Have you been stuck in the self-defeating diet cycle? Here’s what it looks like . . .

You overcommit and start some rigid diet that is way too restrictive and doesn’t fit into your life.

Then, as the “new year new me energy” starts to fade …

And life gets back to its normal stressful self …

You struggle … quit … beat yourself up … and think you need to wait until you can totally reset, restart, and “really do it right.”

If you’ve experienced this and you’re ready to break the cycle, then this episode’s for you.

I share my top two weight loss tips and help you figure out your new year weight loss plan.

We’ll also cover …

1. Letting moments of motivation fade
2. Savior vs SFPP
3. My story of recovering from chronic low back issues
4. The secret to real, lasting progress

Contact Corey: support@CoreyLittleCoaching.com

Welcome to the Real Life Weight Loss Podcast, where we cut through the confusion and get down to the truth about what really works for real people when it comes to losing weight, having incredible health, and a body that you love.

We believe that losing weight is really about gaining life, doing things you never thought you could, having renewed confidence, and enjoying your body more than ever.

I'm your host, Corey Little.

Now let's get to it.

Welcome back, my friends.

So let me wish you a happy New Year.

I hope you had wonderful holidays and a happy New Year.

And I'm so thankful, so appreciative that you're here, about to spend some of your time with me today.

This, in this episode, we're going to get into my top two tips for losing weight.

Really, if I think through it, it may be my top two tips overall when it comes to losing weight, because it's, it's not about cutting out carbs or reducing sugar or not eating past 5pm it's not crazy stuff like that.

These are foundational truths when it comes to not just losing weight, but keeping it off long term.

So we're going to cover my top two tips for losing weight.

And in that, I'm really going to explain to you how to go about creating or finding your New Year's weight loss plan.

If, like a lot of people out there, you want to get fit and lose some weight in the new year, well, I'm going to explain to you, kind of give you step by step instructions on what I think you should look for and what I think you should do and what I think you should avoid.

Okay.

Okay.

So let's jump into it like we normally do.

Tip number one.

Wait, it's January 6th.

When I'm recording this, it'll, I think I may put it out like, tomorrow, January 7th.

So it's, it is that time of year.

It is the time of year when people are motivated and they're fired up and they're joining the gym and they're starting their diets and they, they just can't wait to lose all the weight.

And they're just so confident they can do it and they're sick of all the sugary holiday, you know, heavy holiday foods.

And then here I am, Mr. You know, nutrition weight loss guru guy, right?

And my first tip to you is to wait.

So you're probably thinking, like, what?

That's crazy talk, man.

I need to seize this motivation.

I need to strike while the iron is hot.

And actually, I think that might be one of the worst things that you can do now.

Why do I think that?

Well, it's because there's a good chance that you'll over commit and you'll start some rigid diet that is just way too restrictive and it doesn't fit into your life.

And then as the new year, new me energy starts to fade and life gets back to its normal, stressful self, you'll probably unfortunately struggle, quit, beat yourself up about it, and then think that you need to wait until you can totally restart.

Let me start fresh.

Let me, let me reset and restart and make sure that I do it right this time.

And if you're really honest, what I just described may actually be the experience that you've had over and over again.

That may be why you're listening to this weight loss podcast.

And if you're brand new, if you just discovered this podcast, man, thank you so much for listening.

I'm so happy you're here.

I hope that this episode and some of the others that you'll hear will begin to reshape how you view weight loss and kind of just shift your whole mindset and your approach in regards to weight loss.

Because what I just described is what I call the self defeating diet cycle.

And the more we do it, the further it ingrains the faulty all or nothing mentality.

And the more we get stuck in that self defeating diet cycle.

And that is why my first tip is to wait.

Because in a way, we become a victim of our own motivation.

We start thinking we can do it all and we can conquer the world.

When in reality, the stress of life is coming back and that motivation eventually is going to fade away.

