Are You Actually Ready for a Fat Loss Phase?

Lindsay explains that not everyone who wants fat loss is currently in the physical, mental, and behavioral position to diet, and that maintenance is often a necessary, harder step than another calorie deficit. She describes how she typically starts clients at maintenance to build routines, reduce restrictive mindsets, collect better data, improve performance, and increase confidence with food before an aggressive cut, sharing a client’s feedback that “true maintenance” made later fat loss easier.

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Creators and Guests

Host

Lindsay

Wife and mother of three. I have a deep passion for learning and teaching. I also really love lifting weights and fitness.

What is LiftingLindsay's More Than Fitness?

Dive into the joy of fitness with Lindsay and other guests exploring how it goes well and beyond the gym floor, the number on the scale, the size of your waist or the calories you're counting.

Speaker 2: Welcome, welcome to
the Lifting Lindsay podcast.

I'm really excited to
talk to you guys today.

It's kind of funny because I
am, I'm talking a lot about

this 90-day challenge, right?

Getting people to sign up
for this 90-day challenge.

Now I'm gonna talk about something
that, is kind of funny, but it's like,

are, are you actually ready for this?

But not even this 90-day
challenge, just are you actually

ready for a fat loss phase?

Not everybody who wants fat
loss is currently in a good pos-

position to pursue fat loss.

And honestly, sometimes the most
productive thing that you can do

for this goal, even though the goal
is, "Right now I want as much fat

loss as possible," sometimes the
best thing is then don't restrict.

Don't diet.

There's a difference between, "Well, I
want fat loss," and, "I'm currently in

a physical and psychological," right,
a physical and mental position where

pursuing fat loss even makes sense.

Now, I'm not saying that you need
perfect sleep before you can pursue

it or the perfect hormones or perfect
nutrition or perfect mental health

or, or no stress in your life, because
yes, then if you're waiting for that

point in time, it will never arrive.

So I'm not saying that this is
an excuse to avoid doing the hard

that maybe your goal requires.

I am inviting you to review what is
the hard that your goal requires.

And believe it or not, it is
harder for people to embrace

maintenance than a fat loss phase.

Just sit with that one for a second.

Think about that.

Is another calorie deficit really
what you mentally and physically need?

So over the past month since I've
announced this, you know, rapid

fat loss challenge and, and what
we're doing for this, it-- rapid

means we're going aggressive, guys.

This isn't mild or moderate or…

This is aggressive.

So when we're thinking about, well,
what are the differences between those?

Isn't just fat loss, fat loss, right?

No.

when we are thinking about setting up
a fat loss phase, this is what we do.

We figure out what is a person's
maintenance or about what it is, and then

we figure out, okay, what mentally can
they do or, uh, can they do a mild one?

Maybe going aggressive just scares them.

Uh, the thought of that much restriction
just red flags go up and they freeze up

and instantly get hungry and the calorie
deficits hasn't even started, right?

So a lot of times what we'll do--
Well, I personally, I learned this

very early on as a young coach.

No matter the goal that somebody comes
into me with, I'm gonna put them through

a maintenance phase because my goal is
overall health and wellness, and I want

them to graduate out of using me as a
coach, and so I want to educate them

along this process as much as I can.

And starting by giving somebody, like
telling them, "We're gonna try to eat

as much as possible," when they've come
from a background of, "No, no, no, no.

Life goals are eating as little
as possible and maintaining this,

the tiniest weight as possible,
and we've gotta eat like a bird."

Right?

Because that was the culture
for so long And, uh, that's

not what I'm interested in.

I'm interested in educating somebody
on the varying aspects of health, which

is you're gonna be spending majority
of your time, or you should be, in

maintenance, not actually in restriction.

And if we can embrace that, it
actually allows for calorie deficits

to be so much more beneficial.

In fact, I just barely--
let me pull this up.

I just barely got a text
from one of my clients today.

for two months we had her eating at
maintenance, and now we're going into

an aggressive cut, and it's, she's now
in two weeks in this aggressive cut

after two months of watching her at, at
maintenance and building her calories up

so that she's eating as much as she can
while maintaining her body composition.

