Ep #70: The Power of Practice

You are listening to the Weight Loss for Successful Women podcast with Shannan Christiansen episode #70. Welcome to Weight Loss for Successful Women. A podcast for women who are ready to break the diet cycle and end their struggle with weight for good. Here’s your host, fortune 100 executive and certified life coach Shannan Christiansen. Hello love, so happy to be back with you.

I am excited about today’s show as always. Can you believe we are at episode number 70? Wow! I can’t believe we’re only 29 episodes from a hundred. We are totally going to do something big for a hundred. I’m telling you, something big. So today I am going to dive into the power of practice. You will not want to miss this one.

So many ladies fail at losing weight because they do not understand the power of practice. We are almost done with January. I can’t believe it. Time does just go so fast. It has been gorgeous here in Arizona. I’m sorry if you’re somewhere else where it’s cold, but seriously, we are having the best winter. It is warm and the sun is shining.

We have been out hiking and walking. It has just been so nice. So wherever you are, I’m sending you lots of warmth and love from Arizona. So today’s episode is about practice. I know you’re probably wondering how that relates to weight loss, but it really does show up actually in many areas of our life. When we practice anything over and over again it becomes automatic. It becomes something that we do. I watched this interview once with Michael Jordan and he was talking about practice and how he looked at it. He showed up in practice just like in the game and because he had practiced it so many times, it was just like muscle memory, and when he was in a game, he did not even have to think about it. It was automatic.

That really is what our habits are. They are automatic things we do. It’s kind of like when I brush my teeth every morning, I never have to think about it. I don’t have to make a decision on it. I just do it. It’s automatic. Our brains live on automatic up to 95% of the day. Yes love, 95% of the day our brains are just in automatic mode. So, if we can do things over and over, if we can practice them, they become automatic. I talk about mindset change, and I am sure, especially if you’re new to me, you have this question, Shannan, how do I change my mindset? It seems overwhelming, but changing your mindset is just practicing new thoughts and beliefs.

I think about Sharon, she’s one of my transform ladies. She had these thoughts and beliefs about herself. For most of her life. Many, many, many years, she thought she could not lose weight, she was not tech savvy, that weight loss was hard, and so on and so on. She had all of these limiting beliefs about herself.

She joined Transform, and she started with one or two new thoughts, new beliefs that she wanted to believe about herself. And she got coaching to help explore the thoughts that were holding her back. And then she just kept practicing. She kept doing it over and over again. She’s in maintenance now after losing 116 pounds, yes, 116 pounds, with Transform.

She actually runs study halls for us. And I tell you when she runs the tech for them. And I remember her and when she very first came to transform, there is no way when she first came to transform that she ever would have believed that she would be running study halls and helping women and running the tech for them. But that is the power of practice.

See, understanding something and practicing are two different things. You can understand something, but if you don’t practice it, you’ll lose it. Or you’ll never even begin the change. This is what The Transform Weight Loss Program is. It is the tools, the understanding, but it’s also the practice and the implementation of the tools. I give ladies the tools and then help them practice over and over and over again so that it becomes automatic.

Here’s an example like, you know, a funny one. So I love British baking show. My husband and I have watched all the seasons, the holiday ones, we love it so we can watch the great British baking show. I can understand how to make a souffle, but it is very different than actually practicing and making one. See, I do my fundamentals, my basics of weight loss every day. And I’ve set myself up for success. I don’t have to think about them anymore because I’ve practiced them over and over again. I make my realistic plan, drink my water. I eat food that fuels me. I pay attention to this beautiful body of mine. And because I’ve practiced this so often, it is now automatic.

You can understand how to change your mindset. You can understand what food fuels you, but until you actually practice it, it will not become automatic. This is one of the ways that ladies stay stuck on the diet roller coaster. They stay in the “understanding” phase and they do not have the support. They need to practice and implement it to go from understanding to practice.

There are a couple of things that you need. Number one, you need to take action over and over again. This is the practice part. And then number two, you need support through coaching and community. When you get stuck, when you want to give up, you need a tribe, a tribe of women who understand what you’re going through to support you, to help you and to inspire you.

So the transformational questions are one, what are you just “understanding” and not implementing or practicing? Number two, what support do you need to go from understanding to practicing so that it becomes automatic.?

And if you want to learn more on how to get off the diet roller coaster for good and go deeper on this work, I invite you to join Transform Weight Loss Program. This program is based on three elements: coaching, community, and the weight loss course. This program will help you implement and practice the tools so you can live your best life in a body that you love. Go to bflycoaching.com/join. So good my love. Bye For now. Thank you for listening to this episode of Weight Loss for Successful Women.

If you love what you heard today and want to learn more, come on over to bfly.coaching.com. See you next week.