And I'm not trying to be discouraging, I'm just being honest.

I like to say that I'm the coach who cares enough to tell you the truth.

I'm just being honest.

That motivation is going to fade away.

So why don't we wait?

It's almost like, has someone ever said something to you and it really rubbed you wrong?

And maybe you just felt this, this fire of anger rising up in you and you, oh my goodness, you have the most powerful, maybe mean things to say back to them.

And whenever you say those things, you're like, oh man, I, I regret that.

I wish I didn't say that.

And so there's the famous saying or famous suggestion that whenever we feel strongly about something, count to 10, step away.

Count to 10.

Before you respond to that text, before you Respond to that email and step away and count to 10, maybe count to 100 before you say anything back to that person.

This is almost the weight loss version of that.

And I know it seems really weird and counterintuitive and backwards because we think motivation is a really great thing, but we can become a victim of our own motivation because we over commit and we think we can change the whole world and change ourselves starting Monday.

And unfortunately, it's just not how it goes.

So tip number one, maybe again, the most counterintuitive thing ever is to wait, let life get back to somewhat normal, then start looking and thinking about what type of program or diet that you can and will do.

Now, this brings up the next question.

What are you looking for?

Like, what are you going to do?

Well, that brings up my second tip.

Stop looking for a savior and start looking for a sfpp.

Now, this is something that I've mentioned before on the podcast.

This acronym, sfpp.

I'm going to talk about it more today.

I encourage you to listen because it could really transform the way you view your weight loss.

So stop looking for a savior and start looking for sfpp.

Stop looking for something that will work for you.

How many times do people say that or think that, you know, I just got to find the right thing that'll work for me?

Stop looking for something that will work for you and start looking for something that you will work for.

Something that you can and will do and do consistently.

Stop looking for a savior.

Nothing, no one, no program, no diet is going to sweep in and save you from yourself.

Only you can do that.

So stop looking for a savior and start looking for a sfpp.

Now, I'll explain more about that acronym in a minute, but first I want to share how I had to live out exactly what I'm teaching and encouraging you to do.

I've shared a little bit of this before on the podcast.

I may share more about it in the future.

But I've had some recurring back injuries, some recurring lower back injuries.

They started when I was around 30 years old, now almost 48.

And there's been times of smooth sailing.

And there's been times where for a week here or there, I'm like, oh my gosh, I feel like I can barely move.

And anyone, any of you that suffer with back pain or have had recurring back injuries, you feel it, right?

You feel my pain.

You're like, oh my gosh, nothing's worse than that.

And so these things would come and go.

Well, unfortunately, over the past three or four years, it kind of became more of a chronic issue, more of chronic back pain and just chronic back issues.

And it stole away from me a lot of the things in my life that I really enjoyed.

Like I wasn't, I haven't been able to play basketball, I wasn't able to snow ski, even just some more basic everyday life movements, things that aren't extreme or crazy, like working in my garden or picking up a bag of soil, different things like that.

It really stole the joy away from me.

This is not terribly different than someone who's overweight or someone who's out of shape and can't do the things they want to do in life.

There was a gentleman I coached years ago and he carried excess weight and he was too large to fit into the roller coasters at Disney World with his children.

And one of the most emotional moments for him, he sent me a message from Disney World after he had lost a significant amount of weight.

He said, madam, I have tears in my eyes.

For the first time in my life, I can ride the roller coasters with my kids.

And so the same way that my back injuries and my chronic back pain stole away a lot of the things in life that I enjoyed, that's how excess weight and poor health can be for anyone.

It steals away the joy, some of the joys of life.

It steals things away from us.

So I had a very similar experience to some of you, but for different reasons.

So I had to figure out what to do.

Now I had been a trainer for 20 plus years and I was very familiar and certain aspects of exercise, but I was not super familiar with physical therapy.

And I was really kind of at my wits end, like what am I going to do about this?

So I knew I needed to take some sort of action and that's what I did.