Now, what is her overall goal to
maintain this body composition

that she currently has?

No.

So somebody would say, "Well, then
why not put them in a fat loss phase?"

Because it's not just about
restriction and drop body fat.

It's, it's about are you healthy enough
to see the results that you want to?

Think about that.

That…

Are you healthy enough in mind and body?

And we're gonna talk about this.

We're gonna talk about
two aspects of this.

Now, this is what she said: "Being
at maintenance, TRUE," all in caps,

"TRUE maintenance before this fat
loss phase helped tremendously.

I never knew TRUE," all in caps,
"maintenance at a consistent

calorie amount before."

And what, what we were doing was we were
getting her into good habits and routines,

but we were also like, we're getting her
eating more vegetables, um, a- and, and

just stepping out of a restrictive m- my
goal is to see the scale move down, and

if it's not moving down, then I'm failing.

Stepping away from all of those stories,
all of that health and wellness de-

depends on if the scale is moving down.

Stepping away from all of that,
letting go of the restrictive mindset,

and it's like, oh my gosh, when you
let go of that, it's so relieving.

It's like a weight that comes off of you.

I don't have to restrict.

Uh, w- one of the things that
we worked on is when she would

go boating on the weekends.

And throughout the summer.

And, and mindful eating.

It's like, what?

I can mindfully eat and learn how to do
that and not track, but, but be sitting

at maintenance and maintain this?

That is…

This is possible?

So that means is it possible
after I lose body fat?

Yes.

Yes, but we have to establish
maintenance in these systems and

routines and all of this first.

And when I'm one-on-one coaching,
this is usually what I do.

Now, when you're doing a challenge,
though, and you're like, "Okay, we're

gonna shoot for this rapid fat loss."

Now, in order for me personally to do this
and have it align with my values, because

this is not just making money for me.

Yes, is this how I feed my family?

Yes, it is.

This Lifting Lindsey is actually
how the mortgage gets paid.

It's how my kids get fed.

Me and Alex work as a team on Lifting
Lindsey, and, and that's how we

provide for our kids and our home and
ourselves and our retirement, all that.

I don't want to do that
and lose my soul, you know?

So how can I line up this
90-day challenge with my values?

Hmm.

It has to be heavily educational.

I don't just teach you to restrict.

I teach you systems and habits along
the way, and then as we get closer

to the end of the 90 days, you know,
as the, the, the three months, the

few weeks before we stop, we start
moving into what happens next.

What does reverse dieting look like?

You, you better not stay in this.

How to come out of this
mentally, physically.

What to do with calories.

So this is a heavily teaching…

This isn't just like a restrict
yourself and suffer for 90 days

and whoever suffers the most wins.

That's a failure.

We're teaching consistency.

It's actually the most consistent
people are gonna be the winners.

It is about, uh, and, and like
I said, just the group coaching

is gonna be heavily educational.

So I'm talking about this because
as I'm presenting this, I'm

getting tons and tons of questions.

And

And there are red flags with these
questions that I tell people, "From what

you've shared, this is not right for you.

This is not right."

And there have been a few times
where somebody said, "Well, this

is my height, weight, activity
level, and yet I, I've been trying

to, you know, eat 1,400 calories,
but I keep-- I'm gaining weight."

And come to find out their
maintenance should be around 21,

2200 calories, somewhere around
there based off of, you know, what

they've told me, and they're gaining
weight at six, 700 calorie deficit.

Now, you can sit there and argue
whether, "Well, they're just not being

accurate and, and blah, blah, blah."

We could argue that all you want But
the reality is that this woman feels,

whether it's true or not, doesn't
matter, she feels like she's eating

1,400 calories and the scale is going up.

I, I listen to people all
the time argue this point.

"Well, that's impossible."

And

okay, but guess what?

Coaching is a, it's a great marriage
of science and actually emotion

and the person in front of you, and
respecting them and their experiences.

And whether this is right or
wrong doesn't actually matter.

This woman, there's a disconnect,
there's an issue that we have to solve.

