Failed Again

A friend of mine started emailing me every day a couple of weeks ago about recommitting to her new lifestyle. She was emailing a list of people from Beachbody about what she was doing daily, what her goals were, and what she was eating. For the past week I haven’t heard from her and she hasn’t been posting on Beachbody. I already know the reason. She has already failed. She had been losing and gaining on Beachbody programs for two years. Her stats are the same as they were when she started.She failed. I knew right away she was setting herself up for failure. I was supportive during her emailing frenzy and did not point this out to her. If I knew her better I would have called her on this, but did not want to hurt her or not be supportive. It is a fine line to cross between honesty and negativity. I did not want to cross it although I would have been doing her a favor if I had.I just had seen her do this too many times and had made the same mistakes over and over myself. Thus, the yo yo dieting. Here are some key signs you are yet on another yo of yo yo dieting:
1. You are recommitting as of day one. This doesn’t really work just like dieting doesn’t work because there is an end implicit in it. You have to look at this as a continuation of a journey that doesn’t end. This friend was counting days. It was as though everything prior had not counted, but they do.
2. You double up on exercise or start an unrealistic program. This friend had decided to do two workouts a day. This is a set up for failure for most of us because we have busy lives. It isn’t realistic to be able to do this day to day if you have a job, kids, relationships, friends, etc. It is okay to plan two workouts a day here and there, but working out too much can lead to injuries. Injuries can take you out of the exercise game.
3. Setting up an unrealistic food plan, whether it is a drastic cut back in calories all of a sudden, or food elimination, this is a set up for failure. I personally had to take the word no out of my eating vocabulary. Now I know a few people can do this, but most of us can’t. For instance I can’t hear the word no in front of the coke. I have them occasionally and they are planned for. This friend started out with no in front of certain words and within a week she was confessing to cheating on this, thus another set up for failure.
4. Committing to a single program. Variety works. If you get a new program, whether it is diet, exercise, or a combination you feel you have to marry the program. Thus, when you do one thing wrong, you fail. A new program is almost always too regimented. You need to tweak and see what works for you over time. One size does not fit all. You have to have a plan for when the program is over whether you are on maintenance or what.
There are other things I could mention, but these are a few things I know for sure from my own experience. If she emails me maybe I will be honest with her. I did email her once that she was overdoing the workouts and she got defensive. At least I can read people.