11- Overcoming Self-Sabotage in Fitness

Embracing Change: Overcoming Self-Sabotage in Fitness and Life

Episode Summary:
A few years ago, during a grueling ultra-marathon training session, Kat found herself hitting a wall of exhaustion. As a seasoned personal trainer and former college track and field coach, she couldn't understand why she struggled so much despite her expertise and dedication to fitness—this pivotal moment prompted deep reflection and a realization that she was unintentionally sabotaging her progress.

Key Points Discussed:

1. Recognizing Self-Sabotage:
   - Despite consistent training efforts, Kat neglected crucial aspects of her health and well-being outside of workouts. Ultra-marathon training, running a business, and managing family responsibilities drained her.

2. Identifying Damaging Narratives:
   - Kat uncovered several harmful beliefs contributing to her self-sabotage, such as not prioritizing rest and recovery, justifying poor dietary choices due to exercise volume, comparing herself unfavorably to others, and doubting the worthiness of her ambitious goals.

3. Commitment to Change:
   - After confronting these narratives, Kat committed to transformative actions:
     - Prioritizing Rest and Recovery: Establishing a strict bedtime routine and cutting out distractions after 9 PM to ensure adequate sleep.
     - Nutritional Discipline: Adopting a balanced approach to nutrition, using tools like the app chronometer to track intake and focusing on nutrient-dense, family-friendly meals.
     - Letting Go of Comparisons: Embracing her unique journey and refraining from comparing her progress to others.
     - Building Self-Worth: Daily affirmations and inner validation became crucial in reinforcing her belief in herself and her goals.

4. Ongoing Journey:
   - Kat emphasizes that personal growth is continuous and requires dedication. Despite setbacks and challenges, she has achieved significant milestones like completing over a hundred miles and setting personal bests, proving that sustainable progress comes from within.

Conclusion:
Change is challenging, and it's not a linear path. Through self-discovery and a commitment to overcoming self-sabotage, Kat illustrates the power of embracing challenges and making conscious choices. Believing in one's worthiness is critical to achieving ambitious goals and sustaining personal growth.

