Running Lean with Patrick McGilvray
Get leaner. Get Stronger. Run Faster. Run longer.
There are a lot of misconceptions out there about what coaching is and what it isn’t. Some people think coaching is just someone screaming at you like a drill sergeant in boot camp. Others think …
Continue Reading about 122. What Coaching Should Look Like →
My name is Patrick McGilvray, and I’m an experienced marathoner, ultra runner, Sports Nutritionist, Master Life Coach, and weight loss coach for runners. I’ve dedicated my life to helping runners just like you properly fuel your body and your mind. So you can get leaner, get stronger, run faster, and run longer than you ever thought possible. This is Running Lean.
Hey there, and welcome to episode 122 of Running Lean. My name is Patrick McGilvray, the weight loss coach for runners and today, what coaching should look like? I think there are a lot of misconceptions out there about what coaching is and what it isn’t.
Some people think coaching is just like having someone screaming at you like a drill sergeant and boot camp. Other people think coaching is having a cheerleader by your side always telling you great job. Both of these can be positive aspects of coaching. But there’s a lot more to consider if you’re seriously looking for someone to help you reach your weight loss and running goals.
So in this episode of the podcast, I break down what coaching is, what it isn’t, and explain what coaching should look like. And I’m hoping that by the end of this episode, you have a very clear understanding of how the right kind of coaching can actually help you achieve all of your health and fitness goals.
And I just want to get right into this topic today because this is something that I’ve been very passionate about, and something that I talk about just about every day. So I talk with runners every single day about their goals and whether or not they want to coach with me, whether they want to work with me or not.
And I always explain a little bit about what coaching looks like, when I get on a call with someone. And I thought you know, this would be a great idea to just jump on here and do a whole podcast about this topic about what good coaching should actually look like, you know, what coaching should look like versus what maybe we think it is?
Okay, so let me ask you this, like when you think of a coach, what image comes to mind for you, when I think of a coach, I get this image of somebody standing on the side of the track, like with a clipboard and a stopwatch, right?
Or maybe that coach in the locker room at halftime screaming at the players to get them all pumped up for the second half of the game. Or the personal trainer screaming at you there’s a lot of screaming in my envision of coaches for some reason. The personal trainer at the gym screaming like, you know, do one more rep. One more, one more.
So we all have some notion of what a coach looks like. And most of us have probably had some experience working with or having some sort of a coach in our lives, whether it was a coaching, you know, when you played high school sports, you maybe had a coach. But this idea of what a coach actually is, I think there’s a lot of misunderstanding about that.
Okay, and so, today I want to talk about this, I want to talk about what coaching is and what it isn’t. And I want to bust some of the myths around coaching and what it means to work with a coach. I want to help you to understand what to look for if you want to work with a coach.
Okay, by the end of this episode, I want you to have a clear understanding of what this should look like. Okay, now I need to say this, I’m a coach, right? And of course, I would love it if you wanted coaching and you decided you want to work with me. That would be amazing. But that’s not what this is about. Okay, this isn’t about me.
This is about you understanding the power of coaching, and how it can help you and how, what I want for you is I want to give you the information to go out there and find a coach that works for you, whether it’s me or somebody else, it’s fine with me either way. I fiercely believe in the power of coaching. It is one of the most amazing things I have ever done for myself is getting a coach and I think everyone can benefit from having a coach.
I actually have several coaches, I have a strength coach, I have a nutrition coach and a business coach. And each of these coaches plays a huge role in helping me to become my most badass self. I would not have lost the weight and learned how to keep it off for good without my coach.
I wouldn’t have learned how to get stronger. I wouldn’t understand the importance of continually, you know, building strength as a runner, if it wasn’t for my functional strength coach, and I definitely wouldn’t make it as an entrepreneur without my business coach. You know, being an entrepreneur building a business from the ground up and doing it all by yourself. This is one of the hardest things I have ever done. It’s challenging.
And they say I love this little like analogy here, they say, “Being an entrepreneur is like jumping out of an airplane and building the parachute on the way down.” And I feel this deeply, every single day. Okay? Anyway, so I just wanted to make this very clear that this isn’t about me, this is not about me, like selling you on coaching with me or anything like that.
It’s about helping you understand what good coaching should look like, whether it’s with me or somebody else. But I want you to understand how powerful coaching can be for you, and how amazing it can be for you, and how it can absolutely transform your life, and help you achieve whatever goals you want for yourself in different areas of your life. Okay.
So one of the biggest misconceptions I want to talk about is that a coach is just there to tell you what to do. Right? I have talked to so many runners who have worked with a running coach, or maybe a nutrition coach in the past. And one of the common issues I see with most coaches with most of like what I’ll call like traditional coaching, okay?
That it’s just somebody, they’re telling you what to do. Like, here’s what you should eat, or here’s your running workout, just do what I say. All right, and this is fine. You know, there has to be a part of that with coaching, right. But when that’s all the coaches doing for you, they’re giving you some sort of standard formula, some standard meal plan or some standard workout. You know, everybody they’re coaching is kind of getting the same standard deal, right? That doesn’t really work. Okay.
This is a problem. And I see this with a lot of nutrition coaches, specifically who just prescribe meal plans for their clients. So they give them a menu of actually, like, here’s what you’re going to eat this week. And then next week, I’ll give you a new meal plan of what you should eat. Okay? And again, this is fine.
This might work sometimes, but what are you teaching the client? What are you teaching that person you’re working with? Are they learning how to make good decisions about food? Are they developing the habits they need to make their new food choices on their own and to make them last for the long haul?
Like, how sustainable is it to just tell somebody what to do? I’ve had several people come to me after working with other nutrition coaches, who gave them meal plans, who gave them a menu of what to do. And by the end of that coaching relationship, they had no clue what to do on their own.
So once the coaching relationship was over, they didn’t know what to do. They didn’t understand why they were being told to eat these certain foods. And to avoid these foods over here. They didn’t understand the philosophy behind making these menus, you know, they hadn’t developed any skills of their own.
They just didn’t know how to create their own food plan. Okay. That’s not sustainable. Right? They also hadn’t developed good eating habits, right. So they just ended up falling back into old behaviors, once that coaching relationship was over, and they ended up putting all the weight back on.
And I see this with most diet plans, right? They just tell you what to eat, and what not to eat. And then, you know, send you on your way. Good luck. Good luck with all that, right. And I see this with books. You know, I read a lot of books on diet and nutrition, sports, nutrition, athletic performance.
And a lot of these books have meal plans in them and recipes and things like that. I guess people say they want those kinds of things, right? This might be what people say they want, but it’s not what they need. Right? What people want is for somebody to just tell them what to do.
But what they need is they need to learn how to break old habits. People need to learn how to develop new habits from the ground up, and you can’t learn new habits just by somebody telling you what to do. And just a little side note here, I’m planning on writing a book, I’ve actually kind of started this is a long process to write a book, by the way, and I’m at the baby stages right now.
But my goal with this book that I’m creating is to not just offer meal plans and tell people what to do, but to teach you how to build your own meal plan to teach you how to make good choices and why you should make those choices. That right there is going to be a game changer, I promise you, but that’s down the road.
So I’m just giving you a little preview of what’s to come later. All this is just to say that instead of just telling you what to do, a good coach should empower you to make good decisions for yourself. And to help you to be there as your guide to help you build the habits that are required to make whatever changes you’re making last for good.
Like this isn’t about, you know, just a quick fix, like these short term plans might be fine. But what do you do when you stop working with the coach, if you haven’t learned how to do this for yourself, you’re just on your own. And most people just don’t know what to do when they stop working with their coach, okay. So you should be becoming empowered, your coach should be empowering you. Right?
When the coach just tells you what to do, they have all the power, they have all the power, you need to have the power, right, you should be able to make most of these decisions for yourself. Now, of course, having a coach, a good coach, is there to guide you, and to show you the way, but also to empower you to learn what works for you and what doesn’t work for you.
Now, there’s no possible way any coach could know what’s going to work for you ahead of time, I’m just going to tell you right now, when it comes to things like nutrition, there is just no way. Every human being is different. Every human being has different metabolism, different goals, different food preferences, different likes and dislikes.
There’s different lifestyle concerns to take into consideration. There’s different cultures, different genetics, different medical histories, oh my gosh, there’s no way that one meal plan from a book is going to work for every single person, right? There’s no way that just giving everybody the same standard meal plan every week is going to work for everybody.
This is not a one size fits all situation here. There’s way too many factors involved. So the power of coaching is helping you figure out what works for you, as an individual and what doesn’t work for you. And this is one of the reasons why most people, they try some kind of diet, it doesn’t work for them.
And so they just say you know what diet doesn’t work. But in reality, one diet is not going to work for everyone. I’m just telling you, it’s not anyone who tells you that one diet is going to work for everyone is wrong, I’m just gonna tell you right now they are wrong. People get super worked up about this.
People are like they get dug in with their particular diet. Think about like, plant-based people, for whatever reason, they seem to be very worked up about their diet and telling you if they want to tell everybody that you’re stupid if you eat meat and plant-based is the only way to go. And honestly, I just have to tell you, there’s a lot of ignorance in that kind of generalization, right? The reality is, there isn’t one diet that works for everyone, there just isn’t.
So when I work with someone, it’s you and me like we are engaged in a coaching relationship. Yes, of course, I have a lot of experience and a lot of expertise in the area of diet nutrition for runners, for runners who want to lose weight and be able to keep it off like, yeah, we kind of start with a framework.
But you know, we have some basics that we sort of, kind of start with, but then throughout our coaching relationship, we pretty quickly figure out what works and what doesn’t. And here’s the important part, we constantly analyze the results. We look at a bunch of different metrics. And we see, are we making progress here or not? Yes or no? Where can we improve things?
And then we course correct, we change something. If something isn’t working, we want to change it. So it’s not just about telling you what to do and then hoping you do it. It’s a feedback system, right? We’re always looking at your results. It’s a results oriented type of coaching. And that’s something you should definitely be looking for.
If you’re looking for a coach, somebody that’s going to help you to analyze the results that you’re getting, and then make the necessary changes so that you keep moving closer to your goals. And I’ll tell you right now, I’m going to be totally honest with you. I don’t know what’s going to work for you.
Yes, I have some good ideas based on working with hundreds of runners. But not every single person is the same. Every single person I work with is different. I’ve never done the exact same thing for two people, really I never have.
So when it comes to diet and nutrition, especially when we add in the complexity of doing all of this in a way that will also support your running goals. It’s always an experiment of one. This is a n equals one situation and the one that’s you so look for a coach who will win work with you, one who will help you to make good decisions for yourself, one who will empower you to make those kinds of choices and decisions and to create the good habits and teach you how to make all of this last.
Well, after the coaching relationship is over, I tell people who want to work with me all the time, I’m like, This is not a, I don’t want to like be stringing you along as a coach forever, I want to teach you what you need to learn so that you can go and go live your life. You know, you’ve got to find somebody who understands that you are an individual, and who will treat you like an individual. Okay.
So another sign you’re working with a good coach is someone who will ask you a lot of questions, a lot of powerful questions. Here’s why this is important. Most likely, you already have the answers within you. You just need help accessing them. So believe it or not, you are right now a powerhouse of information. And you know more than you think you do. And you definitely know more about you than anyone else on the planet. Okay.
This is one of those things that I couldn’t grasp at first. I thought I had no clue what to do. And that’s why I hired a coach in the first place, right? Just tell me what to do. But the more I got into this process, the more I worked with my coach, the more I learned that I pretty much had everything I needed to know already inside me.
And then I just needed somebody to help figure it out. That really changed everything for me. And I love this now, like, I see this every week, especially in working with my business coach, because she’s always asking me these powerful questions, right? Questions that force me to go inside, to go inside myself to go inside my own brain to find the answers.
The answers aren’t out there. The answers are in here. And I’m pointing to my head. And this used to be really frustrating for me at first, right? Because I just wanted her to tell me what to do, just tell me what to do. But she wouldn’t do that, she would ask me a lot of questions and help me come up with the right answers. And now I love this process.
Because I know that by asking me the right questions, she’s helping me to access those parts of my brain that I just that I need to access to be able to solve problems. And then I’m just I haven’t developed that, like skill of being able to access those things until I started doing this on a regular basis. And now, it’s extremely powerful. I know it sounds counterintuitive, right? To work with a coach and have them help you figure it out for yourself. But it’s an amazing way to coach someone.
Because when you do it this way, you’re actually teaching someone how to become a powerful problem solver on their own. Again, this isn’t about, like just, you know, telling somebody what to do in that situation, you would always have to have that coach there with you, right? Instead, what have you learned how to become that powerful problem solver on your own? That’s amazing, right there.
The point of coaching is not to just rely on your coach forever, right? But to teach you how to think for yourself to develop the cognitive skills to know what to do in every situation. Right, and to be able to solve every problem that comes your way. So for me, I ask a lot of powerful questions. Okay.
So I’ll ask clients, they’ll tell me they, you know, did something and I’ll say like, well, why did you make that choice? You know, why do you think you chose cake for dinner last night instead of chicken? Or, you know, okay, so you had a situation? How could you have handled that situation better when your coworker put that cupcake on your desk? You know, or what was the thought that immediately preceded the action that you took, you know, that behavior where, you know, you decided I’m not going to work out today? What was the thought right before that?
Or maybe you fail? Did you binge out on some pizza last night or ice cream? Like, what did you learn about yourself from this experience? These are examples of real questions that I ask clients all the time. And when I ask them these questions, they go inside themselves to find the answers. And they come up with solutions on their own with my help, right? But instead of me just telling them what to do in each of these situations, well, here’s what you do next time.
They are figuring it out for themselves. And I’m going to tell you something right now. When you figure it out for yourself, you are way more likely to remember that and to make better choices next time. There is a big difference between somebody telling you what to do, and you making a decision for yourself on what you should do.
When you come up with the solution for yourself, you learn from it, it just sticks, right? It’s the difference between, well, Patrick told me I shouldn’t eat cake for dinner and, and I don’t eat cake for dinner because that choice is not in alignment with who I want to be. See the difference there. It’s very powerful, very powerful.
Another thing you should look for in a good coach is someone who will point out your blind spots. So a good coach should help you see things that you cannot see about yourself. These are often called your blind spots, because like a blind spot in your car, you know, where you can’t see the car next to you, or whatever. There are things about yourself that you can’t see, because you’re inside yourself.
There’s a saying, and it goes something like “You can’t see the label from inside the bottle.” So you can’t see the outside, from inside. So sometimes it takes an outsider’s perspective to show you things about yourself that you wouldn’t be able to see on your own.
For example, I see a lot of self-sabotaging behavior happen when people set out to lose weight. So they might be going along fine for a while. And maybe their weight stalls a little bit, which is totally normal. It happens all the time, right? But then they’re just like, ethic, you know, and they binge out on french fries and donuts.
And they don’t understand why they do this. And they come to me and they’re like, Patrick, I don’t understand why, why do I do this all the time? So I started asking a lot of questions. And when we get to the root of the problem, it’s usually something like, well, you know, I was getting frustrated, the weight was stalled.
And I was having a tough day at work. And I thought, well, I might as well just eat whatever I want, since this isn’t working anyway, you know, some variation of a thought like that, okay. But they don’t see what’s happening in their brain, you know, because they’re, it’s their brain.
And they’re just like, they’re just operating on sort of autopilot. It’s just doing what they’ve always done, right. But having a coach, they’re having that person that’s outside of them, to show them what their brain is doing. To show you things about yourself that you cannot see, that’s some powerful stuff right there.
There are things about yourself that you can’t see, because they’ve just been like, things you’ve been doing your whole life, automatic behaviors and habits and they just seem like normal to you. But to an outsider, they might see like, oh, well, there’s your problem right there. You don’t see it, because it’s just part of who you are. And just something you’ve been doing forever, right.
But having this outsider’s perspective, like somebody’s pointing out these blind spots that you have, it’s crucial, it’s crucial. This is why it’s hard to have somebody that’s like really close to you, as your coach, you know, they need to be a bit more removed. So people who you’re too close with, like a spouse, or a good friend or family member, they don’t have that third party perspective, right, they’re also going to have trouble telling you things that you actually need to hear, they won’t be able to dole out the tough love the way they need to maybe.
