Resurrecting Your Goals - How to Make Progress Despite Setbacks

It is not too late to give up on your weight loss and health goals! 
In today's episode, Aimee discusses the concept of resurrecting goals that may have been abandoned between January and now. She emphasizes the importance of mindset and overcoming perfectionism to make progress. Aimee shares a client's struggle to lower blood sugar and lose weight to illustrate the process of revisiting goals, assessing what went wrong, and implementing new strategies. She provides practical tips for preventing future derailment and encourages listeners to embrace imperfect progress.

Key topics discussed in this episode include the value of tenacity and acceptance, the role of mindset in goal achievement, the importance of reconnecting with priorities and values, finding the next best thing when the ideal cannot be maintained, establishing a bare minimum, and making the process easier. Aimee highlights the significance of focusing on the positive and celebrating small wins along the way.

Key Takeaways:

• Mindset is crucial for long-term goal achievement. Overcoming perfectionism and embracing imperfect progress is key to making consistent progress.
• Reconnecting with priorities and values helps to stay motivated and committed to goals. Understanding why a goal is important and aligning it with personal values provides a strong foundation.
• When the ideal cannot be maintained, finding the next best thing is essential. It's important to have a backup plan and make adjustments to prevent complete derailment.
• Establishing a bare minimum ensures that even during challenging times, some progress is made. It's about finding what is good enough to prevent a complete backslide.
• Making the process easier by finding creative ways to simplify tasks and focusing on the positive by celebrating small wins can increase motivation and consistency.

Notable Quotes:

• "Refusing to give up may not mean we achieve everything we set out to do, but that the progress we do make is still worthwhile in and of itself."
• "Sometimes having one person in your court to support you, encourage you, and strategize with you through challenges is all that it takes to prevent goal abandonment."
• "Focus on the small, as well as the large wins."

Resources:

Photography by: Dai Ross Photography
Podcast Cover Art: Lilly Kate Creative
 Blasphemous Nutrition on Substack

Work with Aimee

Find Research Citations and Transcript at Blasphemous Nutrition on Substack

Work with Aimee

Photography by: Dai Ross Photography

Podcast Cover Art: Lilly Kate Creative

How to Leave a Review on Apple Podcasts
Via iOS Device
1.   Open Apple Podcast App (purple app icon that says Podcasts).
2.   Go to the icons at the bottom of the screen and choose “search”
3.   Search for “Blasphemous Nutrition”
4.   Click on the SHOW, not the episode.
5.   Scroll all the way down to “Ratings and Reviews” section
6.   Click on “Write a Review” (if you don’t see that option, click on “See All” first)
7.   Rate the show on a five-star scale (5 is highest rating) and write a review!
8.   Bask in the glow of doing a good deed that makes a difference!

