Ep #18: Why Drastic Action is Stopping You from Losing Weight

You are listening to the Weight Loss for Successful Women podcast with Shannan Christiansen, episode number 18.

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. I am just so excited to be back again today. I’m excited about today’s episode. We are going to talk about taking action. And, as always, I will leave you with a couple of transformational questions so that you can start taking action today.

So, ladies, oh my goodness, I was reading through the reviews of the podcast and they are just so wonderful. I mean, honestly, they choke me up. I mean, I just love that you ladies are listening. And today’s listener shout-out really touched me and got to me. The name of the author is Reclaiming My Life. And it just touched me in a way and got me a little emotional.

So, she wrote, “Shannan gives real world action items to implement immediately. I wrote down the contact information for a bariatric surgeon in a bout of desperation yesterday. I found this podcast and listened to it today. I feel inspired to allow myself some grace. Stop trying to be perfect and recognize, as Shannan outlines consistency and time equals results. I recommended to the podcast to my sister.”

I feel so connected to that review because I really do understand what it feels like to be so desperate that you’ll try anything, even surgery. And, ladies, I am just loving all of the reviews. And I just want to thank all of you ladies who took the time to leave a review. It honestly means just the world to me, honestly. So thank you so much.

So, I can’t believe that we are already more than halfway through January. I mean, time just flies. It’s been super cold. So I know I’ve been complaining about the weather here in Arizona. But I just got back form Delaware today and it was like warm there and kind of crazy. They were in the 70s this past weekend as I’m recording this. I mean, who would have thought? We were, like, in the 50s and Delaware was in the 70s. I mean, I’m not sure what’s going on. I’m not sure.

So, I have this quick story to share with you because, I don’t know, it made me laugh, so I thought I would share it with you. So, my husband and I, we went to this restaurant in Delaware. And we had just flown in and we were on our way to the hotel and we stopped at this restaurant. And they had this really big fireplace which was beautiful and nice.

And we were sitting there and we had just ordered dinner. And suddenly, the whole place filled with smoke. I mean, filled with smoke. And, you know, we probably should have left, but we didn’t. They didn’t, like, evacuate us. They were just like, “Okay, we’re going to fix it.”

And then, you know, the smoke kind of left, dissipated a little. And then, I’m not even kidding, 10 minutes later, it filled back up again. And so, it was kind of crazy because I had, of course, my purse. I had my winter jacket and all of that was there. And I didn’t even realize, I kind of had forgotten how smoke stays with you.

And so, it was a super short trip to Delaware. I was only honestly there about, I don’t know, not even two days really. I was only really at work one day in Delaware. And needless to say, I smelt like a barbeque pit for like two days.

And it’s so funny, I walked in – and I only brought one jacket with me, so it was cold enough where I needed a jacket. I couldn’t just wear fresh clothes. So I walked in and saw my peers and I just told them, you know, if they got hungry for ribs, it was me because I smelt like a barbeque pit.

So, I don’t know why, but it just made me laugh. Like, I think I walked around all day smelling like a thing of ribs. It was kind of crazy. Even the next morning, my husband and I woke up and our eyes were still burning a little. So that happened in Delaware, so it was a little crazy. But I just thought it was a funny story. Not funny in the smoke but funny in how I smell like a barbeque pit.

And it’s not like I was home where I could have pulled out another jacket or another purse. No, I got to walk around like a barbeque pit. It was awesome.

So, I’ve been thinking about all my ladies lately and, you know, ladies I think about you all the time. And some of the things – I have these new January Jumpstarters that are, you know, they’re in their second week now. And I see some of the things that they’re struggling with.

And when we decide to do something different and change, our primitive brain, also known as the lizard brain, will tell us all the reasons we can’t. and, you know, Lizzy likes to rebel too. Like, suddenly you find yourself eating everything in sight. Ladies, I find that many of my ladies struggle with this.

But, loves, it’s just part of it. you know, Lizzy, the lizard brain, it’s part of us. We control her. We can talk to her and let her know that everything is going to be okay. But we’re going to take action that serves us.

I remember starting so many programs or new diets and I would be so super excited at the beginning. I would promise myself that I would take all this action and I had about 10 things that I was going to do. But as I do this work and also learning form my Jumpstarters, it’s not this big monumental action, right? The 10 things, it’s not that.

It’s that consistent action is key. I used to teach it as massive action, but the word massive makes me think of huge monumental action. But, loves, it is the consistent boring dull action of everyday action. Consistent action is continual action to whatever success or goal you want, even though you fail or you encounter challenges. It is taking action every day, even though you want to give up.

When I look back at my weight loss journey, it was not the huge monumental moments. It was the daily showing up of making my realistic plan, doing my reflection work, and learning what food fuel me, and then checking in with my body. And nothing bright and shiny, just consistent action.

I mean, loves, we want to be perfect. We want to do these big amazing things. But, loves, it’s the little things. When I think of my business, it’s not the big stuff. It’s the daily showing up for my ladies and being consistent. I mean, could you imagine if I just stopped for a week or two or a month and just was like, I’m too busy, tired? It would not have good results, right? It would have negative results.

But I always get to decide what I’m going to do. And I’ve just learned that small consistent action, it yields amazing results. Consistent action is the taking of action on a consistent basis, even though you ate off-plan, even though you said screw it for the night and ate the cupcakes.

One bad meal or one bad day does not make a failure. And it doesn’t mean that it has to go for two days or two weeks or two months. Loves, just take the next best action.

I think this is so important. If you want to lose weight for good, it takes time and consistent action. Time plus consistency equals results. I just can’t say it enough.

And it’s the small mundane everyday routines that create long-lasting change. So, expect that you’re going to have failures and challenges. Know that you can keep taking consistent action that serves you. I mean, you’ve got this, love. And this is it. You will have results either way.

You will have the result you want, or you will stay stuck. You get to decide. You get to decide to take consistent action that serves you or not.

So, the transformational questions, what actions can you do every day that will help you get off the diet rollercoaster? And number two, when you hit a challenge or failure, what will you do? What’s your plan? You’ve got this, love.

If you love this work and you want to go deeper, take my free course. It’s a free mini course. You can learn more about it at bflycoaching.com/free-course. Bye for now, loves.

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 over to bflycoaching.com. That’s B – F – L – Y coaching dot com. See you next week!