I took action.

I researched and looked around online and I found different physical therapists and different coaches that specialized in what I was encountering, that specialized in back pain and chronic lower back pain.

People who were highly qualified, but also whose voice and personality I seem to connect with.

I'm sharing all of this with you for a very intentional, very important purpose, gang.

This is the way I encourage you to think about pursuing, going about your weight loss.

If you want help, if you want an expert, if you want to take action and have someone guide your process.

I encourage you to research, to look around, to message different people, to get a feel and make sure they're qualified, but get a feel of them and their personality because everyone's going to connect with someone in a unique and powerful way.

And so all of that is exactly what I did.

And then eventually I hired a coach.

He's actually a physical therapist.

He has his doctor of physical therapy.

And this coach, this physical therapist, his name is Zach, he provided a SFPP for me.

Now, here's the key part.

He provided this plan, this program for me, and I'll get more into the SFP in a moment, but he provided this for me, and for over one year, I did it.

Now, Zach has been amazing, and I am beyond grateful for his expertise and his guidance and just man, all he's done for me and all he's provided, he's been amazing.

But he is not a savior.

If I didn't actually do what he gave me, then there's nothing he could do to help me improve.

We collaborated to find a great starting point.

He provided my program, and I took action.

I checked in and updated him weekly.

He made adjustments and suggestions.

We stayed connected through community, through regular communication, and then I kept taking action and we kept repeating this cycle.

I would take action.

I would check in with him weekly, communicate well with him.

He would make adjustments and suggestions, and I keep taking action and I keep checking in and I keep communicating well.

He keeps making adjustments and suggestions, and we kept repeating that cycle.

That is how real, lasting progress is made.

I made great progress in three months, but I wasn't where I wanted to be.

I had a few hiccups and bumps in the road along the way, but by six months, I had made even more progress.

And then in nine months, I'd made even more progress.

And now I've been working with him a little over one year and I'm very, very happy with where I am.

Actually, recently, over the holidays, was able to snow ski for the first time, for the first time in probably two or three years.

So it's so much wonderful progress and I've been able to recapture some of those things that were stolen away from me.

So I'm very, very happy with where I am, with what I've learned, what I've built, and just the overall progress that I've made.

So let me quickly lay out the process one more time.

He and I collaborated to find a great starting point.

He provided my program and I took action.

And then I would communicate and check in and update him regularly, usually weekly.

He would make adjustments and suggestions, ask questions if he needed to, and I kept taking action and we kept repeating that cycle.

And that's exactly what we do in my coaching group.

And that's what I encourage you to look for in the new year.

I encourage you to look for a sfpp.

So.

All right, Corey, enough.

Enough of the acronym.

What is sfpp?

Well, it is a structured, flexible, progressive plan.

Now, I want to go through each of those so that you fully understand what I'm talking about and why it's so important for any solution that you're looking for with weight loss or really almost in any area of life where you need to grow and progress.

And I want to explain why each of these things are so important.

So, first, structured.

It's not something that's haphazardly thrown together.

You're not guessing and checking and hoping and trying this and then trying that and jumping all around wondering what you should do or shouldn't do.

It's structured, it's organized.

It's a framework that you can lean on and use.

But it's also.

That brings us to the next letter, the F. It's also flexible.

It's not rigid.

It can flex and bend and adjust with you and your life and what's going on and any obstacles you encounter.

It's not rigid, but it's flexible.

And then the third letter, P, is progressive.

It starts at a level that you can successfully accomplish.

I don't think I can.

I don't think I can overstate this.

This is maybe the biggest reason that most diets fail, because they're totally all or nothing.

And they don't start at a level that you can successfully accomplish.

They just say, hey, change everything on Monday.

A great program or plan is it's structured, it's flexible, and it's progressive.

It starts at a level that you can successfully actually do, and it gradually builds over time.