Transcript

0:01

Hey, everyone. Welcome back to Blasphemous nutrition. Firstly, I want to thank all of you who have left a review on iTunes or Spotify. Really, these small gestures are such a warm virtual hug for me. But even more importantly, they help people like you find and enjoy this podcast as much as you do. If you've not yet left a review, go to the iTunes app and do so now, or go to Spotify coma, big mama and slap five stars in my show. Damn. That's good. If you've already left a review. Thank you so much. The next thing that you can do is to share your favorite episode with a friend. Or on social media, so others can get just as much blasphemous nutrition as you do. Now onto the show. Hey Rebels, welcome to Blasphemous Nutrition. Consider this podcast your pantry full of clarity, perspective, and the nuance needed to counter the superficial health advice so freely given on the internet. I'm Aimee, the unapologetically candid host of Blasphemous Nutrition and a double degreed nutritionist with 20 years experience. I'm here to share a more nuanced take. On living and eating well to sustain and recover your health. If you've found most health advice to be so generic as to be meaningless, We're so extreme that it's unrealistic, and you don't mind the occasional F bomb. You've come to the right place. From dissecting the latest nutrition trends to breaking down published research and sharing my own clinical experiences, I'm on a mission to foster clarity amidst all the confusion and empower you to have the health you need to live a life you love. Now let's get started. This week, the Christian world celebrates Easter. So today I'm going to talk about resurrection. However, I won't be discussing the resurrection of Jesus Christ. But rather the resurrection of goals that you may have given up for dead sometime between January and now. Most people. By this time a year have left their starting year goals in the rear view mirror. I mean. Shit life happens right. Whether you've been derailed by your three kids passing viruses back and forth for months on end or work demands have taken over your life. It is all too common to struggle with longterm implementation. Today, I'm going to help you get back on your feet by encouraging you to revisit your goals, assess where things went wrong. And to begin a new, with a new strategy to continue forward. When it comes to preventing life's distractions and demands from derailing you mindset is everything. A perfectionist with an all or nothing mindset are the most easily derailed, because if it doesn't look how you imagined it, it doesn't feel like it's worth pursuing at all.. I actually really love working with perfectionist. But only those who feel trapped and limited by their black or white thinking. They know it's a problem. But they can't yet find themselves out of that mindset. Transitioning into a more fluid and gray area is the key to making progress and progress. No matter how incremental is far better than a backslide. To overcome perfection. We have to play with the idea of what it means to succeed. And it's helpful sometimes to look for role models, either real or fictional who have made progress, despite the mess and imperfections along the way. Maybe it's an athlete who comes back to the sport after a debilitating injury, but never takes the Olympic stage. Maybe it's a friend who's struggling with a health challenge, but still shows up and does her best, even though she can't do what she used to do. Examples like this, that show us tenacity and acceptance of what life gives us can remind us that refusing to give up may not mean we achieve everything we set out to do, but that the progress we do make is still worthwhile in and of itself. When resurrecting your own goals, there are two things to keep in mind. One embracing imperfect progress and to. Assessing what went wrong in the first place and anticipating what could go wrong in the future. In looking back over the first part of the year, where did things start to falter? Why did they do so? Was it an external challenge, like work or family demands or was it an internally sourced challenge? Like lack of motivation or overwhelmed? What were some key aspects that you can point to and say, Oh, yeah, this is where things started to slip. That moment. And the subsequent events that may have continued to derail you are very valuable chicken nuggets of wisdom. That you want to take a closer look at because the answers lie. Within the challenge. Here's an example. A client of mine. I'm just going to call her Lucy. It's not a real name. Came in highly motivated to get her blood sugar under control. She was committed to tracking her glucose levels and logging her food to ascertain which meals were going to be the most impactful to help her achieve her goals. But also allow her to have enough energy for swimming and weight training. Activity goals that she had set out to achieve earlier and had done quite well with that found it wasn't quite enough to bring her blood sugar into healthy ranges. Lucy is married and she has no children. Her spouse is supportive in the, I'm not going to get in your way since, but he had his own sweet tooth and he makes breads and cakes that Lucy has struggled to avoid. And that habit of his was not going to change. Aside from that. You know, the relationship overall was pretty good. All was going well for Lucy. And in the first month she began to see really impressive drops in her glucose levels. And then both work demands and work culture took a nosedive and she was required to work longer hours taking on more responsibilities in a workplace that was ultimately unsupportive and unrewarding. We watched her blood sugar levels begin to inch up strictly due to the stress. And the disappointment of this eventually led to Lucy having some of those treats that were always around the house. And she understandably. Began struggling to maintain her food log due to work commitments. But also admitted that she didn't want to quote see what she was doing. Ultimately Lucy canceled a call that we had due to a work meeting. And I didn't hear from her again for over four months. Thankfully though Lucy came back. I have to stop and give her props here because often when this happens, people feel too much shame and too much failure to return. But Lucy knew that she needed the support. And she trusted me, as well as herself. Well enough to let me help her again. When work had settled down enough that she could take a breath. She scheduled a call. And tearfully told me that she had failed. Her swimming had dropped to once a week. And she was able to maintain her morning weights. Due to having a personal trainer that she was able to meet with her glucose levels had climbed to levels that were averaging higher than when we started working together. Her weight had gone up as well. And while this was not a primary initial focus for her not fitting comfortably into her clothes was making her feel old and frumpy and further chipping away at her self esteem. So together, we took a hard look at how both her mindset, as well as her schedule had derailed her and devoted the next nine months to getting her back on track, lowering her blood sugar and her weight by devising a series of strategies to prevent