And so somebody that’s like too close to you won’t be able to do that. Somebody that’s too close to you really just can’t be a good coach for you. Right, then it’s kind of damaging to the relationship if you’ve ever worked with somebody in that capacity, that’s a spouse or something like that, not usually a good situation. Okay.
The other thing about working with a coach versus a friend or family member is the coach has the training, the background, the professionalism, the experience necessary to help you get the results that you want. Friends and family members really don’t have that. They don’t have what it takes, unless they’re trained as a coach, but even then, again, they’re too close to you, right? So anyway, just make sure that you have somebody that can point out those blind spots. Okay.
And then there’s a few other qualities to look for in a coach that I think are very important. One is accountability. So this is one of the most important aspects of coaching in general, like you are way more likely to do what you said you’re going to do when you have somebody holding you accountable. You have to have somebody holding you accountable.
People tell me all the time, you know, I was going to eat this junk food, but I knew I was going to have to talk to you later. So I decided not to do it. They just know that they’d rather stay on their plan, then have to tell me, they went off their plan. Even though I don’t yell at anybody, like I don’t judge anybody. But having somebody that’s there to hold you accountable is key crucial insight, one of the most important aspects of coaching for sure, okay?
Another good quality to look for is encouragement. So, being a cheerleader, it’s not really the main job of a coach. A coach’s job is to help you get results. But having somebody there to encourage you, and support you, and believe in you, it’s so helpful, it really is so helpful. You want somebody who can encourage you to do hard things, to do those hard things that you know you need to do, in order to get the results that you want.
You need someone in your corner who believes in you fiercely, who can help you to start believing in yourself, right? In case that’s a problem. In case you don’t believe in yourself, you need somebody that’s there that believes in you. And that can help you build that belief that you need for yourself, right.
And then of course, another quality is look for his knowledge, like it goes without saying, but you need someone with the knowledge with the experience with the expertise to be able to help you achieve your specific goals. And a lot of coaches that I know are very general, they’re like generalists, right?
They have a little bit of knowledge over a wide variety of topics. You want a coach who specializes in helping someone like you to reach your specific goals, right? So for example, when I talk about me being the weight loss coach for runners, I say it like that for a reason. It’s because I specialize in being the weight loss coach for runners.
I don’t know of anybody else who really specializes in this particular area of coaching. As far as I know, I’m the only weight loss coach for runners. Now, there might be others. But no one does it quite like I do, I know that for sure. Okay.
But that’s just an example, like, find a coach who specializes in helping somebody like you reach your specific goals, right, because you want to find the expert in your area, you know, whatever it is that you’re looking for, okay.
And again, it doesn’t have to be me, I want you to understand how powerful coaching can be, I want you to understand that, you know, you just need to have this criteria for deciding if coaching is a good fit for you or not, it’s not for everyone. Some people don’t want that accountability. They want to just do it on their own. And that’s fine. And that used to be me, my mantra was always ‘I will figure it out myself’.
And when that strategy stopped working for me, and I decided to reach out and get help and get a coach, it really changed everything. For me, it’s absolutely been one of the most powerful things I’ve ever done for myself, okay. So listen, if you’re a runner, and you’d like to get the weight problem solved for good, and you want a coach to help get you there, I want to encourage you to find someone to help you, right?
And if you want to work with me, I would absolutely love that. And I will invite you to apply for coaching, right? Fill out an application, you and I will get on a short Zoom call. We’ll talk about your goals and we’ll see if coaching is a good fit for you. Okay, I would love to be your guide.
I would love to help you lose the weight and show you how to do it without all the struggle and frustration. So if you’re ready for some realistic lifestyle changes, mindset shifts, and sustainable results. Then just go to runningleancoaching.com/apply. And let’s get started. Love you all keep on Running Lean. Talk to you soon.
If you’re a runner and you’ve been struggling to lose weight or you keep losing and gaining the same 10 pounds over and over again. Or you’re finally ready to get to your natural weight and stay there for good this time then I have something you will love. I’ve created a powerful new training just for you called running lean for life. You’ll learn exactly how to transform yourself into a lean fat-burning running machine. So you can run without bonking, lose weight without calorie counting and develop the habits required to make it last for life. To get this free training right now go to runningleanpodcast.com/leanforlife and start your transformation today.
Have you ever found yourself wishing your life was somehow “better”, that there was some future version of yourself that was leaner, stronger, and healthier? Of course you have, we all think about …
Continue Reading about 113. Getting Out of the Gap and Into the Gain →
My name is Patrick McGilvray, and I’m an experienced marathoner, ultra runner, Sports Nutritionist, Master Life Coach, and weight loss coach for runners. I’ve dedicated my life to helping runners just like you properly fuel your body and your mind. So you can get leaner, get stronger, run faster, and run longer than you ever thought possible. This is Running Lean.
Hey there, and welcome to Episode 113, of Running Lean. My name is Patrick McGilvray, the weight loss coach for runners, and today getting out of the gap and into the gain. Have you ever found yourself wishing that your life was somehow better, that maybe there was some future version of yourself that was leaner, stronger, and healthier? Of course, you have. We all think about stuff like this, I teach you to think about stuff like this, there’s nothing inherently wrong with doing this.
The problem is when you’re so focused on what you don’t have, that it completely consumed you. When you’re obsessed about where you’re not, that’s when things begin to break down for you. So today I’m talking about the difference between being in the gap. And being in the gain.
When you’re in the gap, you only see the negative, you never feel like you measure up, you never feel like you’re making progress towards your goals. In fact, making any progress toward your goals feels virtually impossible.
There’s a better way to do this, there’s a better way to think about all of this, and it’s called being in the gain. When you’re in the gain, you’re focused on the positive, you feel more energized, you feel more motivated, and you begin to make significant progress.
I’m going to talk all about this today, I’m going to break down why getting out of the gap and getting into the gain is so important for your long-term health and fitness goals. Cool. This is exciting. I’m excited about this one.
But first, if you’re ready to do this inner work, you know, this stuff that I talked about here, like getting out of the gap and into the gain, this is the inner work, you got to shift your mindset. If you want to become that healthy, badass version of yourself, right?
You have to take action, that action involves doing a lot of this inner work, your outer results are just a reflection of whether or not you’re doing the inner work, okay? The mistake most people make is that they focus on the outer stuff, tell me what to eat, Patrick, just tell me how many times I should lift weights each week, just tell me how many carbs I should eat whatever.
Instead, let’s focus on changing our mindset. Because when you do that, your chances of success go up dramatically. I’m going to talk about this today, I’m going to talk about how when we’re focused on the negative and when we’re focused on what we don’t have, it can affect us profoundly.
But when we start to focus on the positive, the progress we made, it can affect us profoundly in a different way, in a positive way. So if you’re ready to do this inner work with me, then maybe coaching is a good fit for you! Just go to runningleanpodcast.com/apply, apply for coaching with me, we’ll get on a Zoom call, we’ll have a short conversation. But I want you to take that step, take that first step of becoming that future badass version of yourself. Cool. runningleanpodcast.com/apply. And let’s have a conversation.
And then I wanted to give you guys a heads up about something, something very cool. That’s coming soon. So in just a few weeks, I’m going to be teaching a live workshop, all about how to effectively transform yourself from the inside out into a leaner, stronger, more badass runner.
This is going to be probably the most informative and most comprehensive live workshop that I’ve ever taught. And I don’t do this kind of thing very often. In fact, I don’t know that I’ve ever really done this exact same kind of thing before. I like to teach here on the podcast.
But sometimes, sometimes I’m just so excited about the topic that I want to teach it live. There’s a real energy when we get together for a live workshop like this, you know, I get the feedback from you. Are you enjoying this? Are you getting something out of it?
You get to ask questions you get to you get your questions answered, I get the feedback. We all have a lot more fun doing this. It’s very interactive. So I just want to put this on your radar. That’s all I’m gonna say about this right now. This is a little teaser, I know.
But I’m going to keep you updated on dates and times when this thing is coming. It’s a few weeks out yet, but I’m just I’m so excited. I can’t wait for you guys to take part in this. I can’t wait to share more about this with you.
And if I didn’t mention it’s going to be free, it’s going to be a free live training to help you understand the fundamentals of becoming a healthy, badass human being. That’s all. That’s all. Just that. So more is coming soon on this I promise I’m so excited about this is going to be super fun. So just keep your ears peeled for that. I’ll be talking about it. More on the podcast here, don’t worry, you’ll know when it’s coming.
Okay, let’s talk about this today getting out of the gap and in the gain. So I talk to clients every single day who are working towards goals, right? They want to lose weight, they want to get stronger, they want to improve their body composition, they want to run faster.
And every time we get on a call, and my clients will attest to this, I always ask, tell me what’s good. Let’s talk about something positive share a win from this past week, big or small, doesn’t matter, some victory, some win around your health and fitness, maybe you lost a pound or maybe running felt better or easier, or you’re sleeping better. Or you realize for the first time in a long time that you just weren’t hungry all day long.
Like these are all little wins that we want to talk about and celebrate. Whatever it is, maybe it’s an “aha” moment, like, you know, I just realized that I can run perfectly fine without eating a bunch of sugar. Or when I make a plan ahead of time, and it’s a lot easier to just stick with it. What an aha moment, you know.
So this is the kind of stuff I always like to talk about, I always want to start out our conversations with wins, right? I want to give equal airtime to the good stuff to the positive to the wins, and to the negative to the problems to the obstacles to the struggles.
But sometimes when I ask people, “Hey, tell me something different this past week”, they just sit there and stare off into space. And they’re like, “I don’t know, I can’t think of anything, just crickets. Nothing positive from this whole past week.”
But then I’ll go like, “Hey, okay, well, let’s talk about what’s going on, like, what’s wrong, what issues you’re having, what’s the problem?” and then the floodgates open, there are all kinds of stuff they talk about, they can go on for days telling me what’s wrong, why things aren’t working, the stress thrown at work, the kids are driving them crazy, blah, blah, blah, right?
So there’s a real issue here, right, you’re consumed by the negative, when you’re consumed by all the negative stuff that’s going on in your life when you can’t even articulate one positive thing that has happened for you this past week. You’re in this constant state of like, inner turmoil. It’s a very negative state to be in, by the way.
It has a compound effect on your life. And I’ll talk more about that in a minute. But there’s a real issue here, there’s a bigger issue here because this is a negative state to be in. Right?
This is a place where you are constantly in your whole mental, emotional, physical being is a state of negativity. All right. And I was talking about this recently with my coach, and I was saying, “Listen, I have these clients, and they have a hard time articulating what’s good, and how can I help them?”
You know, why do we have this negativity bias? You know, how can we can’t see the good things in our life. And she started telling me about the gap. And being in the gap. I’d never heard of this concept before.
And so she recommended a book to me. And the book is called The Gap And The Gain by Dan Sullivan. And Dan Sullivan is a coach. He’s awesome. I love him. I read the book. It’s a very simple concept. I’m going to break it all down for you here. I just felt compelled to share with you sort of this concept from this book.
It’s a very simple concept, but very powerful. It explains why we’re so focused on the negative, why it’s so hard to see the good things in our lives. And how we can change our mindset so we can start getting better results.
So what are we talking about here? What is this gap? What’s the gap? So the gap is the space between where you are right now, and where you want to be in the future. So this is awesome. Like I said earlier, if you have a goal of wanting to get leaner, stronger, and faster, that’s awesome. I encourage you to create a very detailed, very compelling future version of yourself. Create that vision of where you want to be that’s important to do you got to know where you’re going if you want to get there, right.
But when you’re not there yet, it can be very easy to focus all of your attention on that gap between where you are today. And where you want to be. There’s a gap you’re not there. And you can focus on the fact that you’re not there.
You can focus on the gap between where you want to be and where you are right now and where you want to be in the future and this can start to feel very terrible, right? You’re focusing on the fact that you’re not there. This is what I don’t have, I am not this person yet.
When you’re in the gap, you start to feel this inner conflict is inner turmoil. So let’s say you want to lose 30 pounds, and you’ve lost 20. So far, right? But you’re so focused on those last 10 pounds that you haven’t, that you haven’t quite lost it that you’re in the gap.
Or let’s say you want to improve your running performance, you want to go from 10-minute miles for half marathon to 9-minute miles, and you’ve made some progress. you’ve increased your speed to 9:39:30 per mile. But you still got like 30 seconds per mile more to go. When you’re just focused on that you’re, you’re in the gap here again, okay.
You may not be in control of your food choices, you’re still binging you’re feeling completely out of control, sometimes, you know, you’re not acknowledging that all the other times that you didn’t binge eat ice cream, that like you used to do. So you’ve made some progress here. But you’re only focused on the gap, you’re only focused on what’s wrong.
Maybe you look in the mirror, and every time you look in the mirror, you just see your flaws. You see the flab, and the wrinkles and the sagging skin, but you don’t see that you’ve already lost inches, your clothes fit better, you’re sleeping better at night, you have a ton more energy throughout the day.
But you don’t see any of that stuff, you just see where you’re not you just see what’s wrong, you are in the gap.
So what happens to us when we’re in the gap? Like when you’re in the gap, you’ll never measure up, you’re not going to see the progress you’ve made, you’re not going to see the good stuff, you’re not going to see the incremental improvements in your health and your well being you’re only going to see what’s wrong. Being in the gap creates this state of inner conflict.
When you’re constantly focused on what’s wrong, and how you’re not where you want to be, you are going to feel pretty miserable, like all the time. And you may not even know why you’re feeling so miserable.
But you’re constantly comparing yourself to some arbitrary place that you’re not there, right. And this conflict, I want to be there. And I’m not, this is what’s going to make it very hard for you to keep going. Alright.
So being in the gap creates this state of inner conflict. It’s also very demotivating. Why the hell would you want to go out there and run faster? Or why would you want to stick to your food plan when all you do is ruminate about how crappy everything in your life is.
Being in the gap will destroy your motivation. Even if you’ve had a little bit of motivation, it’s going to just break it down.
In order to feel motivated, you have to focus on the progress you’ve made, right? motivation comes from within. And focusing on how you’ve been making slow and steady progress can help create this feeling of motivation within you.
Being in the gap, though, has the opposite effect, you feel less motivated, you feel frustrated, you feel like why bother trying, you’re just like tired and frustrated. And you just want to give up.
I talked to a lot of people who have a decent amount of weight to lose, like let’s say you’ve, you know, I’m talking to someone who’s got like 50 pounds to lose, right? And they start making some progress.
So they might lose one or two pounds a week. But they get super frustrated because they’re consumed by this idea of they’ve got like 45 more pounds to go. And it all just feels so overwhelming. I’m never going to get there. Why should I even bother? They just want to throw in the towel.
And I want to just encourage them to stop doing this stop being in the gap. You’re in the gap when you’re getting frustrated and focused on where you’re not.
And it creates these feelings of unworthiness within you, you might know you’re in the gap when you compare yourself to others. Have you ever done this before?
Everybody’s hand should be going up right now. We have all done this. We all compare ourselves to others. But is this ever a good idea? Do you ever come out on the winning end of this comparison? No, never.
Other people are losing weight faster than me. Other people are running faster than me. Other people are making progress, more progress than me. It’s easier for other people. It’s harder for me like this is all the stuff we tell ourselves. When you get caught up in these comparisons. When you’re comparing yourselves to others. You are deeply into the gap.
Alright, you start to feel less than you don’t measure up. And again, you’re like, it leads to frustration and these feelings of just unworthiness, and you feel like a failure. Because you’re like, this isn’t working for me, look at how it’s working for everybody else.
Right. And in this just your perception, the truth is, we all have our own journey, and it looks different for everyone. You have to stop comparing yourself to others because that’s being solidly into the gap. When you’re doing that you’re comparing yourself to others, you are absolutely deep into the gap, okay?
Also, when you’re in the gap, you’re going to have a very hard time making progress, because all of your thoughts and feelings are consumed by where you’re not. And this is demotivating. So you’re demotivated, you experienced this inner conflict, you feel unworthy, you feel like a failure.