In other words, like I said, you don't have to change your entire life on Monday and then white knuckle it and hope and pray that everything sticks.

And then last, the last letter, the second P stands for plan.

Again, it's not just stuff slung together.

It's a comprehensive strategy that is designed for you to get you where you want to go.

I had experienced chronic lower back pain.

I needed a plan, a comprehensive strategy that was designed to strengthen certain muscles, provide more mobility and flexibility, and to help with chronic lower back pain.

I didn't need just some random yoga plan, some random physical therapy plan.

I wanted a comprehensive strategy to help with my specific issue.

So it's structured, yet it's still flexible.

And it's progressive because it starts at a level you can do and it builds on itself, and it's a Comprehensive strategy.

It's a plan.

It's structured, flexible, progressive plan.

So this new year, or anytime you're listening to this, or anytime you're considering pursuing your weight loss goals, my top two tips would be this.

Number one, first, don't let moments of motivation.

Because that's what they are, they're moments of motivation.

Motivation comes in, it goes.

Don't let moments of intense motivation suck you into another self defeating diet cycle, that all too familiar pattern where you commit to something that is too rigid, too restrictive and not sustainable.

And then when you eventually struggle and quit, you beat yourself up and you plan to start fresh or reset and start over.

Life doesn't reset or start over.

Life doesn't reset or restart.

And neither should your weight loss efforts.

So let that super big motivation fade just a little bit.

Then make a rational, wise decision.

And top tip number two is to look for a sfpp, a structured, flexible progressive plan.

Maybe save this episode so that you can refer back to it, you can go back and listen to exactly what each of those words means.

That way you can be sure that you're making a smart decision.

If you ever decide to try some weight loss program or diet or some weight loss strategy that's out there.

Now, if you want a guaranteed structured, flexible progressive plan, well then just shoot me an email atSupportory Little coaching dot com.

I'll include that email down in the show notes.

If you shoot me an email there, I'll tell you more about what my sfpp, what my structured, flexible progressive plan looks like and how it works.

I'm opening up 12 spots in my coaching program this month, this January.

I'm not doing any big promotion.

There's no hype, no pressure.

I just want people who are right, who are the right fit because I know that it will be a truly life changing experience for them.

And I also know that when it's a great fit, man, I just love it that much more.

I absolutely love helping people to change their brain, change their body and change their life in really awesome, really beautiful ways.

So supportorylittlecoaching.com if you're interested in that, if you're not, if you're looking for some other, if you think somebody else would be a better fit for you, great.

No worries.

I'm happy you're here, I'm happy you're listening.

But I encourage you, whatever weight loss solution you're looking at, hold it up against the structured, flexible progressive plan.

Does it fit those criteria?

If it doesn't, keep looking, find something else.

Okay.

Okay.

That's all for me, my friends.

I hope this episode was helpful.

I hope to hear from you if you think my program might be a good fit.

I hope your year is off to a wonderful start.

And I hope you always remember and you never forget that there's so much more to you than a number.

So don't let the scales get up in your head and dictate your emotions for the day or determine your worth or your value.

No, there's so much more to you than that.

You're an incredible human.

I know it.

I want you to believe it.

So don't let the scales get up in your head.

And losing weight is amazing, and I love helping people lose weight.

But losing weight is really all about gaining life and living the life you've always wanted to.

Like I talked about with me and my chronic back pain, man, when we're not.

When we don't have the body that leads to the life we want, it feels like it's stealing away our joy.

And I want you to have that.

So that's why I say losing weight is really about gaining life.

It's about regaining those joys of life.

That's what I want you to have.

And even if you struggled and failed, I know you can do it.

I know you can.

I don't know if you will do it, but I know you can do it.

And it makes it all the more likely that you'll be successful if you have a structured, flexible, progressive plan that meets you where you are and builds on itself.

So I hope you'll look for that.

Thank you so much for spending your time with me today.

Take care, my friends.

God bless.

Bye.

Bye.