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Transcript

0:03

Welcome to miles from her view, the podcast, where we dive deep into the unfiltered reality of fitness, strength, training, and nutrition within womanhood and motherhood. I am your host, Kat founder of Kat Fit Strength. I'm a career strength and conditioning coach, entrepreneur, lifelong athlete, and a mom of two. In each episode, we explore the unique challenges and triumphs faced by women navigating the complexities of life from juggling family and career to prioritizing self care. We dissect the systems and the habits that shape our health and wellness. Join us for real stories, authentic advice, and genuine conversations. As we empower each other to embrace our journeys and find strength and vulnerability. Welcome back to another episode of miles from review. I'm Kat your host. And today we're delving into a powerful story of overcoming self sabotage and embracing change. This story is a very personal story. And it is a story of the time that I realized. How I was self sabotaging myself in fitness, how I embraced change. Are you curious about CatFit Strength? Well, CatFit Strength is designed to help you achieve your fitness goals with confidence and clarity. Whether you're a busy mom juggling multiple responsibilities, a woman navigating unique challenges of prenatal, postpartum, or perimenopause, or an athlete looking to enhance your performance. CatFit Strength has you covered. Let's get down to it. CatFit Strength offers personalized programs tailored to your unique needs, goals, ensuring you get the most out of every workout. Expert guidance provided for you with the understanding of the importance of balancing strength training, cardio, and mobility. Flexible workouts designed to fit into your busy schedule, whether you're at home or at the gym or on the go. So why choose Catholic strength? I believe in creating sustainable fitness habits that adapt to your lifestyle. I focus on helping you lift effectively, move better and feel stronger every day. Plus emphasis is on realistic goal setting, celebrating every win and helping you stay motivated and inspired. A couple of years ago during my ultra marathon training, I found myself Absolutely exhausted. I was in the process of doing a long run and it felt like I was literally running underwater. I couldn't understand why. Immediately I started to berate myself. Here I am a personal trainer, a former college track and field coach, a former track and field athlete. I've been an athlete and competed at the highest levels. And I have experience in this field for almost two decades. Why was I struggling? This should be easier for me. I showed up to training. I was consistent and I knew I was doing all the right things. So what was going on during that run? I sat down. I just was, I couldn't take it anymore. I felt exhausted. It, it was awful. I will never forget the feeling and to be honest, I never want to feel like that again. When I sat down to debate whether or not I was going to walk back to the car and not finish the run, or if I was going to try and just pull myself out of this hole and figure out why I was feeling so exhausted, it hit me like a ton of bricks. I needed to be honest with myself. The fact was I was putting in the work during my workouts, but I was neglecting what needed to support not only the work, but myself in the other hours of the day. Ultra marathon training, running a business, being a mom left me feeling perpetually drained. I was self sabotaging my own efforts without even realizing it. What was I doing that was creating this self sabotage? I convinced myself of several damaging narratives such as I'm too busy to fully rest or recover. You know, I would stay up late because I had things to get done. So I was like, well, no, I can't get full hours of sleep or I can't take a day off and allow my body to recover because there are other home things that need to be done, work things that need to be done. And then another one was with all the exercises I can do, I do, I can eat whatever I want. It doesn't matter. Another story that I was telling myself was, Oh, everyone else has it easier because they have more support. And then the final one was, Yeah, I want these big goals. I want to run a hundred miles one day. I want to run these tough races, but can I really, do I really deserve it? And that one was the most painful one because I didn't really believe that I could do it. Well, as I was sitting there, I really had to own up to these stories, that these stories were preventing me from moving forward and seeing the change that I wanted and being all that I could. And the only person that could change this was myself. So as I walked back to my car, cause I'd never finished that run, I knew that I was in for long road ahead. It doesn't mean that it was impossible for me to make these changes. To be quite frank, that was a couple of years ago. And in the past couple of years I have achieved. all of the goals. I've run over a hundred miles and I have also not completed because it's never a completed process, but I have made massive strides in transforming my life so that training is getting better and I'm able to do more and feel more energized and have more rest and recovery. So now the things I'm going to share with you You're going to have to add them to your life in how it sees fit and maybe having this brutally honest conversation with yourself or working with a trainer or a coach to see the change. If you are feeling some of these things, maybe your stories of self sabotage are not the same as mine or in the same areas, there can be self sabotage that is preventing us from fully stepping into what we truly want to achieve, especially in the realm of fitness. Number one. I needed to prioritize rest and recovery. This was paramount, not just to my training, but also to my performance in everyday life, my mental health, everything. I was cranky. I was, you know, crabby at my kids and my husband and I was like, well, it's the training. I'm pushing myself so much. No, I was not being disciplined in going to bed. Of course, I'd be like, yeah, I'll watch one more show or, oh, I have this work or I can stay up late and get up early. So I had to establish a strict schedule. bedtime routine and I needed to cut out all distractions after 9 p. m. so that I knew I would get to bed. What this looked like in implementing it was after my kids went to bed, they still are in bed by 8 30. Now it's summer at the time of this recording, so they're up a little bit later, but they're in bed by nine big distractions. My phone TV. Especially if I've worked up until nine. My phone, when I go upstairs for the final time of night, and it's before 9pm, goes on airplane mode. It is on airplane mode, so I am not tempted by it. Of course, yes, my phone is with me. I've been able to be controlled that I do not take it off airplane mode. It's on airplane mode, boom, and away. TV. My husband and I choose to watch a show. It is no more than 20 30 minutes, one show after 9pm, and Um, and then it's like, it is time for bed because we need that rest and recovery to be able to function the next day. So those are just some ways that I implemented. There's some other ones, but it was really. taking away the phone, making sure I was not just scrolling or reading an email that I felt like I needed to get back to or answering a client message. It was when I go upstairs, that phone is on airplane mode. It is not to disturb me. And I need to get it out of sight out of mind. TV. Yes, we do have a TV in our room, but it was like, nope, cold, hard cut off. This is what it is. And we're just going to bed if we feel a little bit more energized. I mean, lights out for us is by 10 p. m. No later than 10 15. The second thing I needed to do was I needed to really work on my nutrition. Oftentimes I hear clients tell me I know what to eat, but I'm just not doing it. That was my same thing. Like I said, I felt as though, well, I'm doing all these miles. So it really doesn't matter. It matters a lot. And I knew that, but it was a way for me to just, you know, not hold myself accountable. Now I want to stress, and this is how I live. And I try to be as transparent as possible. All foods can fit into a