Are you feeling overwhelmed with starting your wellness journey?

Have you ever felt completely overwhelmed when it comes to your wellness journey and transforming your body into something you are happy and confident with ? If you have just come out of a 4 month winter slump, it can feel very confusing as to where to start or what to do to get back on track with your health and confidence.

Hundreds of different health trends get thrown our way daily on social media and many times 1 contradict the other which gets one even more confused! On top of that, life still happens and as hard as we try, nothing ever goes according to plan! Your training routine WILL get derailed & your “perfect” diet track record WILL get ambushed by the unsuspecting birthday party you thought you had will power over (....and didn’t). Very quickly you start second guessing your abilities, how to correct the mistake, if your program is actually working, how are you going to keep this up etc etc and the feeling of overwhelm grows until you just want to quit all together.

I have been there! 10 years ago when I returned from the UK, I was at a point where I had to get my mind and body back to a state of healthiness and happiness. I was about 9kilos too heavy and even though size doesn’t define our beauty, our health and happiness is priority and at 9+kilos, my health and happiness was on 2/10. I didn't feel good on the inside and that was what I needed to change.

There were so many elements to think about that it became so daunting I started to panic at the thought of the whole process. What to eat, what not to eat, how many meals, what “diet” to follow for the best results, how to train, where to train, how long to train, what not to train, how to cope with social events and so the list kind of extended into a jumble of confusion and doubt in my head.

It took me nearly a year to get back on track but during that process I learned these crucial 5 steps to get through the feeling of overwhelm when things got too much.

Step 1......STOP, take a step back and breathe. You need to see things from a state of calm. Once you have calmed down you can then make smarter decisions (i.e. NOT choose the cabbage soup diet & 2 hour cardio workout). When we are in a state of "panic" we tend to make stupid choices, grabbing the "quickest" solution even when we know it isn't the answer.

Step 2......CLEARLY write out what you want to achieve. If you don’t know where you are going, how are you supposed to get there?

Step 3......see what are your resources. In this case time is a big factor! Don’t choose a program that requires hours of food prep and hours of training if that is not what you have time for. Money is another resource you need to look at. Your health is an investment, probably your most important one so invest wisely! You are going to have to spend money to get your health and body back to where you want it, so whether it is a personal trainer, online program or dietitian, CHOOSE WISELY!

Step 4......Once you are calm, know your goals and what resources you have THEN you can choose your plan of action. If you can’t afford a gym membership and loads of time then invest in a program that can be done at home. If you can’t afford a diet that requires daily use of meal replacements, pills and potions then choose one that suits your budget.

Also choose a program that is going to match your goals. You can’t expect to run the comrades if you are training like a body builder or vice versa. It’s just as important to remember that choosing a program that suits life will be the best investment yet! If your program requires 2 hours of training and 2 hours of meal prep each day, but you have a 70hr work week with kids and family to consider at home, then maybe that is not the best program for you. You would need something flexible, family friendly meals and maybe a training plan that can be done anywhere when you have the free time.

That’s why it’s important to establish what you are wanting to achieve, what your resources are AND then how you are going to get there!

(And PS, I achieved my goal with a pair of free weights at home, outside cardio and realistic balanced eating plan!)

Step 5.......take it ONE STEP AT A TIME (I told myself this daily when I had to get back on track)! You can only do so much and rather do something small VERY WELL than try do something big and make a mess up of it, make sense? Take it day by day and TRUST ME, you get through it and make it to where you want to be!

Here is the other thing, NOTHING IS PERFECT! Life will happen and you will mess up and that’s ok. As long as you learn from what happened (not to repeat the mistake) and just continue forward. Don’t go for perfection, it doesn’t exist. Rather focus on PERSISTENCE & perseverance.

So the next time to feel overwhelmed..... stop, breath and reassure your mind that you are on the right track and have the ability to achieve your goals, because if I can turn my health around in my living room, so can you!

#summerbodytraining #bodyconfidence #bodytransformation #veganmodel