So then telling her, "Well, yeah, start
this and we'll do it at 1,400 calories."

But in her mind she's like, "No, I've
been doing 1,400 calories and I'm

gaining weight, so we need to go lower.

We need to go 1,200," right?

That's kind of where she's gonna go.

For this person, the best thing
would be to help them gain confidence

eating more and maintaining body
composition That is going to be

what's going to help them the most.

And as soon as we get them that confidence
and we build on that for months, 'cause

that doesn't happen in three weeks,
that happens over time and months, and

we get them eating that 2,100 calories
feeling confident, feeling their best

selves, that's what matters most.

And then, then we put them in
a rapid fat loss challenge.

Then we get them to go into a calorie
deficit and they see results because

they're not coming into it in a place
where they mentally and physically

feel so deprived all the time, right?

I mean, we can argue maybe she did
drop through tons of time eating less

and maybe even a rollercoaster ride.

Uh, some days she ate less, some days
she ate more, some days she ate less,

some days she ate more Maybe there
was some reduction in her metabolism.

Because guess what?

Your body does adapt.

So the longer you try to spend eating as
little as possible, it will adapt to that.

So maybe she did lower her…

I don't think she lowered it 700 calories,
but she lowered it enough to the point

where mentally and physically she's
not seeing the results she wants to.

So insanity would be doing the same
thing, expecting different results, right?

Now, as a coach who likes to think I'm
somewhat sane, why would I do that?

Just to take somebody's money and
lose my soul, like, and not help them?

It's not worth it.

So pushing them to, "Hey, look,
this isn't right for you right now

We've got to get you, you mentally
and physically, we've got to

build confidence in eating more.

You've gotta build that confidence
in your body saying you're

safe, you can handle more.

In your mind, you're
safe, you can eat more.

We've got to handle that, right?

So that is such an important piece.

So that's why I say the goal, even
if the overarching goal is fat loss,

she's been trying to do, to eat
as little as possible for so long.

It's not working.

Why would we then just assume, well,
if another coach gave me numbers that

are slightly lower, then it will work?

I don't know.

I don't think, I don't think
that that's the right approach.

I think building confidence
in, in abundance, that would be

the best thing for that person.

Behaviorally, psychologically,
that is going to help them.

They, like I said, they
build confidence eating more.

They become-- we establish and become
more consistent trackers, and we're

able to help them see gaps in where
they were tracking and weren't tracking.

But we're able to do that while
we slowly get them eating more

because they're building confidence.

We reduce fear, like around food.

We normalize meal patterns.

That can also im-improve
training performance, right?

And, and then we teach them what
maintenance looks like and how

it's living this abundant life.

And we, along the way, we collect
better data about their body too.

that is so important.

That is all about establishing a really
stable foundation for that person to then

build on, 'cause right now the foundation
is just, there's not a foundation.

So that's really important.

Now, another thing that, um, a lot
of questions that were coming in, I

noticed, um, there, there were people
who were living in, like I said, a lot

of restriction, but also some kind of,
uh, restrict and then, uh, binge cycling.

And aggressive dieting can actually
make that worse, not better.

So when I have one-on-one clients
come to me with those red flags, once

again, we move into maintenance, right?

We want them to, we want them to
learn to trust themselves around food

and to establish the same patterns
that I spoke of earlier So when I

say restrict and binge patterns,
what does that look like, right?

Because it doesn't always look
really, really dramatic like you

go into the closet and you binge
4,000 calories kind of thing.

Someone…

So this could look as simple as
someone might eat very little all

day because they blew it yesterday.

They blew it yesterday, so then they do
massive restriction, restricting today.

Or they skip breakfast or lunch to
save a bunch of calories, right?

They're really, really restricting.

Um, a- and they repeatedly are losing
it on the weekends, losing control.

They re- overly restrict through
the week and then just kind of

lose massive control, right?

So why would aggressive
dieting make this worse?

I think sometimes people think, oh, if
it's excessive binging, like restricting

and then binging, restricting,
binging, they just need a coach, um,

to, you know, keep them restricting.