backslides from causing her health to take such a hit in the future. And here's how we did it. First. Resurrect your priorities. When I asked Lucy to remind us of why this was important. She did not hesitate to state that she did not want to end up like her spouse. Who was struggling significantly with health challenges, but was largely on interested in changing them. She saw the path that he was headed down and was committed not to follow him. She also found great peace in swimming laps and recognize the value that it had on her mental health. And she was furious that she had abandoned this crucial piece of her wellbeing. She knew she needed to have stronger boundaries to preserve her mental wellbeing, as well as her physical wellbeing. If she was going to prevent age-related decline. And she did not want to suffer through another setback like this again. If you've back slid on your goals. It's time to resurrect your own priorities. What has inspired you to strive for this goal in the first place? Ask yourself, why this is important and then ask yourself why that important thing is important to you. And continue to ask yourself why. Until you reach an answer that cannot be drilled down further. That sounds a little obscure. So I'm going to best as I can recall, share with you what Lucy's answers were. When I first asked, what is your, why? She said. I don't want to end up like my husband. Well, Why don't you want to end up like your husband? I don't want to suffer. Why don't you want to suffer? I want to. Enjoy my life for as long as possible while I am alive. Why is that important to you? I value the quality of my life. Why do you value the quality of your life? Health and movement is freedom. Why is freedom important to you? I just value my freedom. And that was kind of the foundation for her. This value of freedom to live life on her terms. And that value became her anchor. When we looked at prioritizing her goal achievement through the lens of her values. Lucy learned that swimming once a week was inadequate to maintain a positive mindset. So prioritizing time for swimming exceeded her devotion to tracking meals. Eventually the mindfulness of her value of freedom and health rippled out. And she began setting boundaries with her coworkers and her bosses. She decided to stop chasing career advancement because she saw it was at odds with her values of health and freedom. At least where she was currently working. And changing.jobs is just not on the table for her. Lucy decided to focus her goals on what preserved her mental and physical health, rather than just her nutrition goals. Something that I honestly did not expect when we first met. So when choosing your own priorities, assess what is going to offer you the most value that is the most closely aligned with your purpose. For some of us, it's the easiest, smallest goal that we can achieve in a moment. That might be. The place to start. If you're the type of person who gets a dopamine hit from writing a task on your to-do list that you've already achieved. Jessie, you can tick it off. If you find that doing that gives you energy and motivation to continue with that to-do list, you might be a person. For whom choosing the smallest easiest goal to achieve consistently is the best place to start. Other people prefer to focus on a goal. That's going to make the most impact in the longterm. And these people in the moment have the reserves to tackle a goal that may not be the easiest, but it's a bigger draw because of the strength of impact that it will make in your life. There's no right or wrong answer here. The best choice for you is the one that will give you the most encouragement and the most meaning to continue forward. Next. Find the next best thing. When the ideal. Can not be maintained. What is just good enough. And this is a challenge for my perfectionist, but it is essential to break free from the trap of an all or nothing mindset. Lucy had aspirations of tracking food daily, monitoring her blood sugar consistently and swimming four days a week and weightlifting for three. She did a great job at staying consistent with weights because the time and the accountability of a personal trainer did not interfere with her work. She knew that at the worst of times, she still made it to the pool once a week, but this ultimately was insufficient. 'cause meal tracking and swimming were harder to maintain when things got crazy. She decided that the next best thing was to track her glucose. Abandon her food log. And commit to swimming two to three times a week for her mental health, even if it meant popping into the pool for 15 minutes instead of 45 or 60 minutes. This middle ground. Was more than what she had done before, but it was not ideal as it delayed understanding which foods were optimal for her. However, it was keeping her mental health and her glucose awareness top of mind. And those were her priorities. Number three. Establish your bare minimum. So next, we looked at the bare minimum. I congratulated Lucy on how well she maintained a fitness routine, even though she felt it was inefficient. She noted that realizing the accountability of a trainer was the only reason that she was as successful as she was, had made her realize that she needed the accountability in other areas as well. And that was what encouraged her to come back and work with me again. Sometimes having one person in your court to support you, to encourage you and to strategize with you through challenges is all that it takes to prevent goal abandonment. So again, I congratulated Lucy, not just on realizing this, but acting upon it by reaching out for support to get back on track. Lucy decided that what she maintained during that time was not good enough because she had experienced weight gain and her glucose levels. Had increased dramatically. I gently reminded her that she did not walk away completely from her health priorities. And she had done a decent job of holding down the Fort, despite everything. Sometimes it's really hard to see what we have maintained because we never lost it to begin with. Had Lucy spent four months living as her husband did. She would have lost muscle mass. In addition to her aerobic fitness, she would have gained even more weight and likely needed higher levels of medication at her next doctor. Visit. So to find her true bare minimum, I asked Lucy what she would do differently if she had to relive the previous four months. And this is an excellent exercise for you to do. When you are looking at what caused you to deviate from pursuing your goals from having that consistency? And you find those things, ask yourself. If I were to relive that situation again, how would I do it differently? Sometimes. There's no, like there's no answer, right? Like I couldn't do it differently. That was the best I could do at the time. Brilliant. Then you have found your true bare minimum. Okay. With Lucy. There wasn't much that she could have changed and added more of. To get through that challenging time at work. However she said that the one thing that she would have changed is that she would have rescheduled that missed appointment and continue to have accountability. In the area of her. Nutrition and blood sugar. In addition to having that personal trainer. She