Do you think you’re going to feel like you want to stick to your food plan when this is your mental and emotional state? Do you think you’re going to want to stick to your workout schedule when you’re feeling like this? No. Most people just give up, they quit. They can’t see past the gap.
So what about this idea, Patrick, of creating a clear vision of your future self, I mean, should we not be doing that? And, and like I said earlier like I teach people to do this, I think it’s important that we do this, we have to know where we’re going, we have to create this vision of ourselves.
So I want you to, this isn’t about not having a future vision for yourself, okay? You can’t make progress towards your goals if you don’t know what you want for yourself if you don’t know where you’re going. Right?
So I strongly encourage you and I work with all my clients on this to create a vision for their future self, right? Who do you want to become? How do you want to feel? What do you want your life to look like? What do you want your body to look like? What do you want running to look like for you?
These are all things that it’s important to know. Got to know where you’re going, right?
So when I talk about being in the gap, I’m not saying you shouldn’t have a vision for your future, what I’m saying is stop obsessing about not being there. That’s the part where we’re in the gap.
Okay, it’s important to have that future version of yourself that future vision for yourself. But we have to be, we have to approach this in a different way. We can’t be focused on “Oh, I’m not there yet.” Okay, so there’s a, there’s a difference there. Okay.
So at this point, I think we can all relate to being in the gap, right? We’ve all been there happens to all of us, it’s okay. I don’t want you to freak out about it. It doesn’t mean you’re a failure, you’re broken, or you’re a negative person, or you’ll never reach your goals.
If you find yourself in the gap, even regularly, it just means that you’re normal, okay? Just means that you’re a normal, healthy human being with a normal human brain. That’s it. Nothing wrong at all.
And I see this all the time with clients, we all do it. This is normal. As humans, we have this bias towards negativity, this is how we have evolved. We’ve evolved as humans to recognize dangers, right?
We are really good at spotting the problem. “Oh, this other human creature that’s coming towards me does not look like one, one of the human creatures that I know, danger, danger.” Or “This plant that I’m about to eat looks just like the one that Grok ate last week. And now he’s dead. Danger Danger!” Like spotting danger is hardcoded into our DNA.
Now, you know, if everything’s cool and safe, it doesn’t set off any alarms in our brain, right? Everything’s just copacetic or everything’s cool, no big deal. But as soon as something seems dangerous, we go on high alert.
And the funny thing is that there’s no real danger for us these days, right? There’s no other human that’s trying to murder us, I hope not really. We shop at Whole Foods. So we really don’t need to worry about eating poisonous plants.
You know, we see things like, “Oh, I’m not at my goal weight yet.” That’s the danger we see in our lives, right? That’s the problems that we experience in our lives or our half marathon time doesn’t measure up to other people we run with. This is what we perceive as being a threat to us or dangerous. So just know that your brain is normal. It’s doing what it’s been conditioned to do. It’s not your fault.
But there’s a different way of seeing things, there’s a better way to experience everything in your life. And this is called being in the gain. So when you’re in the gain, you’re focused on the progress you’ve made up to this point. Being in the gain, means you’re no longer obsessed about where you’re not instead, your focus is on how far you’ve already come.
Being in the gain means you have a bias towards positivity, not negativity. Your focus is on positivity is on progress, not on the gap between where you are and where you wish you were.
So what does it look like to be in the gain? Well, let’s go back to that example, if you want to lose 30 pounds, and you’ve lost 20 stuff tend to go. So being pissed off about why those last 10 pounds are taking so dang long, you celebrate the fact that you’ve lost 20 pounds already, you focus on the progress you’ve already made.
You see now that you’ve got your sugar cravings under control, maybe for the first time in your life, you feel better, you’re sleeping better, you have a ton more energy running is getting so much easier.
Or maybe you’ve improved your running pace by that 30 seconds per mile, you still have you know, another 30 seconds more to go by, instead of getting all worked up about it like “Oh, I’m not as fast as I want to be.”
You can see how your running is improved, your running form has improved, your running efficiency has improved, you keep increasing your lactate threshold, your heart rate is going down even when you’re running faster, all of the signs that you’re becoming a total running badass, right.
But when you’re in the gap, you don’t see any of this, you’re just focused on where you’re not. I have this goal, and I’m not there. Right.
Instead, we want to focus on the gain, we want to focus on the progress we made. Here’s the cool part about this: when you’re in the game, things will begin to shift for you internally, you’re going to begin to create a whole new mindset for yourself.
When you’re focused on the gap, this is very demotivating, right. But when you’re focused on the gains you’ve made, it has the opposite effect. Being in the gain means you’re focused on progress.
And when you track progress, and you see you’ve made progress, and you’re always moving a little bit closer to your goals, this is very motivating. This builds motivation, it builds confidence, it builds your self-esteem, it creates momentum, making little itty bitty bits of progress creates a little bit more momentum and a little bit more and a little bit more. And this momentum keeps you feeling even more motivated, which keeps you making even more and more progress, right.
So the more you focus on the gain, the more gains you make. And the more you focus on the gain, the more games you play, it’s a cycle. It’s a beautiful little cycle that continues to repeat, creating more momentum and more positive results.
So the secret really to making any kind of big changes in your life, especially when it comes to things like long-term health and fitness. The big secret is consistency, right? I guess it’s not a secret, really. But like, you’ve got to stick with it, you’ve got to stick with it for the long haul. Like these are changes we make for life. And you’ve got to be committed to being a healthy human being as a way of life.
But if you’re in the gap, this is going to be incredibly frustrating and super, super hard to do. I’m just going to tell you right now, it’s going to be almost impossible.
On the other hand, if you’re in the gain, this is how you do it. This is how you become the healthy badass runner that you want to be and how you make it last for life. Being in the gain feels light, it feels energizing, it feels free.
You build confidence and trust in yourself you create momentum towards your goals, you create these feelings of motivation. And then you just want to keep going.
So if you’re at someplace in your life here, where you’re experiencing the gap. I’m going to just give you a couple of tips on how to get out of that. Okay. So I want to give you an example. Like, let’s say you’re at a point in your weight loss journey where you’ve experienced a stall. So maybe you’ve hit a plateau in your weight loss and you’re you’ve lost some weight, but it hasn’t changed for like four or five weeks and you’re getting super frustrated. You just want to give up right?
Do this one thing. Make this one change and see what happens. Stop being in the gap and start being in the gain. Start focusing on incremental progress. start focusing on all the little things that are good. Start focusing on all the tiny little bits of progress you’ve made, and see how that doesn’t feel for you.
Start celebrating all that progress is going to create momentum and motivation within you and you’ll want to keep going and you know what, I have a feeling that scale just might start to move again.
Or maybe you want to run faster and you say, can’t seem to get past that 9:30 pace, right? Start really tracking your progress, celebrate all the metrics that are improving: heart rate, VO to Max, you know, speed, overall pace, you know, splits, you know, interval paces, all that stuff, start to track all of that.
And start to celebrate the progress that you’re making. And I have a feeling you’re going to see your times improve because you’re going to feel more motivated, you’re going to want to keep going.
Slow and steady progress is how we win the game, right? Slow and steady progress, track it, and celebrate it, all of it.
And I talked to people all the time about how long it takes to lose weight. And the truth is that first some people, it just takes a while, right? It just takes what it takes.
So let’s say you want to, you know, lose those last 10 pounds. And it’s super frustrating. It’s taking forever, cording to you.
And you’re like, “Oh, this is just taking so long.” I’m like, “How long is it supposed to take?” So let’s just say for S’s and G’s like to lose the last 10 pounds, let’s say took a year.
Now when I just said that, did you freak out a little bit like, “Oh my god, it shouldn’t take that long.” Whatever. Let’s just say it took a year.
Think about this a year from now, would you rather be at your goal weight? Or would you rather be upset because you gave up because you got frustrated? Because you quit on yourself.
If you are feeling like it’s just taking too long, and you say screw it and you give up this is what most people do. They just say you know what? Why bother.
But even though you’re making progress, even though you’re on track to lose a pound a month, or whatever it is, when you’re in the gap, you cannot see this progress, you can’t see that you’re making changes, and it’s incremental, slow and steady. And you’ll get there eventually, but you can’t see it.
And so you just end up, most people just end up getting frustrated and quitting. throwing in the towel. Do not do this.
Here’s your call to action for this week, I want you to identify one area of your life where you’re in the gap. I know you know what this is you’ve probably already been thinking about this, right? Where are you focused on where you’re not. Alright.
And then I want you to stop doing that. Okay, stop being in the gap and start being in the gain instead. Don’t be obsessed about where you’re not, start being obsessed about all the tiny little incremental progress that you’re making.
And when you start focusing on that, you’re going to start to feel energized about that progress. And then you’re going to start to feel more confident. And you’re going to start to feel more self-esteem, right? And you’re going to start to make slow and steady progress and you’re going to start to create this unstoppable momentum for yourself. You’re going to feel more motivated to keep going.
So that’s your work for this week. Stop being in the gap. Find one place in your life where you’re, you know, you’re in the gap, and start being in the gain. Start being obsessed about progress. Cool, I think this is super fun, and life-changing. Do this this week. Don’t put this off. Do this for sure.
And remember, if you’re ready to get out of the gap for good and stop comparing yourself to where you’re not, and start focusing on the real progress you’re making towards your goals. You might want to see if coaching is right for you. Just go to runningleanpodcast.com/apply. Let’s have that conversation. Let’s get you out of the gap and into the gain. Cool? Love you all, keep on Running Lean, and I’ll talk to you soon.
If you’re a runner and you’ve been struggling to lose weight or you keep losing and gaining the same 10 pounds over and over again. Or you’re finally ready to get to your natural weight and stay there for good this time then I have something you will love. I’ve created a powerful new training just for you called running lean for life. You’ll learn exactly how to transform yourself into a lean fat burning running machine. So you can run without bonking, lose weight without calorie counting and develop the habits required to make it last for life. To get this free training right now go to runningleanpodcast.com/leanforlife and start your transformation today.
If you’re like most people (me included), your beliefs about what you can or can’t accomplish are based on whatever you’ve been able to do up to this point in your life. You might want to lose 30 …
Continue Reading about 111. Thinking Beyond Your Current Self →
My name is Patrick McGilvray, and I’m an experienced marathoner, ultra runner, Sports Nutritionist, Master Life Coach, and weight loss coach for runners. I’ve dedicated my life to helping runners just like you properly fuel your body and your mind. So you can get leaner, get stronger, run faster and run longer than you ever thought possible. This is Running Lean.
Hey there, and welcome to Episode 111, of Running Lean. My name is Patrick McGilvray, the weight loss coach for runners and today: thinking beyond your current self. So, if you’re anything like most people, me included, then your beliefs about what you can or what you can’t accomplish are probably based on whatever you’ve been able to do up to this point in your life.
So, you might want to lose 30 pounds, but deep down inside, you don’t believe you can get there because every time you’ve tried to lose weight in the past, you failed. So, your point of reference with weight loss is that you always give in to temptation and you end up failing.
So, you’re looking to your past experiences as evidence that you will never be able to lose weight in the future; who you are today is all you’ll ever be. Whoa, that’s incredibly limiting! It’s an incredibly limiting mindset. It’s keeping you stuck where you are. So, in this episode of the podcast, I’m going to show you a powerful, powerful way to start thinking beyond your current self, so that you can break out of that cycle of your past and become that badass future self that I know you want to be!
But first, if you like this podcast, then you have to come check out the Running Lean Podcast Community on Facebook. This is a group of like-minded runners who come together to encourage each other and support each other. We share goals, we share pictures of ourselves running, and we have fun doing it. I also post some trainings and we do some teaching and coaching in the group. It’d be fun to have you; just search for Running Lean Community on Facebook and come join in the fun.
And then listen, if you’re having trouble envisioning more for yourself, if there’s some version of you that you ultimately want to become, but you’re just having trouble, like figuring out what it really is that you want for yourself. If you’re confused by all of this conflicting information out there around diet and exercise and weight loss. If you’re having a hard time doing things like giving up sugar; it’s just too hard to stop, it’s too hard to let go of. If you’re ready to be done with all that frustration and you’re ready to get some help. If you’re ready to commit to becoming the most badass version of yourself, then you have to apply for one on one coaching with me, this is what I do, I can help you break out of that cycle of feeling like you’re addicted to sugar, I can help you end the frustration, end the confusion and we’ll put together a plan for you that will help you decide who it is that you want to become and then we’re going to work towards making that happen for you.
If you’re interested in working with me as your coach you can apply for coaching at runningleanpodcast.com/apply. Let’s make this the year that you become the badass that you want to be, cool?
Alright, let’s talk about this thinking beyond your current self. So, here’s why I wanted to talk about this today. For a lot of us, and this is me included, I definitely have some experience with this and I’m going to tell you a little bit about that in a second here. For a lot of us we base our beliefs about what it is we think we can do. We base our beliefs about what it is or who it is we think we can become based on what we’ve done in our past and whatever we’ve been able to achieve up to this point. So, you might get to a certain point in your life and then you can’t see beyond where you are. You can’t see beyond your current state.
You decide on goals. So, you choose goals based on what you think you can accomplish based on where you are today instead of what you really want for yourself. You end up thinking very small and only end up getting more of what you have already created for yourself; you end up just getting more and more of what you’ve already done.
Here’s the thing in order to grow: in order to evolve, in order to become more you have to think beyond your current self, you have to believe in a version of yourself that doesn’t even exist yet. And this is what trips up most people. Most people cannot think beyond who they are today.
So let me give you a picture of what this looks like. Maybe you’re carrying around some extra weight and you have been for a while, maybe running has gotten a lot harder than it needs to be for you. And by the way, this was my experience, I’m kind of describing me a couple years back, okay? Running was a lot harder than it needed to be. For me, I felt like I was out of control with my food choices. I’ve tried a bunch of stuff. Nothing ever really worked. I was frustrated, I was confused, I felt pretty hopeless, actually.
And here’s what happens when we’re in that state: we base what we’re able to do on where we are today. So based on feeling out of control, and frustrated and confused and hopeless, what do you think you can accomplish when you’re in that state? Not a lot, I’m going to tell you. So you end up being stuck, you feel like you’re stuck.
You’re just feeling like this is just where I’m going to be. I can’t lose the weight, I can’t control my food choices, I’m always going to feel out of control, I’m always going to feel frustrated, I’m always going to be confused, I’m always going to be stuck.
Now you wish you could become leaner. You wish you could get stronger, you wish you could lose the weight, you wish you could become a different person, but you’re not actually believing that it’s possible for you.
In order to move beyond where you are today, you have to believe in a version of yourself that doesn’t even exist yet. You have to believe in a version of yourself that is greater than where you are today, you have to think beyond your current results.
So if your results are, hey, I’m 30 pounds overweight, I’m frustrated, I’m confused, nothing ever works. That’s where you are today. And if that’s your point of reference, and that’s what you’re using to base what you think you can accomplish. That’s all you’re going to be able to accomplish, you’re just going to stay stuck where you are.
So, you have to get past that! You have to start thinking beyond your current self, beyond who you are here today. Because listen, the current self, your current self, will not get you there, can’t get you there.
Who you are today is probably the result of years or decades of patterns of behavior, patterns of thoughts, patterns of feelings, patterns of actions, habits, really. You’ve been on autopilot for a long time, right? So, who you are today is just a result of all these past habits is the result of past thinking and past patterns of behavior. That’s it. That’s all it is, not that big of a deal, doesn’t mean you’re bad. Let’s just, you know, here’s what you’ve done up to this point. And this is where it got you, these are the results you have today, who you are today is just the culmination of years of past thought patterns and feeling patterns and action patterns and behaviors.
But what got you here won’t get you there. What got you here isn’t going to get you where you want to become. So you have to make a shift, you need to start thinking beyond who you’ve been up to this point beyond what you’ve done up to this point, you have got to break out of those old patterns of behavior.
So, here’s how your mind works. Humans are really good at seeing and recognizing patterns. It’s what helps us to recognize what’s safe versus what’s dangerous when we see patterns of people in nature; animals in the animal kingdom and things like that. Like we used to be like “Oh, this is good. This thing will kill me. Okay.”