No.

No, no, no.

It- if someone already has a sh- really
strong restriction and overeating

cycle, putting them into a even steeper
deficit tends to intensify that exact

pattern that we are trying to change.

So instead, we may need a period
of recovery and stability.

Okay?

So learning, like food is
consistently available.

they don't have to compensate
for tomorrow, right?

One meal doesn't determine what
happens for s- the rest of the day.

I can eat enough food and
still ca- take care of my body.

I don't need to earn my food.

There's these little things, right?

I don't need to panic when hunger appears.

Ooh, that's a good one, guys,
because oftentimes those that go

through aggressive restriction binge
cycles, hunger is this, panic button

on them And if you think about it
too, stepping into maintenance is

a way of stepping into abundance.

So we have these triggers, not-- and
these, these thought patterns, not

because there's something wrong with
us, but actually these are ingrained

into us as humans to keep our species
alive If there's, you know, famine,

then, then there's panic, and that panic
usually helps us prepare for famine.

So there's all of these patterns
of thinking that we look at and

we're like, "This is so bad."

And I'm like, "I don't think it is."

I think that we need-- we've given it
kind of a bad name when really it's our

body trying to, to survive and we're
calling these survival mechanisms bad.

I don't think that they're bad.

I think that we need to thank them
for how they serve us and then

kind of take the reins from them.

So I think about that, like if
you're driving a car, a lot of

times these, these, this panic,
these triggers, they take over

the steering wheel and they drive.

And I, my, I guess my thought is,
and I, I didn't fully prepare this,

this just kind of came to me at this
moment, but my thought is to help

perpetuate our species and keep us alive.

I took this amazing course He talked
a lot about this, a lot about survival

mechanisms in the brain, and a lot
of these restriction and overeating

cycles are actually just intuitively
part of our survival, and they're

just kind of taken to an extreme.

And a lot of times in therapy,
they are trained to look at

them and say, "Thank you.

Thank you for what you're doing for me."

And when you look at them with gratitude
instead of, "You're evil, you're bad,

trigger, trigger, panic, panic," so much
shame and so much fear and everything

just kind of falls to the wayside,
and they realize like, "Oh, this is

actually, this is trying to help me.

But do you know what?

You know, you're, you're trying…

You took over the wheel because you
thought I was gonna steer us off the road.

You were trying to help me.

Thank you so much.

But you know what?

I knew what I was doing.

I wasn't in any danger.

I got this."

And when we, when we step into
maintenance and food abundance,

we're able to practice that more.

'Cause guess what?

In maintenance, we still feel hunger,
and what a great opportunity to work

on hunger being a trigger and us being
like, "Hey, hey, I got this Thank

you for telling me it's time to eat
and to start preparing something.

I don't need to panic.

You're looking out for me.

It, it probably is time to eat, right?

And honestly, guys, depending on what
you're eating, if you're not eating

balanced meals, you're gonna feel hunger
off more often, even in maintenance.

People have this weird idea that hunger
during maintenance doesn't exist, and

if you feel hungry during maintenance,
then you aren't in maintenance and,

and you need to never feel hungry.

No, no, no.

Depending on, uh, um, fiber,
protein, fats, we can actually

feel more hungry more often.

If you are not eating enough fiber, if
you're not getting enough protein, things

that make you feel, uh, fuller longer,
more whole foods, more volumous foods, um,

uh, less, you know, uh, processed foods,
those will all help you feel less hunger,

but the body still, and depending on the
person, may feel it more or less, you will

still somewhat feel it during maintenance.

So what a great opportunity then
for this individual to practice

honoring their body, thanking it for
keeping them al- alive and looking

out for them, but in a safe time and
environment, be like, "And I got this.

I got this."

So really coming back, the, the question
that I, I often wish that people would

ask more isn't, "How much fat can I lose?

How much fat in, in a month can I lose?"

And that instead they would
ask themselves, "Am I currently

ready for a fat loss phase?"

I, I mentioned this earlier,
are you healthy enough to diet?