would have used our time together. To find ways to hold on to the bare minimum of her food plan. And prevent the dangerous increase in glucose. As well, as in hindsight, forgiving her body for the slight increases that she was seeing. Due to stress. She noted that in the moment. That she saw her glucose increasing. Despite eating very well. This was at the beginning of you know, her work environment, becoming a shit show. Seeing that glucose level go up, even though. As she put it, she was eating perfectly. She felt like she had no control at all over this process. And so she threw in the towel when it came to nutrition, even though she knew it was going to make things worse. But now she had connected to the value of her health and freedom as fundamental priorities in her life. And she realized she would not make that mistake again. So we devised a bare minimum plan to ensure she would meet her protein and her produce targets more often than not, not perfectly, but more often than not. If she were to find herself in this position again. While establishing boundaries with work actually prevented a reoccurring workload that she had just emerged from. She still had several opportunities in our time together to navigate logistics like trans continental flights, catered work, gatherings, client dinners with alcohol. And the other logistical nightmares that would previously derail her due to her perfectionist mindset. She became more flexible and adaptable. Through our strategizing together. And this led to an albeit less dramatic, yet more consistent drop in her overall glucose levels. Over the course of the next year. The fourth thing that you want to do is find creative ways to make all of this easier. Sometimes we adopt a value that. Things are inherently worthwhile. If they're hard. And while there is merit in overcoming challenging things. Not allowing yourself to make things easier as you pursue your goals. can keep you trapped in difficulty, which can erode your confidence and motivation over time. Lucy. And I worked on making the process of meal planning and travel easier by embracing the next best thing and the bare minimum. And she found she had greater energy and motivation to make more consistent progress. Such things as pre-packaged meals, frozen vegetables and non-organic meats, we're no longer seen as failing or inadequate, but as a valuable means of conveniently getting the nutrients that she needed to thrive. Even if they weren't perfect. And then finally focus on the positive. Eventually Lucy came to look forward to my prompt at the start of each session, asking what was going well for her. She slowly transitioned from answering that question by recalling a series of failings. To acknowledging the tiny ways in which she was still succeeding, even when things were hard. Something as simple as I ordered a regular latte at the airport, instead of a vanilla latte with whip became a noteworthy achievement and something by which to congratulate herself. She began to see herself as someone who was able to make consistent choices aligned with her health and someone who is able to make consistent progress by focusing on the small, as well as the large wins, something that she had never before been able to see in herself. If you've dropped your goals for this year. Now as the time to pick them back up again. Harness the energy of spring and resurrect your goals by connecting and committing to your deepest held values. And then set to implement goals, which are aligned with those values. This may mean that the goals you have for the rest of the year end up looking differently than they did at the start of the year. That's okay. What is most important is that they are realistic. They're sustainable, they are aligned and that you are able to look ahead and come up with the next best thing and the bare minimum that will prevent a backslide, if not maintain more progress. Then you'll achieve. If you continue to leave those goals behind you. All right. So to summarize, the way to get back on track is to reconnect to your values and determine your priorities. What is going to give you the most bang for your buck? Is it the quick win or is it the most impactful goal that you have? Next you're going to want to establish what is the next best thing when you are unable to commit to the. Habits. That you are aiming for in any given week. What is your backup plan? Then establish that bare minimum. What's good enough. If I don't reach my goal of running a half marathon next year, what's the bare minimum that I want to maintain so that I don't feel like I've. Lost all hope. And then finally you want to find creative ways to make establishing those habits easier. And focus on the positive on a weekly basis, if not a daily basis, congratulate yourself on the little wins that you are maintaining. As you are achieving your health and fitness goals. By the way last I heard from her, Lucy was continuing to swim or walk two to five days a week. Lifting with her trainer and enjoying a greater balance between work and home life. But even more importantly, she lowered her blood sugar enough that her doctor was willing to discontinue her medication prescription, and she felt confident and empowered in her ability to achieve anything that she set her mind to. All right, everybody. I do hope this episode of Blasphemous nutrition has inspired you to reconnect with yourself and your goals. If you have any thoughts, questions, or ideas, you can reach out to me on my sub stack, send me an email@blasphemousnutritionatgmail.com or leave a review on iTunes. Next week, I will be back with a guest interview on how to begin setting healthy boundaries so that you can continue to make progress and stay true to you. Until next time, my blast, miss buddies. If you have found some Nuggets of Wisdom, make sure to subscribe, rate, and share Blasphemous Nutrition with those you care about. As you navigate the labyrinth of health advice out there, remember, health is a journey, not a dietary dictatorship. Stay skeptical, stay daring, and challenge the norms that no longer serve you. If you've got burning questions or want to share your own flavor of rebellion, slide into my DMs. Your stories fuel me, and I love hearing them. Thanks again for tuning in to Blasphemous Nutrition. Until next time, this is Aimee signing off, reminding you that truth is nuanced, and any dish can be made better with a little bit of sass. Any and all information shared here is for educational and entertainment purposes only and is not to be misconstrued as offering medical advice. Listening to this podcast does not constitute a provider client relationship. Note, I'm not a doctor nor a nurse, and it is imperative that you utilize your brain and your medical team to make the best decisions for your own health. The use of information on this podcast or materials linked to this podcast are at the user's own risk. No information nor resources provided are intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Be a smart human and do not disregard or postpone obtaining medical advice for any medical condition you may have. Seek the assistance of your healthcare team for any such conditions and always do so before making any changes to your medical, nutrition, or health plan.