All these animals, these little tiny furry creatures are good, but this big one with all the stripes and the big teeth? That’s the one that’s going to eat me. He wants to eat me. These other ones are fine, but this one wants to eat me, so we’re good at seeing patterns.
We’re good at understanding what’s safe versus what’s dangerous. Okay, we’re still really good at this stuff today. We love patterns. We love habits. We love repetition. The more we do something, the easier it becomes, right? Your mind is like a perfect recording device, by the way, so it’s always recording everything that’s ever happened to you. You actually remember everything that’s ever happened to you deep down in your subconscious. You can’t possibly pull it all out right now, you can’t bring it into your conscious mind. It’s all buried down in there, you know. So basically, you’ve memorized all the things that you’ve done, all the patterns of behavior. And that’s just what you know, you know this stuff really, really well. It’s part of who you are, your whole identity is based on all these patterns that you’ve done up to this point, or all the things that you’ve not done up to this point. The things you’ve failed at, the things you’ve succeeded at. But whatever it is, everything about who you are, is based on your past.
But in order to grow into that future healthy, lean, strong runner that you know you want to be, you have to think beyond your current self.
So I know you’ve done this before, think back to when you just started running, you could never imagine running a marathon right? Again, this was definitely me; my experience, I couldn’t imagine. When I first started running, I couldn’t imagine running three miles without stopping. I was training for a 5K and I was like, “I’m going to run 3 miles without stopping.” I couldn’t imagine doing that! But then I did. And then I decided to sign up for a 10K. And I was like, “How am I going to run 6 miles? That’s like double what I’ve ever been able to do in the past.” So, in order to run that first three miles, and in order to double that and run 6.2 miles without stopping, I had to think beyond my current results. My current results said “You know, when I was training for that 5K, my current results said you can run like a mile and a half, and then you have to stop.” But I was going to run three miles without stopping. So, I had to think beyond my current results. And then when I decided at some point that I was going to train for and run a marathon. I know this is crazy, right? I was like “I don’t think this is possible. But I’m committed to doing this. And I need to start thinking beyond where I am today. I need to start thinking beyond my current self.”
Because if I didn’t, I never would have shown up for those training runs, I never would have put the time into it. Because deep down inside, I never would have believed I could do that. But I think at some point, I really did start to believe that. I had to really think beyond where I was at this point, though. Same thing when I ran 50 miles or 100 miles. You know, I ran 50 miles and I was like “I could never run 100 miles. The 50 was hard enough. I can’t imagine doubling it.” And then I did. And I did that because I imagined a future me that could accomplish that.
Here’s another example. I love this one. Like toddlers, they are constantly thinking beyond their current selves. They may not even be able to, you know, articulate this, but they are. If you’ve ever watched a toddler learning how to walk, you’re going to see them. Like, they just keep trying, right? They keep going for it time and time and time again, they just keep trying and trying and trying and they keep failing.
I watched my grandson do this last year. On his first birthday, he, you know, would walk his first few steps. It was so amazing. But then he fell down. But then a couple of days later he did like eight or 10 steps, you know, but then he would fall down. But he kept going, he kept getting up, wiping out trying a few steps. He’d fall down, get up and keep trying again. Right. So he kept going, even though everything he had done up to that point, failed. Everything he had done up to that point was like, “You can’t do this. You can’t walk! You’ve never been able to do this in the past. There’s no evidence that you can look to from your past to make you think that you can do this thing walking. What is that? You’ve never been able to. How do you think you’re going to possibly do this?”
So this little tiny, beautiful little creature was like, screw that I’m going to make this work. And he kept trying. And now of course, he’s running around like crazy and you can’t keep up with him. But if he based whether or not he could walk on his past results, or who he was in that moment, he would never be able to walk. No kid would ever be able to walk or ride a bicycle or graduate from high school, or get a job or buy a house or have kids or anything right. It’s the exact same thing for us.
Wherever you are today, if you’re looking for some evidence, some sort of hard evidence, something to make you believe, without a doubt that you’re going to get to your goal weight, or you’re going to be able to get stronger, or run faster, or become that total badass, there is no evidence for it, because you haven’t been able to do it yet.
The evidence comes after you get there; you have to believe it in order to see it, not the other way around. You have to believe it before you see it. You have to think, feel and act beyond who you are today.
And somebody I was talking about this with somebody recently. And they said, “Isn’t this just like fake it till you make it?” And it’s kind of like that, but there’s nothing fake about it. Your thoughts, your feelings, your actions, these are not fake.
Even just imagining something in your mind using the power of your own imagination. It’s not fake. It’s not fake to your subconscious mind, right? Your subconscious mind doesn’t know the difference between what’s real and what’s imagined.
So, when you imagine something in your mind, to your subconscious, it’s like it’s really happening. Everything you create in this world, every result that you get is first imagined in your mind. Think about it, let’s say you want to build a house, or take a vacation, the very first thing you do is imagine what that house will look like, how big is that master suite going to be? How big is that walk in closet going to be?
Or thinking about that vacation, that beach is going to be so awesome, so warm. Those palm trees are going to be bending in the breeze and that blue green ocean water with those waves crashing on the sand. So, I just conjured up all these images with my imagination. Now I can work to make these things a reality. I’ll pick a place to go. I really want to go somewhere warm now that I’m doing this. As I look outside, it’s cold and snowy and everything, but I’m like now I want to go up, pick a place, book my flights and then go.
But first I have to make that connection in my mind, I have to go beyond where I am today. I have to imagine it. So, it’s really not like fake it till you make it’s more like think beyond your current self and then become it.
I want to encourage you to start applying this in your life today. Stop living in the past, right? The past is not who you are. It’s just what got you here today. Okay, I want you to decide who you want to be. So define your future self. And really spend some time on this. Really think about what it is you want for yourself and who it is you want to be. What does that future badass version of yourself look like, sound like, feel like?
And then start living into your future self by thinking beyond who you are today, thinking beyond your current self, beyond your current results. Regardless of what you think you can or can’t do, regardless of your past and what’s worked or not worked in the past for you. Regardless of where you are today or who you are today, start thinking beyond your current self. And then you can start growing and evolving and becoming that badass future version of yourself. Cool?
And then remember, if you ever want help with this, if you want help thinking about who it is you want to become and thinking beyond your current self, if you’re ready to commit to becoming that future version of yourself, then apply for one on one coaching with me runningleanpodcast.com/apply. I would love to have you and it would be super fun to work with you!
I hope you got something out of this today. Love you all, keep on running lean, and I’ll talk to you soon.
If you’re a runner and you’ve been struggling to lose weight or you keep losing and gaining the same 10 pounds over and over again. Or you’re finally ready to get to your natural weight and stay there for good this time then I have something you will love. I’ve created a powerful new training just for you called running lean for life. You’ll learn exactly how to transform yourself into a lean fat burning running machine. So you can run without bonking, lose weight without calorie counting and develop the habits required to make it last for life. To get this free training right now go to runningleanpodcast.com/leanforlife and start your transformation today.
Who are you becoming? It’s a good question, right? The thing is, most people don’t ever ask themselves this. They don’t spend any time thinking about who they really want to become. This …
My name is Patrick McGilvray, and I’m an experienced marathoner, ultra runner, Sports Nutritionist, Master Life Coach, and weight loss coach for runners. I’ve dedicated my life to helping runners just like you properly fuel your body and your mind. So you can get leaner, get stronger, run faster, and run longer than you ever thought possible. This is Running Lean.
Hey there, and welcome to episode 109 of Running Lean. My name is Patrick McGilvray, the weight loss coach for runners today, who are you becoming? Who are you becoming? It’s a good question, right? The thing is, most people don’t ever ask themselves this question. They don’t spend any time thinking about who they really want to become. This is a problem.
If you don’t know where you’re going, how are you supposed to get there? If you don’t know who you want to become in the future, chances are pretty good that you’re going to stay stuck, right where you are right now. So in this episode, I’m going to talk about the importance of contemplating this powerful question, Who am I becoming, and then I’m going to talk about how to start working toward becoming that exact version of yourself. Cool, this will be fun, I think it’s gonna be a good one.
First, if you like this podcast, come check out the Running Lean Podcast community on Facebook. This is a group of like-minded people who come to share their experience,to share their encouragement, to share their inspiration, and to post selfies of them running. And it’s a lot of fun, we have a lot of fun in the community, I post challenges in there, sometimes, I’ll occasionally do a training or a coaching session in there. And it’s all designed to be a positive encouraging place to go. People say they love the Facebook community, we’d love to have you over there. So just search for Running Lean Community on Facebook, and come join us.
And then listen, all this talk about nutrition and weight loss and fueling for running and becoming the best version of yourself. All this stuff can be confusing, it can feel overwhelming, can feel frustrating. There’s a lot of conflicting information out there. figuring it all out on your own can be very challenging.
But listen, if you want to hit the easy button, one on one coaching with me might be just the thing for you. With coaching, you get the knowledge, the expert guidance, the support, the encouragement, the accountability, you get someone there, who knows what you’re going through, who knows how to get you to your goals, somebody that’s there to give you feedback, to help you figure out what’s working, what’s not what to do next, someone in your corner who’s always there for you who’s always got your back.
This is like you and I working closely together to help you become that badass future version of yourself. You know, the one who’s lean and strong, the one who feels good about yourself. The best part is all helped you develop the mindset to make all this something that you do for life. It’s one thing to like lose weight or hit a running goal. It’s another thing to be healthy to be a healthy, strong human being and make it last for life. That’s the work we do together. So who are you becoming? And let’s get you there together. You can apply for coaching over at runningleanpodcast.com/apply. Let’s make 2022 the year that you changed your life for good.
Cool. All right, I am so excited about talking about this today. I’ve been thinking about this topic for a while now. And I’ve touched on this in several different ways in the past, but I really want to put this together in a way that really is simple and makes sense for you. Okay.
And so there’s this question of who are you becoming? And the reason I’m talking about this today is because most people seem to feel like they’re stuck where they are. They don’t feel like they have any direction. Right? They don’t really have an idea of who they want to become.
Even people that are like, Oh yeah, I want to be healthier, like what does that mean for you? And sometimes they’re like, I don’t know. I just want to feel healthier. Well, you got to know what that means. But if you don’t know who you want to become, if you don’t have a clear vision of who it is you want to become, how are you going to get there? I’m telling you right now, you’re not going to get there because You’re a boat without a rudder, you’re just like going aimlessly right? Through your life.
You’re not going to get anywhere and nothing is ever going to work for you, you’re not going to experience the growth and the change that you really want for yourself. And you’re just going to kind of stay stuck where you are right now. And there’s nothing wrong with any of this if that’s what you want for yourself.
If you’re cool with where you are right now, and you’re like, I’m good, Patrick, I don’t, I don’t want to like be better. I don’t want to be healthier. I don’t want to get stronger, or leaner or run faster, or like do my first ultra-marathon or push myself and see what I’m capable of.
If you’re fine with where you are right now. That’s amazing. You do you. But I know you. I know the people that listen to this podcast are like, ‘No, Patrick, I’m on board with this, I want more for myself, I want to see what I’m capable of, I want to become more.’ But you have to have a very clear vision of what that means for you.
Okay, so most people just don’t have that vision, they don’t have the direction, they don’t really know what they want for themselves. So you got to have that very clear vision of who it is you want to become okay. Another reason I’m talking about this is that I get asked questions all the time from people on social media, in the Facebook group, and they’ll ask me questions, like, ‘What foods should I eat? What foods should I not eat? How do I fuel for running? How many carbs should I eat? How often should I be running? How many times a week? Should I lift weights? How should I structure these workouts? What should my macros look like?’
And on and on and on? Right? All these questions and they’re good questions. And we do want to, you know, focus on those at some point. You know that is part of the equation here. But I think from the get-go, you’re kind of focusing on the wrong things.
First, well, first of all, I have to say this, that the answer to all those questions is always it depends. Nobody likes to hear that answer either. I’m like, ‘Well, it depends. Like, what are your goals? What’s your lifestyle look like? What are your likes and dislikes? What do you what are you trying to achieve? Are you trying to lose weight? Are you trying to change your body composition? Are you trying to get stronger? Are you trying to run your first ultra-marathon?’
Like what is it that you want for yourself? It ultimately comes down to answering that question, Who are you becoming? And most people are just not focused on this. They just want me to tell them what to do. They just want somebody to say, do this and not that. And I’m telling you right now that unless you have this other deeper, more powerful question figured out, who do you want to become; what you’re doing isn’t going to make a lot of sense.
When you can answer that question, oh, this is who I want to become in the future. This is what I want for myself. This is what I want my life to look like, this is what I want my body to look like, this is how and where I want my running to be. When you can answer those questions very clearly, then what you do becomes much more obvious. It’s much more obvious, much easier to answer those questions for yourself.
Okay. Here’s another reason why I want to talk about this today. Most coaches and I’ve talked to a lot of people who have had other types of coaches, either dieticians, they’ve worked with nutrition coaches, personal trainers, running coaches, and almost every person I talked to tells me that their coaches always focus on what to do.
So they’re just like, here’s your plan, this is what you need to do. Don’t do this, do this over here, boom, done. And they may talk about goals, they may say like, ‘Oh, you want to run faster? Okay, well, here’s what you’re going to do.’ And that’s about it. That’s about as deep as it goes.
But I have to tell you, that there’s this much deeper and much more powerful force at work within you. And I want to help you to tap into that force. When you ignore this powerful force within you. You kind of leave a lot on the table.
And so with me and my clients and the people that I coach and the people that I work with, we work very closely together on creating a vision for who they want to become we really focus on this because here’s the thing, this powerful force within you. This powerful force that is driving you forward, is this it’s that as a human being, you must act consistently with how you define yourself.
And when I say how you define yourself, I’m saying how you define yourself now and how you define who you are becoming in the future. Most people do not spend any time on this at all, most coaches don’t spend any time on this at all. They just said, ‘Oh, you want to run faster, here’s what you need to do.’ And they’re not looking at that internal driving force that’s really powering, whether you’re going to accomplish these goals or not.
So we spend a lot of time working on that vision that we have for ourselves. And everything we do, is focused on getting you closer and closer to that version of yourself. Because when you have a very clear picture of who you want to become, you know, like I said earlier, like, knowing what to do becomes much easier, it’s much easier to stick with it, it’s much easier to see if you’re making progress towards that goal, because you have it all well defined, right?
Most people just never do this work of defining who they are, who they want to become. So most people are operating from what they’ve done in the past. Most people are focused on how things have gone for them in the past, whether they’ve been able to do something or not. And they kind of focus all of this on whether they are able to do this today.
For example, one thing I talk to people about all the time is like, ‘Hey, when you’ve tried in the past to, you know, lose weight, let’s say, what’s not worked for you?’ And they’ll say, ‘Oh, this and this and that. And that’s why it never works for me. And that’s why I can’t do this today. And that’s why I’m stuck here today is because, you know, I’ve tried this in the past, I’ve tried all these different diets, I’ve never been able to stick with anything. I always gained the weight back. Nothing is ever worked for me.’
And they’re stuck in this loop of repeating that exact past, today. Can you relate to this? I think we all can to some degree, where we’ve said, ‘Well, I’ve never been able to make this work in the past. What’s different about today? How can I possibly do anything differently? If it’s never worked for me in the past, I’ve never been able to run faster than this speed for a half marathon, how can I possibly run faster than that? I’ve tried, it’s never worked.’
And all of that stuff in your past, all the experiences, all the failures, all the even all the good stuff like this is just where you were, this is what got you to where you are today. But if you keep focused on your past, that’s where you’re going to stay. If you can’t think feel or behave differently than the way you’ve done things in the past, this is your only frame of reference, then you are going to keep repeating all those same things, those same behaviors, the same thought and feeling patterns, and you’re just going to stay stuck doing the same things over and over again. You’re never going to grow, you’re never going to become anything more than what you’ve already done.
Now, I talked about this in-depth in Episode 91, called Breaking the Habit of Being You. So this is a similar concept here. Okay. So definitely go check out that episode. It really goes into this concept with a lot more detail. But if you can’t think past what you’ve already accomplished, that’s all you’re ever going to accomplish. That’s all you’re ever going to be.
