There are two times in a weight loss journey when women start to feel stuck or overwhelmed. The first is usually getting started: there’s just so much contradictory information out there! What are you even supposed to believe? The second is after you’ve found a program but you get thrown out of your new habits and routines. Today, I want to give you one extremely simple trick that will help you get out of that place of overwhelm and get you back on track so you can reach your health goals!

One thing I’ve noticed as a health coach for the past eight years is that people always want to understand step 99 before they take step one. But in all honesty, the only step that matters, the only step that is going to make a difference for you is the next step.

The reason that most women feel stuck in their nutrition is that they don’t know the next right step to take to get them to their goals.

But when we don’t know what step to take next, or when there are too many steps we could take, our minds start to sabotage us. We start having so many thoughts - too many thoughts. And these thoughts send us into a stressed-out spiral.

“I don’t know what to cook for dinner.”
“Mabe we should just order something.”

“But if you order something you’ll overeat and feel gross.”

“But I don’t even have anything healthy in the fridge!”

“Ugghh why didn’t I go grocery shopping earlier?”

“This is too hard. I can’t do it.”

Mama, these stressed-out thought spirals have happened to all of us. They come so fast that we almost can’t stop them! And the worst part is that a thought spiral like this can throw us off for months.

I’ve spent the last few months learning about the brain and how our thoughts dictate our actions and I can tell you that, when your thoughts tell you that you can’t do something, there is absolutely no way that your body can act.

I was on a Macros Made Easy group call a few weeks ago and I was talking with a client who was stuck in one of these cycles.

She’d been making great progress and then life got a little bumpy. There were some unexpected celebrations and vacations and she’d been taken out of her new healthy habits more times than she was expecting. She wanted to uplevel her nutrition but she felt overwhelmed by what to do next.

On the call, when I asked her what she had going on for the upcoming week, she explained that she was feeling like she was behind in everything. She had hastily bought groceries for the week but had no idea what to make with the groceries. She wanted a plan to put into action but she didn’t know what to do.

A few of the things she said to me, threw up red flags.

I’m overwhelmed.
I’m not sure what my family will eat.
I have a light level of stress all day because I don’t have a plan.
I’m exhausted.

These thoughts literally shut down her brain’s ability to be resourceful and creative. And eating healthy every day takes a lot of resourcefulness and creativity! Luckily, she’s not the first client to go through this, so I had a simple tool to give her to help her get to the next step.

If I knew what to do, I would…

Spoiler alert, the trick I’m about to tell you helped this client out instantly. And I know it will help you too.

When you feel like you don’t know what to do use this phrase: “If I knew what to do, I would _______”

If you don’t know what to cook for dinner, you say. “If I knew what to cook for dinner I would make ________” (Tell me in the comments what your brain just told you! Because I know it popped an idea into your head)

I know this because when my client and I did this exercise on our call an idea popped into her head in less than 5 seconds. It was amazing.

I asked her, “If you knew what to make for dinner, what would you make?” And she said she would make her go-to burrito bowls. It was almost instantaneous!

She had spent days being overwhelmed about making a meal plan and in less than 5 seconds she had one!

When you’re constantly telling yourself that you can’t or that you don’t know, then your brain is going to check out. See ya, bye, we don’t have the answers. There’s no accountability or incentive for your brain to come up with the answer when you’ve already told it that it’s incapable of it.

We will always create confusion when we think, “I'm confused.” We will always create the inability to take action when we think, “I can't.” You cannot think “I can't” and then expect your body or brain to make you do what you want to do. It literally severs and shuts off your ability to take action.

Instead of sitting in a place of frustration and overwhelm, tell yourself that you already have the answers. Use your I can’t or “I don’t know how” thoughts as the cue to use this new trick! Think to yourself, “If I knew what to do, I would ______” and let your brain do the rest.

Mama, you are so much more capable than you’re giving yourself credit for! You do know what to do, you’re just a little blocked up. The next step is there, it’s just waiting for you to commit to it! To acknowledge it and do it!

Now, there might be some things you don’t actually know. Like how to lose weight without cutting yourself down to 1200 calories (because I know you’ve tried it and it didn’t work) so when you really don’t know how to do something, ask yourself, “If I knew where to get help with this, I would talk to _______.” And then go get the help you need mama!

The first step or the next step can feel like it’s so far away, but we live in the information age! There’s always a step you can take to get you to where you want to be.

If you want to lose weight or feel amazing in your body and you need someone to help you take the next step, I can help you! Together we will tackle the physical and mental roadblocks that have stopped you from being the best, healthiest, happiest version of yourself. Inside the Macros Made Easy Program, I’ll give you the tools to eat well, lose weight and show up as the best mama you can be. Schedule a free discovery call today to get started.

1 Extremely simple trick busy mamas need to go from stuck to successful in their health

If I knew what to do, I would…