healthy diet. However, if you A majority of foods are not fulfilling your nutritional needs, your macro and micronutrients. Your body is not going to perform. Your muscles, your recovery, your brain, nothing is going to perform at its best. You're going to be left with lacking nutrients and You can wind up having, um, delayed recovery, muscles, health tissue injuries, muscle ligament, uh, joint cartilage, etc. It's going to crop up. So I needed to do a deep dive into my nutrition and really square that away because if I wanted to train longer and be in a healthy moving body as much as I can control and not be Dealing with delayed recovery, feeling absolutely like legs, just trash going into the next run, um, or even like preventing muscle growth. I needed to make sure my food was on point. So I doubled down and I've mentioned the app chronometer. I love it. Um, I was like, we're recording all of our food. The good, the bad, the ugly, it is all going down there and we're going to be brutally honest with what we need to eat, when we need to eat it and figure it out. That also involves a simplified meal planning with flexibility for my whole family. We are a very busy household. My two boys are very active with their own sports. My husband is active. I'm active. He has a full time demanding career. I run a business. And so the last thing I needed was. complex meal systems and everybody eating different things. I'm not a short order cook, and I also preach to my clients. They're not short order cooks. So I needed to figure out multiple meals that could be in rotation that could be as quick as grab and go. and nutrient dense whole foods. So that took some time sat down with my family. We worked on what tastes good for our family, what meals can get plugged in, where and when alleviated a lot of just a lot of frustration around meals. Like, what am I going to eat? And then just grabbing whatever and it not. working for me. Yes, it was filling the hunger void, but it was not setting myself up for success. Nutrition is complex. The one thing I can say is if you're like, I'm struggling with nutrition and I'm not quite sure registered dietitian who will be able to help decode your nutrition profile that goes well beyond just eat these macros, hit this caloric value. No, make sure you're working with someone who is. Who is going to say, okay, your whole family eats this. How can you also improve your nutrient profile and enjoy the food you like? One of the things I work with my clients is I'm not a registered dietitian. I will say that I am a nutritionist. And I coach them on foods. I don't have them hit macros or micros. I do look at that because yes, you do need to be in a range for building muscle, for muscle repair, for overall health. But what I also help them do is implement systems so that they have food that sets them up for success. No one, no two of my clients eat identical foods and neither does their families because. All foods can fit into a healthy diet. And I work one on one with clients to. set their meals up for success, set themselves up for success through their meals. And, you know, tracking doesn't have to be long term, but tracking can help really open your eyes as to what foods work for you, what foods don't, and help better set yourself up for success. So that is one thing I do. And I still periodically track just to see where I'm at. The third thing, comparison and compassion. I stopped comparing myself to other people's journeys. The fact is No, two people have the same 24 hours in a day. You can have similarities, but you are not going to have identical 24 hours. Everyone faces their own struggles. Mine were valid too, and I focused inward and just staying committed to my own personal growth. The thing is, I know my training does look a lot different compared to others, and that is a good thing. The thing I needed to stop telling myself was, Oh, I need to be doing more. I need to be running as many miles as, you know, a peer next to me who has a totally different lifestyle. Neither one of our trainings are better. It is what works for us. So the story I was telling myself was that I was lesser than, that I, wouldn't succeed if I wasn't doing as much as the person next to me or that was the reason why I was succeeding. So I had to change my story around that and drop the comparison to, I know I'm doing not as much as it can, but what is right for me, my goals, my life, and that is setting me up for success. The final one is believing in my worth. So I had to look in the mirror every day. And we all look in the mirror, but do you really look at yourself in the mirror? And then do you sit there and tell yourself out loud in the mirror your goal? Let me tell you, it is scary and it really feels awkward when you do that. But in order for me to kind of build up that belief that I am worthy of that goal of being able to run 100 miles, being able to total line on tough races, it was, I needed to tell myself and build that strength and resilience from within so that I could keep moving forward. Be the first person to clap for myself versus waiting for maybe another person to clap for myself or looking for validation of my worth and other people. Because if you look for your validation of your worth and other people, you're not going to find it. And it's going to be very fleeting and frustration, frustrating. It will not allow for you to build that strength and resilience that you need. So I had to look inwards and find that worth and validation within me to be able to move forward. These are not overnight things. Roughly two year, a little over two years from that pivotal shift and I'm nowhere close to being done. These are things that I work on. On daily, it will tell you this at the last hundred K I did at the end of April, it was a loops course, 15 and a half miles each loop. And going out on the second loop, all of a sudden I was like, I just had this thought of like, I can't do this. There's no way I can finish this. Now, the funny thing was I was having, I had so much energy. I was feeling great. I was in the midst of having a great race. And all of a sudden it was like, I don't know what it was. I just couldn't, I was like, I can't do this. I can't run another step. I don't know if my brain freaked out or what. But I got myself back on track. I finished the race. Um, and I had a pretty awesome personal best that day in the hundred K. Four things for myself, prioritizing rest and recovery, you know, working on my nutrition, not comparing and allowing myself compassion towards myself and believing in myself worth is a constant, you know, it is something that you do need to work on. Change isn't easy and it is not instantaneous. But we have to work through self discovery and that helps overcome that self sabotage, you know, sustainable processes because progress becomes from within. And it's about embracing the challenges and making those conscious choices and believing in your worthiness to achieve your goals because you truly can do it. Only you know and determine how far you can go. I hope this helps. Please, if you've Found this podcast. You enjoy it, rate it, review it, follow it. This helps get the word out about this podcast and grows. And I truly appreciate you tuning into this episode of miles from her view powered by Kaffa strength. Remember you are capable of incredible growth transformation until next time. Keep striving, keep believing and keep moving forward. Thank you for joining me on another episode of miles from her view. Your support means the world to me, and I truly appreciate you being a part of our community. If you found today's episode helpful and want to stay informed about all things CatFit Strength, make sure to subscribe to our weekly newsletter. You'll receive exclusive insights, tips, and updates straight to your inbox. To sign up, simply visit the show notes or the subscription link. To discover more about CatFit Strength programs and how you can ignite your fitness journey, head over to our website at www. catfit. com. I mean, there you'll find everything you need to invigorate your path to strength and once again, thank you for tuning in and I can't wait to connect with you in our upcoming episodes. Take care and remember act to take the next step.