If you can’t think bigger than your past, you’re never going to be bigger than your past. And it’s kind of depressing when you think about it, right? It’s like, oh my god, I better start thinking about my future. Yes, that’s exactly what I’m saying here. You’ve got to start thinking about who you want to become. This is such a huge, powerful, amazing, life-changing, transformational question that you have to answer for yourself.
So the better way to do this is to approach your life from the perspective of the future you. You’ve got to ask yourself who you want to become. You have to spend time on this. You have to spend time answering this question in great detail for yourself.
What do you really want for yourself? Do you want to be where you are a year from now? Because that’s an option for you? Or do you want to be stronger, leaner? More fit, healthier? Do you want running to be easier? Or do you want to just be where you are today? The choice is yours. It really is. The first step is defining who you want to be in the future. Who are you becoming? So spend some time on this question. Answer this question in great detail.
Okay. What does that future version of you look like? What have you accomplished? How do you feel about yourself? What are those changes that you want to make to your health and fitness? You know, how do you look in those clothes? How do you look in that bikini, you get to decide, you get to decide, isn’t that awesome? I think that’s amazing. How empowering is that?
So make a decision, have a crystal clear vision of who you are becoming so that you know where you’re going. And every day you make decisions that move you closer and closer to that version of yourself. And I talk about this concept called remembering your future. We remember our past, we’re good at that we can remember all the stuff we’ve done. And all the times we screwed up and all the failures we’ve ever, you know, done in the past. Like, we’re good at remembering our past.
I want you to start remembering your future, you’ve got to know where you’re going. You’ve got to know who you’re becoming. So that you can start doing things today that are in alignment with that future version of yourself. So instead of operating from your past, remembering everything from your past, and repeating all that over and over and over again, start remembering your future, start remembering that future version of yourself that awesome, healthy, badass version of yourself. Start remembering that, spend some time thinking about it.
That’s what it really means to remember, to spend time thinking about it. What does it feel like to be that future version of yourself? And remember that who you are becoming is just, it’s completely up to you, you get to decide, and you get to work towards that every single day. And then it just becomes a series of decisions that you’re making each day.
Am I moving closer to that vision of myself? That future? That person I’m becoming? Or am I moving further away? is usually a pretty cut and dry picture of that, right? It’s usually very clear is this decision I’m making? If I shove these donuts in my mouth right now, is that moving me closer to my goal? Or is it kind of further away? It’s pretty obvious, right?
It’s the difference between just keep repeating what you’ve done in the past and only getting where you’ve gotten to and staying stuck where you are, versus creating this new version of yourself, reinventing yourself transforming yourself based on who you want to become in the future.
Okay. Like I said, my clients and I, we spend a lot of time on this, we talk about it all the time, it’s so important to be future-focused, we don’t really dwell on the past. In fact, the past is just done, it’s over with you can’t change it. So just put it behind you.
It doesn’t matter what you’ve not been able to do in the past, it doesn’t matter that you’ve tried every diet and they’ve never worked for you. We’re going to try something different. You know, and we’re going to get you there. There’s no reason why we can’t make something work going forward. No reason. Unless you’re focused on what you’ve not been able to do in the past.
So everything we do, we want to focus on becoming that amazing, badass version of ourselves, right? Spend time on this, spend time thinking about this. Spend time, like thinking about who it is you want to become but really how that how you want to feel? How do you want to feel in the future? What does that future version of you feel like?
This is one of the most important questions you can ask yourself some of the most important work you can do for yourself. It really sets the foundation for everything that you do. If you don’t have this question figured out if you don’t have a clear picture of who you want to become – you’re just kind of like going through the motions. You’re sort of aimless, right, a rudderless ship, we don’t want to be a rudderless ship, we want to want to have that rudder going, keeping us moving in the right direction, okay?
You’ve got to get you got to practice this. But when you practice it and you keep living into that future version of yourself, you get good at it, just like anything else that you practice you the more you practice it, the more it becomes the reality that you want for yourself. But you’ve got to start thinking about it and start feeling it and really living into who you’re becoming.
And then it just becomes inevitable. Getting there is just like, ‘Oh, of course, I’m going to get there because it’s just this is who I am and this is what I do.’ Remember, you always get what you focus on. You always get more and more of what you focus on. So focus on who it is that you really want to become. Cool. You got this, my friends.
And listen if you ever want a little help out with this just go over to runningleanpodcast.com/apply and let’s talk about hitting that easy button on all this for you. Alright love you all keep on Running Lean, and I’ll talk to you soon.
If you’re a runner and you’ve been struggling to lose weight or you keep losing and gaining the same 10 pounds over and over again. Or you’re finally ready to get to your natural weight and stay there for good this time then I have something you will love. I’ve created a powerful new training just for you called running lean for life. You’ll learn exactly how to transform yourself into a lean fat-burning running machine. So you can run without bonking, lose weight without calorie counting and develop the habits required to make it last for life. To get this free training right now go to runningleanpodcast.com/leanforlife and start your transformation today.
I have a very special podcast episode for you today. I recently sat down with one of my clients, Eva Bailey, and we had a fun conversation all about her experience getting fat-adapted and training …
Continue Reading about 108. Being an Example of What’s Possible with Eva Bailey →
My name is Patrick McGilvray, and I’m an experienced marathoner, ultra runner, Sports Nutritionist, Master Life Coach, and weight loss coach for runners. I’ve dedicated my life to helping runners just like you properly fuel your body and your mind. So you can get leaner, get stronger, run faster, and run longer than you ever thought possible. This is Running Lean.
Hey there, and welcome to episode 108 of Running Lean. My name is Patrick McGilvray, the weight loss coach for runners. And today, being an example of what’s possible with Eva Bailey. So I have this very special podcast episode for you today. I recently sat down with one of my clients, Eva Bailey, and we had a fun conversation all about her experience getting fat-adapted and training for her first ultra-marathon.
So she shares some of the doubts she had going into all of this and how she worked through them. This wasn’t always smooth sailing. For Eva, she and I discussed a few of the things she struggled with along the way, and how she had to make some big shifts in her mindset in order to kind of keep going right. She also talks about training for then running her very first ultra-marathon and how that whole experience really solidified all of this as a way of life for her.
Eva is living proof that with the right mindset, you can do anything you want. She’s truly being an example of what’s possible, and I’m super excited about this conversation. I know you’re gonna get a lot out of it. And my hope is that you get inspired to also start being an example of what’s possible.
But first, if you’d like this podcast, come check out the Running Lean podcast community on Facebook. This is a fun, informative, supportive, encouraging group of like-minded runners who all come together to share goals to ask questions to get answers, I do some weekly training in this group. And did I mention it’s fun? Come and join us over on Facebook, just search for Running Lean Community and join us.
And then listen, if you’re tired of trying to figure all this stuff out on your own. If you’re tired of starting diets and then quitting whenever things get tough. If you’re ready to end the constant struggle with not being the person you know you’re capable of being, then I want to encourage you to do something to take action. Nothing changes, if nothing changes, right.
So I want you to get into action change something today. Start this year by learning how to create the habits you need to make eating healthy a permanent part of your life. We’re not interested in short-term results, we’re focused on the long game, I want you to make being healthy, just a part of who you are. And the easiest way to do this is to have someone there guiding you every step of the way, encouraging you, supporting you, keeping you on track.
Having a coach means you have someone in your corner, someone who’s got your back, someone who’s holding you accountable to do the things that you don’t want to do. So that you can become that healthiest and most badass version of yourself, right? Be an example of what’s possible for yourself, for your kids, for your community, and be an inspiration to others. I want you to inspire others to do the same. I want to create a ripple effect of health and positivity in this world. And it starts with you! Apply for coaching over at runningleanpodcast.com/apply. And let’s get you to that healthiest and most badass version of yourself yet. Yeah, cool.
Patrick McGilvray
Alright, like I said, I know you’re gonna get a lot out of this conversation that I had with Eva. She’s open. She’s honest, she brings the real stuff, the struggles, the doubts all of it. My favorite part is that she’s experienced this amazing transformation through this whole process, right? She’s a different person today than she was three months ago, but I’m gonna let her tell you all about it. So without further ado, let’s get into this conversation with Eva Bailey. All right, cool.
So today, I’ve got a very special guest, Eva Bailey is here. And she and I have been working together for the last few months. And Eva had quite a transformation. So Eva started out as someone who, and I’ll let her talk about this but she was a little skeptical about all this fat adaptation and low carb diet blah, blah, blah.
And so we’re gonna kind of talk about that a little bit, but she had quite a transformation. She was such a good client. She just dove into this all the way. Had a lot of questions. Along the way, we addressed those, and we worked through all that stuff. It was not always smooth sailing.
But at the end of the day, she ended up having an amazing experience doing her first ultra marathon, being a fat-adapted runner. And so we’re going to talk about all that today.
So, first of all, either Hello, and why don’t you just kind of introduce yourself? And tell us a little bit about what, what brought you to me and why you wanted some help with all this stuff here?
Eva Bailey
Yeah. Yeah. So I think health and fitness have been a focus for me, a lot of my life, maybe not early on as a kid. But most of my adult life. I have been a vegetarian since I was in seventh grade. And that has is was kind of how I identified for all of my life. I, I always kind of struggled with my weight a little bit like it was always a focus, it was always like, Okay, well, what, um, you know, what, what plan am I on, that’s gonna just kind of keep my weight down.
I was really active, but I always seem to, it just always seemed like harder than I thought it should be to keep my weight down considering how active I was. You know, and I had dabbled in a lot of different ways of eating, you know, starting to the vegetarian. I worked in a holistic doctor’s office for a few years a while back.
And, you know, so we did food elimination diets, and we did a low-fat vegan diet and you know, also did a calorie restriction Eat less run more kind of thing. And in the vegan diet, which, which is great. Like, I still I think vegan is great, which is kind of a mix between paleo and vegan.
But anyway, so I’ve tried all these things. And every time I heard people talk about low carb, I was just like, “Oh, God, that’s, there’s no way that’s healthy.” Like you know, plant-based whole foods, just eat real foods. And that’s all you have to do. And which I like, I still think there that that’s valid, you know, eat real food. And that’s, and that’s something that I don’t think I’m ever gonna get rid of.
But um, how can eating more fat and more protein more animal products be good for you? It just didn’t make sense. And but when I heard your podcast and I was started hearing about this, like, I heard you describe me, like, as far as you know, you can’t, you know, do you do training for this marathon, and I’m running all these miles, yet. I cannot seem to like, keep the weight down. Like if I eat less, I just start getting tired and cranky. And then now my performance is suffering.
I’m like, There’s got to be a better way. Like, why? Why is this so difficult for me? Like, why am I the weight that I am if I’m being so active, it just did not make sense. And especially when I’m thinking I eat really well. Like I wasn’t coming in from a point where I was eating a lot. A lot of junk. Like I thought that I was eating really well. Like I was eating a vegetarian diet. I was eating all these fruits and vegetables and quinoa and sweet potatoes like why why is this so hard?
I should be between 100-115 pounds for what I’m doing but it just wasn’t happening and so I hear you you know on your podcast like you know how people train and they run all these miles and they’re still gaining weight and you know, restrict calories and feel bad I’m like oh my god that’s me. That’s me.
So I’m like I feel like there’s something I’m missing. There’s something that I’m not doing right even though I think I am I’m doing everything that they’re saying to do but I’m missing something and I’m but all my life knowing and hearing that low carb is bad animal protein is bad and it’s gonna kill you.
Like hearing that in the back of my mind all my life. I’m just like, I can’t do it. There’s no way but something about what you said. I’m like, I got to try it. I got to try it. But I was kind of scared to do it on my own because I didn’t want to. I didn’t want to do it. Then my hormones started getting messed up or, you know, I didn’t want to become unhealthy. So I really wanted somebody to kind of walk me through it. So that and that’s kind of how I got to you.
Patrick McGilvray
What were you hoping to get out of this? Like, I understand that you tried all these different things, you know, the calorie restriction, the vegan diet, the plant-based or, you know, vegetarian? You had these thoughts about, I don’t know, maybe animal proteins are bad for you, and, and you wanted to give it a try? Why did you want to give it a try? Like, what were you hoping to get out of this? Like, what was sort of the end game you’re shooting for?
Eva Bailey
Yeah, I want to run I want to run far. And I just want to keep going. So really, my goal, it wasn’t really even about the weight, because I didn’t think I was overweight. I wanted to just run far. So you know, when I started working with you, I had run a couple of marathons already.
I think I was running far and I was doing really well on my running. But, you know, it’s off-course, isn’t it? The book that brings everybody to running, you know, Born to Run? You know, I’ve read, I read that a few years ago, and the thought of running 100 miles was like, super badass to me.
I’m like, that sounds good to me me I want to be able to run 100 miles. But it just didn’t seem realistic. So for me, my goal is to run farther. And just to feel good. I just wanted to run and keep going and never stop. And then you know, hearing you talking about being bonk proof and, and using fat for fuel. I’m like, huh, like, that’s interesting. That makes a lot of sense. How do I do that? So that was my goal is just to be able to run a long time and feel great.
Patrick McGilvray
Yeah. And specifically you had, I believe you had signed up for an ultramarathon like your first ultra-marathon. So you sign up for a 50k having never done one before. And you and I started working together a little more than three months, I think before your 50k. So it was a good timing to like get started with this.
Because you know, as we talked about the fat-adaptation process, there are a few weeks there where it’s not amazing, right, and you don’t feel very good. And so you kind of went through that experience, describe that sort of experience of like, going through your training and changing your diet, and then going out there and running and having it not be what you thought it was gonna be. Yeah, for, like, what was that like for you?
Eva Bailey
Yeah. And that was another thing. Like I signed up and I had this goal and was like, “Okay, if I know that there’s this transition, I better get started now.” But so, getting started on my first run, when after a few days of really having no carbs, I was like, oh boy, I know what they mean.
Everything just felt heavy and slow, like my muscles were. It felt like I was working out in the gym. And I was going on cramping. So it just really sucked for a minute and then also I had some long runs coming up.
I was getting to a point my training plan where I was hitting, you know, my 20 to 25 mile long runs. And going into it like my first long run really having no carbs was was really bad. It was just a slog, but knowing going in that like this isn’t going to be fun, but I’m just gonna take it slow and knowing that this is part of the process as like okay, I’m just gonna do it. I am paying the piper here. Like I have to do this in order to get out to the other side. But yeah, no, it was not fun.
Patrick McGilvray
Did you have some doubts during that period where you were just like, I don’t know if this is this is gonna work this sucks.
Eva Bailey
Um, so I think I initially did but just hearing so many people’s experiences that it’s like a temporary thing helped me be like, no, no this is part of the process. I kind of was able to shift my thoughts on it and look at it like, and be excited. Because I was like, oh, you know, this is part of it. It just means I’m doing it right. So the fact that it sucks so bad right now, just means that I’m on the right track.
Patrick McGilvray
Yeah, so you are so you, you weren’t really having doubts, but you were just like, “Okay, this sucks. I see what they’re talking about now.” And, and you were just committed to the process. Right?
Eva Bailey
Exactly, exactly. The doubts that I had a couple of weeks into the whole process, I had to go on vacation. Well, I didn’t have to go on vacation. But I had a vacation planned, and I was going with some girlfriends to Boston. And so my doubts were on myself on how am I gonna stick with the plan, when I’m in this environment where everybody around me is eating the cannolis and eating the Boston cream pies and having all the drinks.
And like, and I’m two weeks into this, and but I know like if I go off track too much like it’s gonna you know, I’ll have it’ll slow me down. And so my doubts were like, “Oh, my God, how is this vacation gonna go?”
Patrick McGilvray
How did it go? Like, how did you end up like doing on that vacation?
Eva Bailey
I stuck to my guns really well, and but it was, and thank God, we had a call while I was out there, because I was describing it to you. So I was like, Patrick, and like, I’m sitting here and I’m watching all my friends eat these cannolis at Quincy Market. And I’m like, I just this is a special kind of hell.
