I will be very honest with you.
I have been feeling a little like I am missing out lately, and it doesn’t feel good. The FOMO (ok I kind of hate that term, but bear with me) is REAL.
You see, for the past few years I have been leading group rides, and the spring has always been a really exciting time on the bike for me.
This year, so far, is totally different. I am taking a break from leading group rides because baseball season is ramping up and I want to be fully present for that and my family.
I have not gotten on my bike outdoors much at all, and I have my annual 50-Mile Bikes Fight Cancer Charity Ride coming up in the middle of June.
It’s mid-May, the group rides are starting up, people are posting their rides on social media, and I find I am feeling a bit like I am in a biking and weight loss rut.
I imagine if I am feeling this way it’s certainly possible that at some point you have felt the same way too.
Let’s be honest, no one likes to feel stuck. So, I made myself take a little step back, regroup, and come up with some strategies to help all of us get out of our biking weight loss rut.
Curious? Read on, because I am about to share my strategies with YOU
#1: Spend some time (it doesn’t have to be a lot!) journaling and reflecting.
The first thing we need to do when we are feeling stuck or in a weight loss rut is to ask ourselves why we are feeling this way.
It could be that the number has stalled on the scale. It could be the bike rides are just getting kind of stale and are no longer providing the same kind of joy.
Or, we might be feeling like what we are doing is fine, but we are ready to step things up a bit.
This could mean adding more healthy vegetables into our diet, or finding a new bike route. Maybe it means that we spend more time outside on the bike than inside now that the weather is getting nicer.
The idea here is to set aside 5-10 minutes where you let yourself just write about what it is you are feeling, and then read over what you wrote.
I know, a lot of us will collectively sigh about journaling. Either because we hate it, or we feel like we do it and nothing changes, but please hear me out.
This process is SO important, because it gives us the opportunity to acknowledge and validate our feelings, and then decide what we are going to DO about them.
It’s one thing for you to think something in passing and allow it to have a negative impact. It’s another thing entirely to take time to write these thoughts down, notice them, and be intentional about what the next steps are to help you move forward.
#2: Evaluate, revisit, and revise (if necessary) your weight loss goals.
This is a natural progression from step 1. Once you have acknowledged your thoughts, it’s time to ask yourself your reason for wanting to lose weight and be stronger on the bike.
Why on earth is it that you are doing this in the first place? What are you trying to accomplish and achieve? In short, what is your weight loss goal?
Why do you want to lose weight? How much do you want to lose? How do you want to feel about yourself and your body?
Here is the thing. We all think that what we want is to lose weight. Really, though, what we want feel good about ourselves and our body and we think that weight loss will accomplish this.
The problem is that you are bringing your same brain with you on the weight loss journey.
If you lose weight without addressing what it is that you really want, you might find that you don’t actually feel better, even if you have lost your weight.
When I set my original weight loss goal I picked a number. I still haven’t seen that number on the scale, and I don’t really care if I ever do.
The reason is that somewhere on the way for me it became a lot more about feeling good and strong on the bike than it did about that number on the scale.
It is important to take the time to revisit and revise your goals from time to time, but especially if you are in a weight loss rut.
If you are waiting to feel good about yourself until you see some sort of magical number on the scale, I can almost promise you that these feelings are sustainable long-term.
#3: Stop waiting until you reach your goal to let yourself feel GOOD.
So many of us think that we couldn’t possibly feel good or accomplished until we meet our goal, and that couldn’t possibly be further from the truth.
In fact, approaching weight loss this way can actually make it harder, if not impossible to meet your goals because you aren’t using the journey to let yourself feel proud.
Just the simple fact that you HAVE a weight loss goal is something to work towards, and something to be proud of.
You are a woman trying to feel better and be better. This is freaking amazing. Celebrate that!
Congratulate yourself and give yourself a little pat on the back NOW.
If you think that you have to earn your love and good feelings for yourself through hard bike rides and restrictive eating then you are going to be literally and figuratively on a dieting rollercoaster.
Not only is this not fun, but it’s simply not effective.
When you let yourself love and appreciate your body now for all that it can do you are so much more likely to want to take care of it.
In other words you are so much more likely to want to lose weight.
#4: Consider changing up your movement or nutrition.
I can almost here you saying “OK Stacy, changing the way that I am thinking is one thing, but what should I actually DO?”
One of the best ways to tackle a biking weight loss rut is to change up something in your routine.
If you are always eating the same thing and always going on the same bike ride, both your brain and your body just might be sick of it all. You might be ready for something a little different.
Maybe this means incorporating a strength workout or two each week. It could mean switching up your biking route, or throwing your bike in the car and driving to some place where you can have a completely different change of scenery.
Or, it could mean that you have a couple different options for breakfast and lunch instead of always eating the same thing because you are bored to tears with that same old bowl of chicken soup for lunch every day.
I mean, I have chicken soup every day but sometimes I switch up the variety. When the summer rolls around and I have a little more time and flexibility over lunch I like to make “egg roll in a bowl” and serve it over some quinoa or rice.
Maybe you have been drinking a lot of coffee lately and it just hasn’t felt great, and you want to start cutting back. Or you have noticed that your usual lunch doesn’t sit well with you or fuel you the way it used to and you want to try something else.
Brainstorm a list of at least 5 things that you KNOW you could try that would change up either you nutrition or workouts to prep you for step #5.
#5: Pick ONE easy thing from step #4 you are going to start today that will propel you forward.
If you have been following me for a bit I know you know what I am going to say next.
Pick ONE thing to start today. Just one.
Do NOT try to do all of the things you brainstormed at once to pull yourself out of your biking weight loss rut. Just pick one to start.
One you have that thing on lock, maybe it takes a week or a month, then do please feel free to add another.
You do not want to try to do everything at once. You are just going to get overwhelmed, give up, and fall even further into your biking weight loss rut.
You don’t want that, and I don’t want that for you. Pick one thing that you know you can commit to that will start moving you forward and gaining some momentum towards meeting your weight loss goals.
A Final Note
Any time we embark upon any kind of journey there are going to be starts and stops. There are going to be times that are tough, when we feel like we are in a rut, and when we feel stuck.
The important thing is for you to take a step back and reflect on what you are feeling and why.
Then, make sure your goal is still one that you actually like, and that feels good.
Stop waiting until you meet your goal to feel good, and let yourself feel good now!
Finally, brainstorm some next steps, and pick just one that you will focus on to get yourself out of the rut and move yourself forward.
You have absolutely got this, my friend. Sometimes we all just need a little reset, a little change, and to remind ourselves of what it is we are doing in the first place.
Take the time to reflect and intentionally decide how you are going to move forward. I am right here, cheering you on, every single step of the way.
Ride on!
xoxo
Stacy
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