I remember the first time I heard
that and, and remember thinking that

sounded strange, but now I really do
understand what they're getting at.

There really is a physiological
component, yes, but there's also a

psychological and behavioral component.

Can your current foundation
support intentional restriction?

When we're looking at the physiological
component, have you, has your body adapted

and lowered its maintenance because
you're constantly doing patterns of

restriction and it has adapted to that?

We see that oftentimes with
hypothyroidism, lowering of thyroid

levels because people behaviorally are
trying to eat as little as possible

and their body adapts, and one of the
things that adapts is their thyroid.

So oftentimes I'll tell people like
I have, I do have hypothyroidism.

I have that because I only
have half of my thyroid.

I had a tumor on one side of my thyroid,
so they went in, took the tumor out, and

they had to take out half of my thyroid.

but sometimes people will be
like, "Oh, you can cure that.

Uh, this one woman teaches this
and this and that to cure that."

Yeah, but that's for environmental
like thyroid things that

you have kind of through…

I shouldn't say li- thy- uh,
environment, I should say more lifestyle.

Through constantly striving to
eat as little as possible, you can

down-regulate these hormones and your
thyroid can, levels can be lower.

And oftentimes just getting people to
eat more, we can increase thyroid levels,

which thyroid has a direct tie to your
met- metabolic rate, your metabolism.

So yes, if we get your thyroid working
better, your maintenance can move up.

So yes, there is a physiological component
of are all of your levels in a good place

to even push for this fat loss phase?

But overall, what we've been
discussing here, there's a little

of that that we've been discussing,
but overall, you-- it really is the

psychological and behavioral component.

And I love that question of can
your current foundation even

support an intentional fat loss
phase right now, right now?

here are some red flags that I'm
just gonna kind of list, and this is

when I would have somebody consider,
reconsider starting a fat loss phase.

Now, these aren't automatic disqualifiers.

I mean, it, it, it just
means let's investigate.

I like that approach.

Let's investigate this.

They deserve attention.

Let's look into this.

So, the first red flag, kind of already
talked about this a little bit, are

there major discrepancies between
reported intake and weight trend?

So when people say things like, "I
eat dramatically below my predicted

maintenance," like seven, 800 calories,
"and I'm consistently gaining weight."

Okay, that, that, uh, that deserves
a full-on investigation here, right?

Before we try to restrict further.

The last thing that we wanna do is,
okay, then let's restrict more, right?

Uh, we need to investigate this.

Red flag number two I've listed, the
repeated restriction and binge or

loss of control pattern, especially
when each overeating episode leads

to harsher restriction, okay?

Once again, we've got to investigate
what's going on, what is triggering this.

Is a fat loss phase then
going to exasperate this?

The red flag three, you have
essentially been dieting forever.

You cannot remember the last
meaningful period when you

intentionally ate around maintenance.

If you've never done that in
the past, like, year or two

I think we've got to visit maintenance.

Okay?

So if every few weeks brings
another diet reset, detox…

Okay, I think we've got to
look at, really living in

maintenance for a little bit here.

Another red flag, food
rules dominate your life.

So eating outside the plan creates
significant amount of anxiety.

You can't eat it unless
it's measured, right?

Foods are intensely moralized,
they're good or bad, right?

Um, going slightly over
calories feels catastrophic.

That's actually another red flag for me.

I'm like, "This is no way to live."

No way to live.

It-- you have chains around you, and
your master is a scale, a food scale.

Huge red flag.

I would also say compensatory behavior.

So overeat tonight, starve tomorrow,
add in tons of cardio, skip breakfast

and lunch, maybe have some, you
know, bird food for dinner, punish

yourself at the gym, and then repeat.

Ooh, that person is gonna
thrive in maintenance, okay?

They do not need another
restrictive pattern in their life.

They need to learn to master maintenance.

We could just call this the
mastering maintenance list, right?

red flag number six, significant medical
symptoms that haven't been evaluated.

This is really important.

Um, unexplained weight changes,
major menstrual changes, GI, like

persistent GI symptoms, sev- severe
fatigue, inability to get a decent,

relatively decent night's sleep, right?