And I remember we talked about that. And it’s like, remembering, that’s just a thought that I’m having in my head right now. Like, it’s, and the thoughts are, like just that they’re just thoughts. So kind of removing this factual nature of like, “Oh, this is a special kind of hell that I’m going through” to just like, “Oh, you know, I can actually look at this however I want.”
This is actually really great practice for the rest of my life when I’m going to be in front of people that are eating lovely pecan pies or drinking drinks with umbrellas. And I am choosing not to because I want to feel great on my 50k in December like I am choosing to do this because I know I’m going to feel better.
And just because that looks really good right now. Yeah, it’s just like a temporary thought. And that thought is going to be gone in just a moment. As soon as that thought comes in, it’s going to be gone. So remembering that those thoughts are kind of not really facts, they’re not real. And that was really helpful for me to kind of get through that, because I just felt like it was torture.
Patrick McGilvray
Yeah, I do remember that conversation. And you were just like, in the hotel room. And you’re like, I don’t know about this, um, this is hard. Yeah, but you’re touching on something that is very important, which is that we have the power to think whatever we want. We don’t believe that though.
And until you really believe that you can’t start changing your thinking. So if you’re stuck with these thoughts of like, “Oh, this is a special kind of hell, or I can’t do this, or this isn’t gonna work for me.” Or, you know, “I’ve tried everything, nothing ever works.” Whatever thoughts and beliefs you have about yourself, or whether you can or can’t do something, what you’re able to achieve, how far how fast you can run, whether you can lose weight or not. Those are all optional. All those thoughts. And feelings are just optional. A lot of them are programmed.
You know, they’re programmed from decades ago. And so we’ve just always had these thoughts about like, “Oh, when I’m around other people who are eating cannolis, it’s going to be hell for me.” You know, you can choose to believe that and you can keep thinking that or you can shift your thinking. And when you shift your thinking, guess what? There’s more that’s available to you.
And maybe you can just get through that situation a little better. Here’s the reality, those kinds of situations will come up. Other times they’re going to come up your whole life. You get to decide what you want to think and feel in those moments and what you want to do. If you want to eat cannolis, go ahead, eat the cannolis. That’s up to you.
But if you don’t, and you’re doing it because you feel compelled or you feel like you have to or you feel like that’s just your programming, that’s a problem. But if you decide ahead of time, “Hey, you know what, tomorrow we’re going out with these friends I’m going to eat I’m going to eat a piece of cannoli and enjoy it.” Like, that’s totally fine, you can do that.
But if you if that’s not what you want for yourself, if you’re like, “Hey, I’m in training mode, I got this 50k coming up, I’m in this fat adaptation period where the more sugar ate, the slower this whole fat adaptation period is going to take, it’s going to lessen, it shuts down the whole fat burning process when I’m eating sugar.” You know that is something you can choose to do or not do. And it sounds like you, you know, you made some good decisions that weren’t easy, but you got through it. You know. So that was cool.
I’m glad you shared that. Because I think it’s such an important thing. And we don’t think about that we don’t think about how our thoughts are really creating these results for us, you know when you really look at it that way, right?
So you got through sort of the fat-adaptation period, you started running, started to feel better. Describe that moment when running started to feel better because I love hearing that from people.
Eva Bailey
It was kind of gradual, like, I just kind of noticed my paces just started getting better. Like it still felt hard. But eventually my pace just kind of got back to where it was before. But I do remember, I think it was on one of my longer runs that I did not need any, any goo or like, or I always bring little nut butter packets. But I was like, “Well, let me see if I can get by without it.” And so I think I remember I did it one of my 25-mile training runs and I used nothing. And I was fasted. And I was like, holy cow, and I felt like I could keep going. I feel like the only like, the only thing holding me back right now is just like my muscles and my connective tissues are not quite ready for me to go do 30 miles just yet.
But I think yeah, I think it was like one of those long runs where at the end I’m like, I didn’t have any fuel. I just had my electrolytes and I feel pretty darn good. And that and I think that was when I was like oh, okay, I see I see the benefits here.
Patrick McGilvray
Yeah, I love that moment of like that sort of light bulb moment that goes off and you’re just like oh, there might be something to this after all you know it’s so awesome. I love hearing people talk about that so let’s fast forward a little bit so you got fat-adapted you got through some tough times keep in mind that we’re sort of like getting into the holidays here.
You know we got Thanksgiving going on and we’re getting into the Christmas season and all that, but you had this ultra-marathon in December. How did that go? Like just kind of describe what you did to prepare for the race and kind of like you know what your game plan was going into it and then kind of what happened.
Eva Bailey
Yeah you know I was consulting with you quite a bit, but my plan going in you know I have somebody else that kind of writes my run plans so I had all my taper planned but as far as like the night before meal I didn’t do anything different.
I had had a steak and some asparagus and kind of my usual thing I had been practicing the strategy for you know my long runs before I just had my coffee. I had my butter coffee in the morning and I used the s-fuels in the morning of and just loaded up on my hydration in my electrolytes and I brought my little nut butters just in case because it’s like my little security blanket like if I need them I want to have them.
But I’ve had the same nut butters in my little pack for months now. And then I just carry with me just in case. But mentally preparing I’m just gonna have fun. I feel ready like telling myself I think I did one of my like a 28 and 29 miler about my goal pace for the race.
So I’m like I’ve done everything I can I think my paces are looking good. I think I’ve got my fuel strategy dialed in. The weather was kind of the only curveball because it was going to be really bad weather. So I’m like it’s going to be a little rainy or that I’m used to them. Add some, some extra Body Glide, you know, maybe bring some extra shoes to change into if I need them. So I’m like, you know, going through this whole strategy that is pretty, pretty typical. So and then I get out there, I’m kind of rushed, trying to find a bathroom. Anyway, so we get going. And so now we’re off to the races. So that’s my preparation.
Do you want me to start talking about the actual race went?
Patrick McGilvray
Yeah, just start talking about how the race went. I know that for you, this is your longest distance running in that sort of fasted state with minimal fuel. And when we talk about fuel, you know, you’re using some s-fuels, which I recommended, which is mostly just fat and protein. So it’s amino acids and some MCT oil, and some electrolytes, basically, so it’s minimal fuel, it’s not like you’re not eating sugar. There’s no carbohydrates going on in there. So just, you know, you kind of have very minimal fuel going in there, but it’s enough to fat and protein will help keep you going forever. Do you know what I mean? So you don’t really need much more than that. So that’s awesome.
But talk about how the race went for you. And you know, how you ended up?
Eva Bailey
Yeah, yeah. So the race, you know, I was feeling good. I was feeling good for a while I did an early start. And so it was a smaller group, a lot of people ended up not showing up because the weather was really bad. But in Seattle, like you just, you’re used to that. So I was like, you just show up, showing up is half the battle, right?
There was, there was one guy that was ahead of me most of the time. And so I’d always kind of just see him a few hundred yards in front of me and, and there was a point where we did end up running together because he would stop at all the aid stations. And so then that kind of gave me a chance to catch up with him each time.
But there was a section where we were running together, and we were talking and he was telling me, “Oh yeah, I run 50 miles, 100 miles, I’m gonna do a 250-mile race next in May.” I was like, holy smokes, this guy’s like, badass! He’s, he’s a real runner, you know, starting to compare myself.
But anyway, so we ran together for a little bit. And then he kept going, but every time he’d stopped at the aid stations and eat the carbs, and the chips and whatever. And I’m feeling good, the whole time, you know, still feeling good.
And then we get to the last turnaround. And I start gaining on him. And he’s, you know, we pass each other or I pass him and he’s looking at me, he’s like, you’re killing it. And I’m like, yeah, come on, you know, thinking he’s gonna kind of keep like, run with me some more to the finish line.
And I realize I’m passing him and then I realize he was the only one ahead of me the whole time. And so I’m like, I’m about to be the first one to finish this finish line! And then and I know there wasn’t a whole lot of people in the race, but I was like, holy cow.
So then the last eight miles of the race I’m like, I’m still feeling good. I’m still feeling good. I still don’t need the aid stations. I still don’t need the crap that all the other people are eating. I’ve got my s-fuels and my electrolytes and then I just that’s kind of when I got that that last wind or it wasn’t even a second wind because it just I never lost my wind, I just kept going.
And then seeing the last eight miles I smoked the dude that’s gonna run 250 miles in May! And that was when I was like, “Okay, I’m a believer.” Nobody can tell me that carbs are gonna keep you going for you know long distances like this they may be good for shorter you know faster distances. But this was like the proof to see this guy bonk you know in the last eight miles, and I just go faster. Like I went faster, and then the last bit of it then the whole thing. So that was amazing. That was eye-opening and my overall paid like I beat my goal by you know, 15 minutes or 15 seconds average. So I felt pretty stinking good at the end of it!
Patrick McGilvray
You should, and you should be proud of yourself. And you ended up being the first female because you guys started in stages. So you kind of went with the early group. And there are some later groups that started and then they took the chip times, basically. And you ended up being the first female, which is amazing. So not only was it your first ultra marathon, but you basically came in first, let’s just say that, okay?
Eva Bailey
Yeah. And that, to me, that’s bonkers. You know, like, my first one out of the gate. Right, you know, and so I’m like, well, is, it was, it wasn’t a huge race, you know, I but, but at the same time, like, yeah, that’s, that was pretty cool. That was, that was pretty cool.
Patrick McGilvray
And then just a little side note here, apparently, like a week later, after the results were already posted. Some other female ended up getting that top slot because she got lost. And I want to, I want to say that she like, talked to the race director and said, “Oh, I got lost and so you should like make my time, you know, the number one time or whatever.” Which I don’t think is fair at all. Because if you get lost, I’m sorry. You don’t win. You lost. Right?
Eva Bailey
Yeah. I don’t know what happened. I think, you know, maybe some signs blew down, or I don’t understand what happened. But there was a lot of confusion with the timing. But, you know, when the first results that were posted, like I was the first first female.
Patrick McGilvray
Yeah, we’re just gonna go with that story. Yeah. Okay, cool. We’ll put an asterisk next to her name. You are the, you’re the real winner. I mean, there’s all ultramarathons all the time where people get lost, or they take a wrong turn, they don’t give them extra time, they don’t take that back. You know what I mean, they just lose the race. You know.
Anyway, I’m so proud of you either for like, not only, I mean, I’m proud of you for winning this race, but I’m just so proud of you for sticking with it more than anything else. And really seeing the power of changing your diet and changing your mindset. Because that’s what it’s all about.
It’s about you becoming this confident and healthy version of yourself, you know, which that’s what you really set out to do. You know, you didn’t, you know, when we set out, you know, you didn’t have a bunch of weight to lose, you know, a little bit, but it was just like, that wasn’t really the main focus, the main focus is on getting you to the, to the place where you could run long distances, and feel amazing, and just feel like you can keep going, which I would say, totally mission accomplished there.
Yeah, you know, and then the fact that you, you know, you’re observing this other guy out there, which is very typical. So, you know, you see all these other people out there on these ultras, who may be very, very experienced, you know, and of course, we’re all different levels of speed, you know, different paces and stuff like that.
But this guy was, you know, pretty experienced, and sucking down all the sugar and carbs all throughout the race and ended up just like crapping out towards the end. And here’s you, you know, the Energizer Bunny just keeps going and going. I love that it’s such a good comparison. You’re catching up to this guy. And then you pass him. And he’s just like, I can’t do it anymore.
Eva Bailey
Exactly. That was the moment where I was really sold where we’re like like you said, the comparison is just right in your face, you can’t deny it.
Patrick McGilvray
Yeah. So let me ask you this, you really had a shift in how you sort of thought about all this, because at the beginning of our conversation here, you were talking about how you were skeptical. And you were like, I don’t know how this is all gonna work. This can’t be good for you eating, you know, animal products and things like that. But you, you went in and did it.
And you did eat, you know, you were eating steaks and things like that. And so you did embrace that. The animal products part of all of this. And, and I’m just curious, like, what was that shift like for you? Or what shifted for you during this whole experience? Like, what did you know, you know, the person that you were going into this versus the person you are today? Like, what’s the difference there?
Eva Bailey
Yeah, yeah. I think getting educated on some of the science, I think there’s a lot of resources that you kind of pointed me to that really made me rethink what was true about the science about the dietary guidelines that are given to us and not less thing, our ideal ideology trample our biology, you know. And like, let me try something just because I have, you know, I feel really kind of hoity-toity and superior being like a vegetarian or a vegan. Like, let me make sure that that’s really best for me.
So when I started, like the first thing that I noticed that I couldn’t deny, going low carb was like this, the stomach pain and bloating that I always thought was normal on previous, you know, plant-based diets like it went away within like a couple of days.
And I was like, Wait a second. “So you mean I can eat a meal and my stomach doesn’t hurt?” And so just in the first couple days just seeing that I don’t have stomach pain was like, okay, that’s really hard to deny.
So it was just seeing, seeing the undeniable results was like, I think there’s probably a lot of science that is not correct, that they’re teaching us. So it was just seeing the results firsthand, feeling the results, and kind of doing some more research on the science.
Patrick McGilvray
Yeah, I think it’s interesting. So you bring up something interesting, like the feeling, like the stomach pain, the bloating, the inflammation that a lot of us are experiencing when we’re eating this high carbohydrate diet. And we just assume that that’s normal.
And you don’t notice that you’re experiencing all that stuff. Because that’s just the way you’ve been living your life forever. But when you stop eating that way, and you change your diet and start eating whole foods, you stop eating processed foods, you stop eating sugar, you stop being refined grains and carbohydrates, you start noticing that, why doesn’t my stomach hurt? How come I’m not gassy? How come? I’m not bloated? How come? I’m not? My body isn’t all inflamed and achy all the time.
And until you actually start experiencing that it’s hard to describe to people but it’s, it’s such a better way to live your life, isn’t it? I mean, why wouldn’t you want to do this? And listen, I hear people talk about this all the time. They’re like, ‘Oh, yeah, I remember I did that low carb thing. For a while I felt great. I was less inflamed. I was, you know, my stomach didn’t hurt.’ And then they then they’ll tell me like, ‘Oh, but I just couldn’t keep up with it.’ Or I just, you know, it was too hard or something like that, you know, what do you say to those people who think that this is too hard?
Eva Bailey
Oh, I was about to say, this is like the most sustainable thing I’ve tried. And I’ve tried just about every variation that you can think of. And this is by far the easiest thing like you can even if you’re out and about like you can always find stuff to eat and it’s yeah, it’s not that hard.
Patrick McGilvray
Yeah, I would agree. I agree with that. I think it’s like one of the simplest things you can do. It’s about eating real food and simplifying your food, not making it more complicated. You know?
Eva Bailey
Yeah, it’s like the first couple weeks, the when you’re trying to kind of figure out, you know, when you when you’re learning what to do, and you’re creating new routines, you know, that’s difficult, but once you figure that out, that’s it’s smooth sailing.
Patrick McGilvray
Yeah, obviously, there’s always going to be a transition period where you’re, you know, whenever you’re changing your diet or changing your behaviors, like there’s going to be a period of like, there’s discomfort, there’s not knowing what to do, you know, you’ve got all these old habits and you’re sort of been just operating on autopilot forever.
And so when you change all that, like yeah, it is a little bit difficult. I always describe it as being a little bit of a clunky process, like it’s a little clunky like you got to like get the wheels greased up and get things working properly. But once you get it going, it should be simple. The idea is to simplify, simplify, not make it more complicated.
So tell me what you’re doing today. So you mentioned at the beginning like you’re doing sort of a pegan diet. Tell me what that means. And kind of how that looks for you.
Eva Bailey
Um, it’s basically you know, and it’s still low carb I’m not I haven’t really gone back to a full pegan because they have a lot of kind of starch. There’s still some sweet potatoes and quinoa and things that I’m not really doing now but I am bringing back I am going to do some carb cycling. So it will be those things for like a couple days out of the month.
And so it looks like, you know, I’m doing the time-restricted eating. So basically in the morning, I have my coffee, I drink that all morning, and then I don’t eat lunch until noon or one. And it’s usually some, some scrambled eggs with some onions and mushrooms in there. You know, maybe some uncured no sugar bacon, so I’m really focused on the quality of the food too.
