Weight-loss and overwhelm. I really want to manage my weight. Where do I start?

Have you ever had one of those days or weeks where you feel like it all comes on top and you just don't know where to start?

Overwhelm - it is perfectly natural and can hit us at any time. Last week I travelled to York to deliver one of my sprout sessions. I had a train booked which was cancelled and thankfully i checked in enough time to dash into the car to drive down to York. But it set up a mini-cycle of panic and self-cabotage and I forgot my cuddly toys (if you know you know ;0 ). Now this could have spiralled out for the drive down, the delivery of the session and the rest of the day, week, month and year (seriously, I have been there). But, I have learned now to stop before things get going properly and take the appropriate action - step away, rescue breath, recognise the self-cabotage and focus on the one cabbage and one sprout-sized action to help bring things back. As I type this, I can see how trivial this all seems, but at the time - these sprout-sized incidents looked like massive cabbages.

And that got me thinking about this in the context of making a start on getting our health back under control. How often have you known that you should (remember last week's thought), do something but you are juggling so many cabbages you just can't seem to find a way to get started? It can seem like an insurmountable cabbage-sized challenge can't it?

Sprout-sized food for thought:

The first hurdle to overcome when setting out on reshaping your midlife health can be answering that question 'where do I start?' The juggling of the demands and challenges of life and work coupled with the thoughts and feelings that come with the realisation that health has drifted in the wrong direction, can lead to overwhelm and not knowing where to start. In Ep79 I explore this in more depth. In this short taster from the podcast I share an approach and provide some reassurance when it comes to concerns about getting off to the 'right' start.

Transcript of Video:

Speaker 1:

I want to introduce the idea of the sprout being the goal, micro-sized goals. Because, what we often do in those moments when we're faced with overwhelm, challenge, demands, all that, and a desire, a sense that, "I need to make some changes," is we start to think big again. We start to think big. The goal is massive. I need to really lose a lot of weight, and I need to get my health back. I need to sort my food out. I need to just, just, just, just, just. And that just belies, not just a small thing, but a huge thing. A huge agenda of things that we want to take on. And, that's a challenge. Because, in taking on that, we add more challenges and demands to the mix. We add more pressure, and we can increase that overwhelm.

And actually, when we're under stress, I've talked about it before, there's that combination of high demands, lots of things, lots of challenges, demands or cabbage, as I would describe them, and low control. And what this roots in is, a complete sense of no control, or lack of control, or an inability to carve out time to take control, to regain anything. And it's the sense of control that is the key. And I say a sense to a degree because sense is the key part to it.

It's giving ourselves and us a sense of control, an aspect of control, even if it's small, even if it's sprout-sized. So the trick is, or the key, I don't like... Sorry, the word trick is probably the wrong word, because I'm not into tricks per se for this, or hacks. It's about stepping away, stopping, then thinking about, "What one thing could I do? What's one micro-sized, sprout-sized goal that I could do?" That could be in the moment. "You know what, I'm going to take 10 minutes out and just let me head clear, go for a walk." That might be the one thing you do.

Or, it could be thinking in terms of, "Well, what one thing, one sprout-sized goal, micro-goal, could I just introduce that is moving me in the direction of health, even if I haven't had the time to think about what it is I want out of my health?" I talk about that in other episodes, the longer-term vision, and then the shorter-term goal, and how do we shape that up into actions? We might not have the head space for that just yet. So, we pick one micro-sized, sprout-sized goal. And that could be anything. And here's the thing, because I think this is the other thing that we also do to ourselves is, we put pressure on to get that right. "I must pick the right one. Well, I'll do 10 minutes walking a day, but what's the point of walking, because it doesn't actually achieve anything in the scheme of things. I'm making this, I'm doing that. And 10 minutes isn't going to do anything."

We start to talk ourselves out of it, because A, we see it's pointless, it didn't seem powerful, et cetera. But also we think, "Well, what could that 10 minute goal be?" Or, "What could that sprout-sized micro-goal be? There's so many things I could do, I just don't know where to start," and we get back into overwhelm. So, what I want to stress is, it doesn't matter. It does not matter. It actually doesn't matter what you pick as your micro-sized, your sprout-sized goal. It doesn't matter. It doesn't matter if it feels like it's so tiny and insignificant and small. It doesn't matter, because the point of the micro-sized goal, the sprout, is not necessarily the achievement of... All right, it is the compliance and the achievement of that goal, the doing it, but it's not necessarily the impact or the benefit of that 10 minute walk, for example. It is the taking control and the doing of the thing, the sweating of that sprout.

If you are interested in learning more about my coaching and the MidLife Re-Shape Academy, click here - it’s a great way to get the information you need, in a structured, but flexible way whilst being supported by me and the community as you embark on and ultimately reach your health and weight loss goals.

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Dave

Dave Algeo, Restless Mid-Lifer'It is never too late to get life back on your terms and have even bigger adventures!'dave@restlessmidlifer.com