Like, that's important to
pause and be like, "Oh, am I

even ready to handle this?"

And then another one is, is, is stress.

Number seven, your, your life
currently has n- almost no

capacity for additional stress.

And then this isn't the
like, "Oh, I'm busy."

Everyone is busy.

I swear everybody's busy.

We're talking about major life
disruption, where basic eating,

sleeping, recovery, or self-care are
already just falling apart, right?

I, I really…

That-- We've gotta pause.

Let's get the basics down.

Let's get our sleep down.

Let's get some sunlight.

Let's g- make sure we're
getting enough water.

Let's just focus on the basics
right now, not adding in additional

stress through a calorie deficit.

Um, and then there's
just a few more, two more

Eight is your entire motivation
is just panic, right?

"I need this weight gone now."

As a coach, um, the, uh, the next
two that I'm discussing, well,

this one and the next one, are
probably the hardest to coach.

When people demand, there's no
patience, no ability to, to pause and

be like, maybe like, no, it's just the
weight g- it needs to have been gone

yesterday, and if it's not, failure.

I know I started the plan today, but,
but s- I mean, that's a little out

there, but you know what I'm saying.

Like, you would not believe

how frequent that is that I see this.

"I cannot tolerate my body
like this for one more second.

I will do anything."

There's a sense of urgency that
outweighs things so intensely, right?

So we have to

be so, so careful about that.

Okay, this next one, number nine.

This one is actually really,
really, really hard to coach.

When people are unwilling to
look honestly at their behaviors

And this one matters enormously.

I don't know if this person is
ready for a fat loss phase because

they're not ready to be accountable
when they don't follow the plan.

They'll flippantly say that they're
in- unable to follow the plan, but

then they'll blame everything on ev-
like the inability on everything and

everyone else instead of looking inward.

And it's just hard.

It's hard.

But sometimes even too, they'll be
like, "I followed everything perfectly."

I'm like, "Okay, well,
let's look at the data."

"Well, except weekends.

Except I don't track dinner.

Except I didn't measure that
one, that y- you know, the

oil, but that doesn't matter.

Except I only hit my steps twice a week.

Except I haven't trained consistently."

It's like none of those
things make somebody bad.

You're really human.

But I think what's hard is
it's like we cannot change what

we're unwilling to identify

And so s- so sometimes people will
say, "Well, I'm perfect at all…

I, I do all of these systems and
routines," like you said, "but

I'm just not seeing the results."

And then when we look at them,
they're actually not following the

systems and routines, but their
inability to answer honestly really

prevents them from seeing changes.

So that, that is a hard one so learning
to be accountable, massively accountable.

Accountability, it, it is so
important, and it's not you're failing.

Accountability is let's accurately
identify what's happening

so we can actually solve it

Say accountability is not,
"Well, I just suck at this.

I'm bad."

No.

No, no, no.

Let's identify the behaviors, the
thoughts, all of these things.

Sometimes people desperately want
to change while simultaneously

protecting the behaviors and the
thoughts that are keeping them stuck.

They want a different outcome without
being able or willing to admit, "Hey, my

current system isn't actually working.

My consistency isn't what I thought.

My weekends actually do matter, and I
haven't been doing very well with that."

Or, "Hey, my environment
does actually need to change.

My habits do need to change.

My expectations do need to change.

My relationship with food,
I do need to work on that."

These are not character flaws.

This is information

But information only becomes useful
when we can actually identify it,

when we can be honest with ourselves.

It is really hard to coach
somebody who does everything right

in their mind, but on paper not

And yet they're angry that they're
not seeing massive results, but

yet on paper it's not the same as
what in their mind they're doing.

That's hard.

Can we be honest with
ourselves and see that?

So this is honestly what I love
seeing before a fat loss ph- phase.

Again, no one needs to be perfect, right?

Like I mentioned before, perfect sleep,
perfect hormones, perfect nutri…

Nobody needs to be perfect.

But these are signs that somebody may
be in a much better position to succeed.

One, your intake has
been reasonably stable.