So even the animal products I eat are grass-fed, grass-finished. No, no nitrates, and free-range chicken and things like that, and all of the green leafy vegetables that I want, you know, asparagus and Brussels sprouts, and, you know, some green beans. So it’s like, I still feel like I’m still eating real food. And it totally doable. It’s delicious. I feel like we eat better now than we ever have before.
I don’t even, I know COVID We’re not going to restaurants, but I don’t even want to go to restaurants anymore because I just eat so many delicious things here, you know, and then, you know, dinner’s, you know, some chicken and some vegetables, but it’s like, there are so many delicious recipes that we’ve been trying. It’s just been scrumptious.
Patrick McGilvray
Yeah, and that’s one of the beautiful things about eating this way is that you can do it in a way that’s very simple. And where your, your taste starts to change. So we get used to wanting to like, we get used to the hyper-palatable foods, you know, that are like marketed to us and stuff and that are amazingly delicious. And when you stop eating that stuff, just like eating a steak, or just a chicken breast or just some Brussels sprouts, you know, with some salt and pepper on it becomes incredibly delicious.
So you’re no longer like your taste receptors are like working the way they’re supposed to again, and you’re no longer required to eat this food that’s been engineered to be extremely delicious, or whatever, you can find just as much satisfaction out of eating. Like, for example, just last night for dinner, I had two chicken breasts with salt and pepper on them. That was it. That was my dinner. And I was like, This is so good. Who is this person eating this stuff? You know, but it was just like, so good.
You know, and I’m not saying you have to eat meat or anything like that. But I’m just saying like, you can really do this in a way that just simple food can be incredibly satisfying again, and there’s such a freedom in that too, because then you’re not relying on, you know, making all these recipes and making things really complicated and going to the grocery store six times a week and all these other things. So I love eating this way.
Is there anything else you wanted to share that we haven’t really talked about? I just think your story is so amazing. And I’m so happy you took the time to kind of come on here and talk to me. But is there anything else that we didn’t cover that you wanted to talk about?
Eva Bailey
Um, well, I think just the other thing that shifted for me was how I look at alcohol. You challenged me in the first 30 days to not have a drink. And I used to have a drink you know, a few times a week. And like a wasn’t a big deal. But like when I’m cooking dinner, I would like to have a drink. And you challenged me to go 30 days without I’m like, “Okay, I’ll give you a 30 days Patrick but that’s not a not a day longer!”
And now like you know, it’s I feel like so much of it is just creating a new habit. But now I don’t even miss it. And I don’t really even want to have a drink because again, you go back to kind of feeling the comparison of I feel so great. And then I had a drink. I’m like, I don’t really feel so great anymore.
And so now I don’t even want to drink and that was kind of a big shift for me too. And yeah, I think that was just one other thing, and preferring fasted running was another thing that like when I heard people say that they run fasted. I was like, they’re crazy! There’s no way that’s healthy, because I’m thinking like, ‘Oh, you know, we’re supposed to eat breakfast and like you shouldn’t do that.’ And then I started trying it and I’m like, “Wow, I feel way better when I fat when I run in the morning fasted.” And so that’s life-changing, and it just simplifies everything.
So, you know, I’m not running around feeling hungry all the time. So, last weekend, we went out for a mountain bike ride kind of midday. And normally I’d be like, ‘Okay, well, we’ve got to make breakfast in the morning, I’ve got to make lunch, I’ve got to make some wraps on something that I can bring for lunch.’ And, like, now, I have so much more time in the morning where I don’t have to worry about cooking breakfast, we went out for a mountain bike ride. And it was like, one in the afternoon we’re driving home.
And normally I’d be like, okay, I need my snack bars. And you know, I need my lunch. And I’m like, I feel perfectly fine. We just did a, you know, a mountain bike ride, which is, you know, that’s pretty physically demanding. And like, I feel great. And I’m not frantic and like, I have to hurry up and get home and make lunch or like, it was just, huh. I’m not hungry all the time. I don’t need to snack.
I used to snack like I would eat eight times a day. I need breakfast. I’d graze in the morning and I eat lunch and I graze until dinner. And then I so I was just eating all the time. And I realized that that’s not how even though they’d say, “Oh, yeah, eat more, and it’s gonna make your metabolism go faster, and then you’re gonna lose weight.” No, no, no. I feel it was like an imbalance in hormones.
And so now doing all this has corrected my hormones and just balanced and I just don’t feel hungry as much all the time might that’s, that’s not my world, food is not my world anymore. I can focus on you know, whatever I’m doing right here right now with my friends and, and just be present, rather than thinking about what I’m going to be eating.
Patrick McGilvray
Yeah, or drinking, you know, yeah. Yeah. And that’s so cool. I’m glad you mentioned that because this is about changing our relationship with food. And with alcohol. These substances can be very difficult to do in moderation, especially the refined carbs, the sugar, or the alcohol, that’s hard for a lot of people to do in moderation.
Some people just be like, oh, yeah, just moderate, but it’s very hard for a lot of people. And so some of us, you know, like, I don’t drink alcohol at all. Some people can just, you know, we talk about that relationship they have with alcohol, and if they want to change that, then we work on it, it doesn’t mean you have to, you never can drink an alcoholic drink again in your life. But it just means that we got to change the relationship, you got to change how you think and feel about this stuff, you got to stop using these things, like drugs to make yourself feel better.
It’s, you know, stop using it as a coping mechanism or as a reward mechanism and start using it as, as fuel. Or in the case of alcohol, you can drink every now and then. But it’s if it becomes an issue, you can back off again. Like we want to work, we want to have this relationship with these things to where we are in control. And as long as we are feeling like we’re always in control, we’re good.
Because then you can just say no, you can just stop, you can say no. But when we feel like we’re out of control, when we feel like the food is something we have to do every couple of hours, because, you know, we’re so hungry, we can’t not eat, or I can’t imagine not drinking every other day or whatever. That’s a problem. We need to fix that, you know, so we need to work on the relationship. And so I’m glad you brought that up. Because you did a good job with that, too. Was that scary for you to like, maybe give up the alcohol for the first 30 days or so?
Eva Bailey
I mean, I have to be honest, it was the thing I was looking forward to the least. Yeah. And I remember our first call like I was kind of bracing myself for you to tell me like okay, you know, let’s see if we can get you to cut that out this next month. And we got to you know, we’re almost at the end of the call and you didn’t mention it and I was like okay, he didn’t say anything about it. Maybe I can keep drinking and then at the very end you’re like, okay, give me you know, 30 days.
Patrick McGilvray
Oh, by the way, it’s I forgot to mention this!
Eva Bailey
Right? So it was like, surprisingly enough like even though Yeah, I was not looking forward to that to not drinking.
Patrick McGilvray
But how’d it go for you?
Eva Bailey
I think the hardest part was when I was with my girlfriends and they were drinking but just by deciding in advance like this is just what I’m going to do. And knowing like, okay, I’m challenging myself for 30 days like this is temporary. This is just what I’m going to do. And you know, you make the decision you set your mind to it, and there’s just no other option. There’s not an option to be like, oh, like actually, maybe I’m gonna have on tonight like, no, that’s just off the table. So for me, it was just, I just closed the door and it’s like, it is what it is.
Patrick McGilvray
Was it hard at first though?
Eva Bailey
It was at first, like, especially when I was like cooking dinner. Because you know, you’re in this habit of like, oh, I’m cooking dinner, I’m going to have a glass of wine while I’m cooking. So it was because like, I’m in that habit. And I was kind of like, looking for the thing that I’m going to, like chopping and oh, where’s the glass of wine that I normally reach for? So that was weird. And I was like, Oh, I really would kind of like a glass of wine right now.
Patrick McGilvray
And then how long before it felt easier? And you just weren’t really thinking about it anymore?
Eva Bailey
I think it was maybe like, after the first couple weeks, I was like, yeah, okay.
Patrick McGilvray
Yeah, yeah, it doesn’t take long. Right. And that’s the experience that a lot of people have, they’re, they’re a little bit’s scared to go into this. Like, I don’t know about that. But it’s, and this is part of the, the reason we do it, part of it is physical because you want to like change your, your, your hormones, and alcohol just acts like sugar in your body, you know. So we want to like kind of eliminate that issue as well. And it also slows down the whole fat-adaptation process and all that.
But then there’s that mental aspect of it being sort of a habit. And so we want to just like, change the relationship. And so it takes a few weeks, usually to like, just go like, oh, I don’t really miss that anymore. And most people go into it scared. And then after a few weeks, they’re like, oh, is no big deal. Which is cool. Because when you get to that place, then it’s not a big deal.
Yes, not drinking is not a problem, because you’re not thinking about it all the time. Just like eating the sugar and stuff. When you stop being obsessed about that kind of food, not eating it is not a problem. You know, it’s like, easy peasy, right? Cool. Yeah.
Well, this has been amazing. Eva, thank you so much for coming on here and sharing your experience with me, and congrats on an amazing 50k. What’s next for you? What do you got coming up another race scheduled or anything like that?
Eva Bailey
So I’ve never been an organized race person. So I think you know, I do have a marathon scheduled in July. That’s just kind of a fun one that I’m doing with some girlfriends because it’s something that we’ve done the last couple of years. And so I’m going to do that again in July.
But I do want to do a 50 miler. I’m just trying to figure out when because this year, I’ve got a lot of plans and I’m trying to figure out how to schedule a 50 miler in with all the things going on. I am trying to figure out where I can squeeze in my 50 miler because, well, you know, with one of my original goals, like I, I still want to run 100 miles one day, I still want to do that.
So I am keeping my mileage up. So that way, if I can find a time to get that 50 miler in that I’m not ramping up from the beginning. I also want to work more on being able to help other people with this transition. I’m looking at, you know, improving my own coaching abilities and certifications. And so I want to figure out how to help other people do this because it’s just been so transformational.
Patrick McGilvray
That’s awesome! I’m so glad you said that too. Because my mission here with all this stuff is to be an example of what’s possible and to inspire others to do the same. And you’re living that right now. You know, I’ve been an example for you. Now you can go out there and be an example for others. And that’s what I want.
This is how we create change in the world. This is how we create impact. This is how we create this ripple effect of good health and positivity in this world. So that’s super awesome. Well, let us know when you get your 50k on the calendar, and then we can like do a little recap and see how that goes for you. I’d love to get you back on here and talk about that experience and then your 250 miler when you do that one. You’ve got to beat that guy! It’s been awesome. Eva. Thanks again for being here. It’s been super fun.
Eva Bailey
Oh, no, thank you so much. I’m so excited to be able to talk about this. Any anytime somebody will listen to me talk about health and fitness and food like I’m all over it. So thank you.
If you’re a runner and you’ve been struggling to lose weight or you keep losing and gaining the same 10 pounds over and over again. Or you’re finally ready to get to your natural weight and stay there for good this time then I have something you will love. I’ve created a powerful new training just for you called running lean for life. You’ll learn exactly how to transform yourself into a lean fat-burning running machine. So you can run without bonking, lose weight without calorie counting and develop the habits required to make it last for life. To get this free training right now go to runningleanpodcast.com/leanforlife and start your transformation today.
If you’re anything like most runners, you have a very hard time taking time off. Rest days can feel like torture, you feel like you’re losing fitness, and you are convinced that your running is …
My name is Patrick McGilvray, and I’m an experienced marathoner, ultra runner, Sports Nutritionist, Master Life Coach, and weight loss coach for runners. I’ve dedicated my life to helping runners just like you properly fuel your body and your mind. So you can get leaner, get stronger, run faster and run longer than you ever thought possible. This is Running Lean.
Hey there, and welcome to episode 107 of Running Lean. My name is Patrick McGilvray, the weight loss coach for runners. And today I’m talking about prioritizing rest and recovery. If you are anything like most runners, then you probably have a pretty hard time taking time off right?
Rest days can feel like torture, you feel like you’re gonna lose your fitness and you’re convinced that your running is going to suffer, right? But the reality is most runners do not prioritize rest and recovery properly. So most runners are not getting the most out there training. You cannot become that lean badass runner you want to be if you never take the time to rest and recover properly. That’s just incredibly important. I cannot stress this enough.
That’s why I’ve dedicated this whole podcast episode to this topic, rest and recovery has to be part of your training plan. Okay, so today I’m going to just share the importance of prioritizing rest and recovery. I’m going to talk about how to do it because I want you to be able to show up at the start of your race in peak fitness and you cannot do it if you’re not taking rest days properly.
Okay. But first, if you like this podcast, please come check us out on Facebook, you can join the Running Lean Community. It’s a group of like-minded runners that support encourage and motivate one another. You can ask questions you can get answers. Get the kind of like, the camaraderie that you get from your running pals, you know, and I do some weekly coaching and training in the group. And we just have a lot of fun. It’s one of the most positive communities that I’ve experienced on Facebook. And a lot of people tell me that too. That’s not just my opinion. This is what I hear from other people.
And the Facebook group is full of people that are just like you people that are tired of struggling and ready to become more I talk about this all the time, we are people that are becoming more. If you’re tired of struggling or if you’re tired of feeling sluggish all the time. If you’re tired of gaining and losing the same 10-20 pounds over and over again. If you’ve ever been there, it’s not a fun place to be. I’ve been there.
If you’re done with all the like fad diets and meal replacement shakes. If you’re ready to end all this struggle with you know not feeling how you know you should feel, then I want to encourage you to take action for yourself. Nothing changes if nothing changes, right. So I want to encourage you to get into action starting now. I want you to start this new year, by learning how to create the good habits you need to make eating healthy a permanent part of your life.
Listen, we’re not interested in short-term results here. We’re focused on the long game. I want to help you make being healthy, just a part of who you are from now on out. And the easiest way to get there is to have someone there guiding you every step of the way, helping you overcome the things that you always struggle with. Like giving into cravings on the weekends like you do find all week long, and then the weekend comes along, you just blow it right, you keep reverting back to these old patterns of behavior. Having a coach means that you have someone in your corner, someone supporting you, someone who’s got your back, someone who’s holding you accountable to do the things you need to do to become the healthiest, most badass version of yourself.
I want you to make this year count. I want this year to be the year that you finally take control of your health and fitness for good. I want you to make this the year that you finally become the lean, strong, badass runner that you’ve always wanted to be. Everything I do here on the podcast and in the Facebook group I do with my group program with my one on one coaching clients is to help you to become the most amazing, most better version of yourself yet. And I put my heart and soul into doing this.
I put my heart and soul into helping you become your best self. Why? Because I want to be an example of what’s possible and I will inspire you to do the same thing and so on and so on. I’m on a mission to create a ripple effect of health and positivity in this world. But it requires action change requires action. So I want to encourage you to take action now. And make this the year that you make some permanent changes for yourself and become that badass runner that badass version of yourself that you know, you can be.
You can apply for coaching over at runningleanpodcast.com/apply. Let’s do this. Let’s make this your year. Cool.
Okay, let’s get into this topic of prioritizing rest and recovery. And let me tell you a little bit about why I’m thinking about this so much right now, you’ve probably heard me talk about this already, I’ve been kind of talking about this on the last couple of episodes, that I’ve been sort of forced to rest, right. I’ve been forced to take some time off from running from lifting weights from really doing any kind of strenuous activity at all.
So six weeks ago, I had rotator cuff surgery to repair three torn muscles in my rotator cuff. This is a pretty brutal recovery from this surgery. It is a long process is like three or four months of really not being able to do a whole lot. You know, I mean, I’m in physical therapy, I’m starting to get more active and starting to move things around a bit. But it’s still, you know, I’m still in a pretty good amount of pain. And there’s still a very limited range of motion. I’m only about halfway through this recovery process, right. And then, and this is something I really haven’t talked about before.
Back in September, of this past year, I developed a hernia and probably developed that from, you know, some really heavy weight lifting. Maybe I did something wrong. I’m not really sure exactly how I did it. It’s sort of just kind of appeared one day. And I was like, well, that’s weird what’s going on there when saw the doctor.
And yeah, so I had an inguinal hernia that needed to get repaired. And because of COVID, and because of the way the hospitals have been jammed up and stuff like that, I had to wait. I had to wait. And I had to push that surgery off until just a week ago. So I had to finish up my marathon training and run a marathon with a hernia, this is not a good situation to be in. I’m just going to tell you right now.
