A couple years ago I woke up to a text message to someone on my coaching team who was totally depressed because she had lost her way on her fitness journey. I had so much to say that I just popped out of bed and made her a video. You can see the straight out of bed video below LOL. Realizing that it probably wasn’t a great idea to pass around a rambling video of me with bed head and in pajamas, I decided to type it up and make it a little bit easier to get through.
So I answer the question: How do you get back after you have fallen off the fitness wagon?
As a life transformation specialist, this is probably one of the most frequent questions that have been asked of me. You’ve made all this progress, you succeeded in your weight loss goals, you are in a good place… and then you fall off a little bit. And then you fall off a little bit more. And more. And then you suddenly find yourself feeling like a failure – putting on your weight back and just being stuck where you’ve fallen. You start to avoid the online world because you don’t want to be hypocritical and you basically feel ashamed and depressed with your situation.
It’s important to note that many of the advice that pertains to this subject do not really touch on the topic of depression, which is a big deal. Also self-worth issues, not just about weight loss, but as a whole. Advice like “just get back in the horse” or “just do it” is easy enough to say, but they are really hard to do.
For me, that’s not how it works. From the time I’ve started my journey – around 2009-2010 – to now, it hasn’t been all a happy and positive journey. Even as a Team Beachbody coach, I’ve stumbled a lot of times, too. But the great thing about being a coach is that it prevented me from falling off completely. To help you get out of a slump when you’ve fallen off, I made a list of tips from my own experience on how to get back on track.
4 Things to Help You Get Back on Track
Decide that you’re done.
When you are in a state of depression, you don’t choose to feel bad. You just feel it, and in most instances you can’t do anything about it unless you get help and truly decide that you’re done. You have to be able to step back and say, “Okay, I’m REALLY done with this.” That’s the first major step so you can reel yourself back in.
Redefine success for yourself.
The meaning of success differs from one person to another. One of the biggest issues with this situation is when you’ve reached a very good place and then suddenly find yourself in a slump. And it’s very hard to go back to where you were before. And that’s frustrating. Your weight loss issues come back in full swing – you can’t wear your cool jeans anymore, you don’t fit in your favorite blouse. And that makes it so much worse because there will be a comparison. And that’s brutal.
You have to redefine success for yourself TODAY. Not what you’ve succeeded before or what you plan to succeed in the future. But what you want to achieve now.
Put your workout clothes on.
Maybe for others that doesn’t count, but for me that’s a big deal. There is something powerful and persuasive about donning your workout clothes on. When you put on your sports clothes, you have this sense of positive feeling – you feel a little taller, stronger. There’s this instant feeling of positivity that you can’t deny. Wear your clothes to go outside just to get the mail or get some air. You don’t have to force yourself to work out just because you’re wearing your clothes. You just have to let its positive feeling have an impact on you.
Then the next day, with your workout clothes on, you can, maybe walk around the block or do your grocery shopping. And eventually, when you have these little successes in a day, maybe after a day or two, you can go to the gym and workout. Or just put on a DVD at home and do and finish a workout, like Combat 30.
Get back on track on your terms.
I usually take one to two weeks doing these steps to finally get back on track. It’s your own body, it’s your own feelings. You can do the steps shorter or longer than what I do, and that’s fine. Share your activities on Facebook as a positive note as you make progress on your journey. Just avoid doing declarations like “I’m gonna do this… I’m gonna do that,” because when you fail to accomplish what you’ve said, it can make you feel like a failure. But after a week or two, start sharing positive notes on your Facebook again. If there are judgements from others saying “That’s not a workout,” dismiss them. They don’t know you, they don’t know what you’re going through. Stick to the positive aspect of your journey as this is a great way to inspire others that are also going through what you’ve experienced.
The bottom line is that you have the ability in yourself to stand up after the fall. Even a coach isn’t exempted from this and I have experienced it personally many times. You have within you the power to fight back and win over depression. Find it and go for it!
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Thank you for this post. It helped me to do a workout!
That is awesome!
I love your advice to redefine success. I always have good advice to others in this position and, basically, it is similar to what you’re saying – my problem is applying it to myself. I needed this today. <3
Isn’t that how it always goes! Hardest to take our own advice <3 You can do this girl!