So set realistic commitments, take simple actions, level up, and keep going no matter what and you will be surprised at how easy it is to stick with it – and how much better you feel as a result.

Want to get started on losing weight for the last time? 

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Categories: : Weight loss