I ended up having this like neoprene belt that I wore under my clothes to kind of hold things so that I could actually run. But I’m telling you right now having like this shoulder pain, and then having a hernia at the same time made this whole marathon experience that much tougher and more challenging for me, but I got through it, okay. And I finally had the hernia surgery a week ago. And so within five weeks, I’ve had two pretty major surgeries.
Alright. So I started to make some progress, I started to get back to the gym, up until you know, had hernia surgery. So now I’ve got to like scale everything back. Again, I can’t lift anything more than 20 pounds, I can’t do any strenuous activity for six weeks, which is kind of fine. It’s kind of just goes along with what I’m doing with my rotator cuff recovery period here.
So long story short here, I’ve experienced a lot of downtime, right? I’ve just been like having to take time off. And it’s gonna be a while for me until I get back to where I want to be and the level of activity and doing all the things that I want to do again. But this really got me thinking about how hard it is for runners, especially to take time off.
It’s really hard to just give yourself a rest especially when you’re in training mode, especially when you’re in the thick of your marathon training, let’s say prioritize prioritizing rest and recovery days is something that runners just they don’t do well, right runners don’t like to rest they’d rather just go go go go go, go, go. And when you can’t just go go go all the time it can be very frustrating. Right?
You feel bad when you can’t run or you can’t do a workout. And so most runners just don’t do it. They don’t make rest and recovery days a priority. It’s like the last thing they want to do, right? So most runners just would rather do anything than take a rest day. Right? It’s so hard like mentally, physically. Emotionally.
It’s hard to tell yourself that this is an important part of your training plan. So most people just don’t include this kind of rest and recovery time as part of their training program. Okay. So why wouldn’t we do this though? Like, why? Why aren’t we making rest and sleep and recovery time a priority?
And I think it goes back to like this mindset of like, if you’re not doing something active, if you’re not like moving and pushing, and just grind in and out all the time, that you’re going to lose fitness, that you’re not going to perform as well, on race day, that you’re going to be taking steps backward.
And I have to say that this is absolutely not true. In fact, if anything, the opposite is true. If you want to perform well on race day, if you want to maximize your training program, whatever it is, you’re training for, whether it’s a 5k, half marathon, marathon, whatever, you’re doing yourself a disservice by not prioritizing rest and recovery days. All right, you are doing yourself a disservice. And you’re actually going to perform worse than if you are making rest and recovery part of your training program and a priority. Okay.
So here, I just want to kind of list out some of the problems that happen when you don’t prioritize rest and recovery when you don’t take the time off that you need. In order to give your body a chance to kind of heal and repair and recover from your hard workouts right? Not prioritizing rest and recovery days will have a bunch of negative impacts on your running performance, and basically your overall health and fitness.
Okay, so here are some of the things that we need to be careful of, right. First of all, running is catabolic, it breaks you down, if you’re just running all the time, you are just constantly breaking yourself down. So when you run, especially when you do like a hard workout, there are micro microscopic muscle tears that happen in your, in your muscles, in your legs, in your arms, in your glutes, and it’s very much like weight training.
You know when you lift heavy weights, you get these microscopic tears in your muscles. And then you give yourself a chance to rest and recover and your body repairs and get stronger. Right, you don’t gain muscle at the gym, you gain muscle on your rest days you gain muscle while you’re sleeping and recovering. And it’s the same thing with running Okay.
Without the rest and recovery days, your body will not heal properly, okay, you’re not going to adapt your body to the training load that you’re putting yourself under. Right, so this goes to the overload principle which I’ve just kind of talking about here, which is you overload a muscle. So you put a strain on a muscle to the point where you get to failure on a muscle and you overload that muscle.
You cannot lift the weight you’re trying to lift that creates an adaptive response in your body and your muscle grows stronger and bigger in response to that overload. The same thing happens with your other systems in your body like your cardiovascular system okay. You overload the cardiovascular system by doing something like a sprint workout, right you go out there and crush a hard you know hit training or interval workout you know, hill repeats or you know, sprints or whatever, and your cardiovascular system in response will will improve it will get stronger, right? It’ll become more efficient.
But this does not happen while you’re doing it. It only happens on the rest and recovery days. It happens when you are taking the time off when you are inactive. So, rest and recovery are required for this overload principle for this adaptive training principle to actually take place okay?
So if you’re not giving yourself the time off that you need, you’re just going to be constantly in that breaking down mode, right, you’re just breaking yourself down. And you’re never really giving yourself a chance to repair and adapt and get stronger. Okay. So that’s one of the biggest reasons why you have to prioritize rest and recovery.
The third thing to think about is this: when you are going hard all the time, you are putting your body under a lot of stress. And chronic stress will keep your cortisol levels very high, all the time. Cortisol is a stress hormone. And when cortisol is high, you actually get this like increase of blood sugar, you get this insulin response because of the cortisol. And you kind of keep your body in this fight or flight mode, you keep your body in this fat storage mode, you keep your body in this place where it makes it very hard to burn fat. It makes it very hard to become fat-adapted, which makes it very hard to get the most out of your training. Because you’re just overstressing your body, you’re chronically stressed out.
Chronic stress is not a good thing, right? I think we can all agree on this, right? And this idea of running hard or medium hard all the time is going to keep your body in that chronically stressed state. Okay, so too much stress on your body, constant stress on your body is going to have a definite negative impact on all the good things you’re trying to do for yourself here. Okay?
What we’re really talking about here is overtraining. Overtraining means you’re just not giving yourself the rest and recovery time that you need. Okay. Overtraining can lead to not just chronic stress, not just like breaking yourself down. But also you can be chronically fatigued. So you can just feel tired all the time. And if you’ve ever experienced this, believe me, I have.
I have done some training cycles where I was running like six days a week. And on those off, off days, quote, unquote, off days, I was like doing something else really active. And I was never getting a good night’s sleep, I was never giving my body a chance to recover. And I was like, I would get sick, I would be tired all the time. couldn’t keep my eyes open, like I was crashing and burning every afternoon like just, this is not a good place to be in right, this is not good for your, for your overall health and fitness much, much less for your training program.
If you’re training for an ultra marathon or you’re training for a marathon or half marathon or whatever it is, you cannot perform your best if you’re chronically fatigued if you’re just tired all the time. And sleep is another component of this, which I’m not going to get into today.
But I just want you to know that getting a good night’s sleep is a key component of rest and recovery. I want to do a whole other episode just on the importance of sleep because there are so many studies that have been done. And so much evidence out there that says that first of all, we are chronically under, we’re not getting enough sleep like we are a nation of people who are chronic under sleepers like we’re not getting enough sleep.
We need something like 7-9 hours of sleep a night and if you’re training hard, especially at the peak of your training cycle, you need more you might need 9 or 10 hours of sleep. But most people a lot of runners I talk to most will say they don’t get enough sleep and most will say they’re getting somewhere between like 5, 6, 7 hours of sleep which I don’t think is enough.
But if you’re experiencing this chronic fatigue, if you’re experiencing being chronically stressed out sleep could be a big part of this, okay? Another thing is that when you are chronically overtraining when you’re not getting enough rest and recovery, your running, performance will suffer. You will see your workouts really start to suffer, okay. Your workouts are going to start to feel harder than they are. So that rate of perceived exertion the RPE you know, when you go out there and run and you’re like this feels pretty easy. Or whoa, this workout feels really hard for the same effort.
Those workouts are gonna feel much harder if you’re not prioritizing rest and recovery properly. So just know that if your workouts if you’re out there running, you’re like, ‘I don’t know why running feels so hard right now’, it could be that you’re just not getting enough rest. It could be that you’re just in that chronic cardio chronically stressed out, chronically overtrained state. All right, like prioritize rest and recovery days here.
Another thing is that not only will your workouts feel harder, but your endurance starts to tank like you won’t be able to run as long, you won’t be able to go as far. And it’s gonna be, it’s gonna really create this negative impact on your endurance.
So if you’re somebody who’s out there trying to run, you know, you’re training for a marathon and you’re trying to get, you know, you got your 18-20 mile runs coming up, and you just feel like you just can’t do it, you’ve got no gas in the tank. It could be that you’re just not taking the time off that you need, you know, your endurance will suffer the more overtrained that you are.
And it sounds so counterintuitive, doesn’t it? It’s like, ‘Well, shouldn’t you just keep going longer and longer and harder and harder?’ And the answer is no, you have to like, push hard, and then you have to back off. You have to go longer, and then you have to go, you know, shorter. You have to run longer distances, and then you have to back it off, you have to have hard days, you have to have super easy days, and you have to have rest days. Right.
Another key aspect of this that most people don’t really realize is that chronically overtraining and not getting enough rest and recovery can have a negative impact on your mental state. Your mindset is so important. And I talk about this all the time mindset is like 80% of the equation.
If you’re trying to lose weight, if you’re trying to change habits, if you’re trying to like create a better relationship with food, if you’re trying to improve your running, if you want to run your first marathon or PR – 80% of your results are going to be because you have the right mindset. 20% is going to be based on what you’re doing what you know, what you don’t know, things like that.
But 80% of this is mindset. And if your mindset is negatively impacted, because you’re overtraining, you’re not going to be as clear headed, you’re not going to be able to focus as much, your head’s not going to be in the game.
You know, you’re gonna be moody, you know, you’re not in a good mood, you’re like a grumpy person. Are you a grumpy person? Maybe you’re overtraining. And all this can lead to this dip in motivation to you can really start to feel like, ‘Oh, I just don’t want to run, I don’t feel like it. I’m in a bad mood. I can’t think clearly.’ And then doubt starts to creep in. And just don’t feel like running and you just like, want to give it up, you just want to like just lay on the couch watching Netflix, right.
And all of this can just be a result of not giving yourself the rest that you need. Okay. And then obviously, all of this can affect your race day performance. If you’re somebody that’s out there training for a race, and you know, you’ve got a marathon coming up. And you’ve been training for, you know, six months, or even if it’s just like three or four months of a training program, you’re putting a lot of effort, you’re putting a lot of energy, you’re putting your heart and soul into training for this race, and everything needs to be perfect on race day, right?
Everything needs to be in perfect working order. And overtraining can just have you showing up on race day, and ready for like disappointment, feeling like crap, poor performance. You know, you’re gonna feel like you’ve wasted all this time training when really all you did was you just overtrained, right? You just overtrain, you didn’t give yourself the rest and recovery that you needed so that you could show up on race day properly.
I was just talking to somebody last night about tapering, right. So you know, somebody who’s one of my clients, you know, they’ve got a marathon coming up this weekend, and they’re in this taper mode, and they’re just like, Ah, it’s driving me crazy. I hate tapering. I just want to be active, I want to be moving.
But the important thing to understand, here’s that tapering is there for a reason, right? You have to show up on race day fully rested and recovered and ready to go. If you’re just like going hard, hard, hard, all the way up to race day. You are not optimizing your body in your mind for that race. You’re going to be you’re going to show up overtrained and you’re going to show up tired and you’re going to show up stressed out and you’re not going to have a good day out there. Okay.
When you start making rest and recovery days a priority. You give your body a chance to rebuild, to repair. And to recover from all those hard workouts, we want to do the hard workouts, you want to be able to go hard on your hard days and make your easy days super easy, right?
When you are properly rested, and you can recover, and you’re repairing from these hard workouts, I’m going to tell you something, those hard days, you’re actually going to be able to go harder, you’re going to be able to run faster, you’re going to be able to run harder, you’re going to be able to run longer, which means that if you do it the right way, you should improve your fitness exponentially.
Because you’re giving your body a chance to adapt to your training load. Right, you’re improving the systems, you’re improving your cardiovascular system, you’re improving your your body’s ability to oxygenate your muscles, you’re improving your ability to get stronger, like you’re building stronger muscles, you have to give your body a chance to adapt. And that’s what happens during the rest recovery phase, okay.
You’ll be able to increase the intensity and the duration of your workout. So you can go longer without feeling fatigued. But it requires rest and your workouts will actually feel easier. So not only will you be able to go harder and things like that, but you know, your rate of perceived exertion actually goes down.
So that same run that you did when you were chronically stressed out, that same workout is gonna feel so much easier because you’re properly rested. And then there’s all these positive mental benefits to like you’re you feel more clear headed, you’re more focused, you can concentrate, you have improved cognition, you’re going to feel happier, you’re not going to be all moody and grumpy and negative, you’re going to be more positive.
And this goes a long, long way to your running performance, you know, you’re going to wake up feeling motivated, ready to go get out there and get at it. And then, you know, obviously showing up on race day, you’re going to be giving your body everything that it needs, you’re going to be setting yourself up for success. You’ve given your body the exact formula that it needs for adaptation, go hard, rest and recover, go hard rest and recover.
So that on race day, you show up at that starting line and you’re just firing on all cylinders, you’ll be operating at peak performance, you’ll be stronger, faster, and ready to go. That’s what we want. That’s what we want out of our training plans. Okay.
So rest recovery means just that just means like, you gotta like, take some time off, okay? The ideal way to do this is to just take a day off, take a day or two off every week. This is ideal. And I know that for a lot of people, they’re like, ‘I just need to do something.’ It’s like, okay, fine. You can have active recovery days, but they have to be a very minimal activity, like taking a walk.
And a lot of people are like, ‘I walk my dogs every day. I’ll go walk the dogs or I’ll go for a bike ride with the kids, you know, we’re just like on the bike’s just like really easy. Or maybe I’m going to do some stretching and foam rolling, or some gentle yoga.’
Those kinds of things are fine as recovery days, you know, those kind of active recovery days, but there’s nothing wrong with just taking a day off, you’re not gonna lose fitness if you do nothing for a day or two every week, right?
The idea is that you’re feeling fresh. The idea is that you’re repairing and you’re adapting and you’re becoming stronger so that you can go harder at your next workout. So I want you to start prioritizing rest and recovery days, put them on your training schedule. Schedule, rest and recovery days into your weekly training regimen. Right.
And rest days are not just for the early stages of your training cycle. In fact, it’s even more important that the harder you’re working out, the more intense and the longer duration of your training, the more important rest days become. Right as you get closer to your race, your intensity and your duration of running are going to increase right?
So those are the times when you need to prioritize rest days even more. And the cycle looks like this. It’s like you go harder, you rest, adapt, you get stronger, you go hard, you rest and adapt, and you get stronger, and then just kind of repeats throughout your training program.
And then there are other times where you might consider taking rest days, or you might be forced to take rest days, and I’m going to encourage you to just like, lean into this a little bit. It’s kind of like what I’m doing right now, like, I had surgery. And it’s gonna be, it’s not just a day or two, for me, this is like weeks and months of time off, and I’m okay with that. I’m okay with that.
For me, I know I am losing some fitness, I’ve lost some weight, I’m losing some muscle during this process, I’ll get it all back, and it’ll come back. Fast, it’ll come back, you know faster than it went off. I’m going to take the time and make this work, I’m going to become the strongest, most badass version of myself. This year, this is my goal, right?
So I’ve got to give myself a chance to recover. This is some pretty brutal stuff I’ve gone through here, I’m going to give myself a chance to recover. If you get sick, a lot of people are sick with COVID and stuff, you know, you need to take some time off, just embrace it and really give your body a chance to recover.
Because if you’re sick, and you’re like, I’m just gonna keep pushing through this, I’m going to keep pushing through this, you’re probably going to prolong the time it takes you to recover, I’m going to want to do that right. Or maybe you have an injury that you need to take a little bit of time off from, take the time off, it’s gonna be okay. And then like, take time off after a race, obviously, you know, anytime you have like a super intense workout or race, you got to take some time off from that, okay?
If you’re the kind of person who lays it all out there on race day, then you have got to take some time off. After that, prioritize rest and recovery, put it into your training schedule. And I promise you, you’re going to feel better your runnings going to improve, you’re going to be able to go harder and longer and faster. And you’re just going to become the healthiest version of yourself.
Okay, so make sure you’re making rest and recovery days a priority. All right. Cool. Well, I hope you guys got something out of this today. Love you all. Keep on Running Lean, and I will talk to you soon.
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