Ideally, you've been spending time
around maintenance or even just

mindfully eating rather than bouncing
between extreme restriction, right?

And then kind, and then overeating or
just throwing your hands up in the air.

Um, number two, your weight trends make
reasonable sense relative to your intake.

So once again, we don't need perfect
mathematical predictability here,

but we aren't looking at massive
unexplained discrepancies either.

Those people, once again, are
not ready for a fat loss phase.

Um, three, you can tolerate
hunger without panicking.

That's a huge one.

Fat loss involves some hunger.

The goal isn't zero hunger, believe it or
not, but the question is whether hunger

immediately triggers fear or extreme
restriction or even loss of control.

So ask yourself that, "How
do I tolerate hunger?"

like I said, this-- you don't
have to be perfect at this.

Maybe you need just help.

So that's…

Can you tolerate some level
of being uncomfortable?

and then basic nutrition skills.

Uh, you, you can learn.

You have a growth mindset
about nutrition skills.

You want to learn to prioritize protein.

You want to learn
understanding portion sizes.

You want to try new meals.

You're open to trying new things.

That's a huge one.

Just having a growth mindset and not
coming in being like, "Well, I don't

wanna change anything, but yet I've gotta
change everything to get the results,

but don't make me change anything."

Right?

Um, another one is that you can
understand and see that diet is temporary.

You understand a fat loss phase
is not a permanent way of eating,

that we get in, we get out, right?

And you're coachable, and that, I
think, goes along with growth mindset.

This is huge.

You're willing to hear something needs
to change and to say, "You're right."

Do you know what's hard about-

coaching people who are not coachable
is that they want these big results.

They want to see the results, but

But because they're not coachable, because
they resist seeing their own gaps, and

to me that's a protective mechanism.

They don't feel safe.

They-- It's kind of a
protection of the ego.

They wanna control how other
people think about them.

But if they just dropped that, they
would actually see their goals,

and it, that should be the main
priority, the biggest thing here.

So that's something that I really…

Like working on being coachable, guys,
willing to hear something needs to change.

You're willing to look at your own gaps.

You're willing to admit, "Look,
I didn't follow the plan."

You're not trying to protect your
ego or control how people view

you, because honesty and progress
are more important than that.

You're willing to experiment.

Oh, that is, that's a huge
one for being coachable.

And you're willing to collect data, and
you're willing to change your mind and

the stories you've been telling yourself.

That's huge.

You, you need to be willing to
change the foundation, right?

Your current habits have
created your current foundation.

That isn't, that isn't bad.

That just is what it is.

It's cause and effect.

If your current foundation isn't producing
the direction you want, then we've got

to change something that, about that.

Maybe it's the food environment,
the meal structure, the tracking

accuracy, the sleeps, the steps,
the training, the weekends, the

alcohol, all of these things.

But you cannot demand a different
outcome while fiercely protecting

every behavior that created the
current one that you're living in.

That is insanity.

You have to…

We talked about this on
the last podcast episode.

You have to be willing to say goodbye, to
kind of mourn the, the previous version

of yourself and to grow into something
else that matters, that will, that will

get you where you really want to be.

Look, we all have blind spots.

There are things about ourselves
that are incredibly difficult to

see from inside our own experiences.

It's so hard, and that is honestly one
of the reasons why I value coaching,

reading scriptures, conversations
with people I trust constantly.

Um, I mean, I already mentioned reading,
but just Reading books by people who

are constantly striving to be better.

Reading books that make me reflect.

These things help expose gaps
between what I believe I'm doing

and what I'm actually doing.

That process is uncomfortable for me.

It is very uncomfortable.

It is also incredibly valuable to me.

So this is why I will tell someone
not to join my fat loss challenge,

and this matters deeply to me

Speaker: So in conclusion, I really
want to see everybody succeed.

I really do.

But part of succeeding is knowing
when to be in a fat loss phase

and when to be in maintenance.

And hopefully this episode has
helped you see what is the wisest

move for you right now in your life.

I love and appreciate each one of you.

Thank you so much for joining me today.

You guys have a wonderful weekend.