Name: Playbook - Hannah Bower - Setting the Stage and Managing Expectations
Uploaded: 2022-12-13T22:00:15.738Z
Duration: 10 min
Description: Setting the Stage and Managing Expectations

Hi guys,

Rhona here from Cork in Ireland. Thank you so much for such an honest and open discussion! It’s a breath of fresh air to hear trainers speak with honesty. Looking forward to getting started!!

Rhona

Welcome to the second diet culture detox challenge! 

Now I’m sure your expectation for this first video is for us to hype you up, build up, and set fire to the motivation that brought you here.

Well… not exactly 😅

While our entire focus this next 8 weeks will be to build you up, keep you going, and to cheer you on, we KNOW the most important thing we can do is set you up for LONG-TERM success.

And the way we do that is we need to manage expectations and change how we think the next 8 weeks will go.

Because we are imperfect humans living in an imperfect world, we will have an imperfect journey.

Read that again: your journey will be imperfect. The sooner you accept and lean into the learning curve of change, the easier it is to make changes.

If we are to truly help you build a sustainable and enjoyable lifestyle with fitness, that means we need to first and foremost teach you that your journey is going to be filled with mistakes, setbacks, and challenges.

It will not be easy. Just because you’ve decided and are ready to make the changes you know you need to, there will be ups and downs along the way.

This is a really good thing.

It is precisely the downs, challenges, and setbacks that make you who you are and teach you the lifelong skills of managing a healthy relationship with fitness.

So WHEN things get challenging, that’s EXACTLY where you should be, and what you should be working through. 

The struggle is the point, and we will he here to help you through them.

Setting the Stage and Managing Expectations

Sarah Lucero

I love that you do a Mindset Monday. As weird as it sounds watching it made me emotional. But it is such a relief and a breath of fresh air for me to be able to have that internal guidance so I can pursue my fitness goals in a healthy and loving way.

Rachael

I just listened to my first motivational mindset, and I’m just completely inspired by you two. I’m excited, and want to thank you for this app!

Kaley

Mindset: Consistency

This was wonderful! I’ve been so glued to the scale.. my goals this week are to make foods I enjoy write workouts I love and not weigh myself at all

My goals are to:

1. Fall in love with working out
2. Become more in tune with my body and what makes it feel good
3. Speak kindly to myself 
4. Ditch the end goal mentality… the “I’ll be happy when I…” trap. 
5. Prioritize my mental health/self care over aesthetic goals.

Can I just say I absolutely love how genuine you two are! I have struggled with my weight sense childhood- always taught that because I’m just barely 5ft tall I had to be under 120lbs. I have also been a competitive athlete who carries a lot of muscle. Me being fit puts the scale at around 150lbs in size 6 jeans with a tiny waist and massive legs. I was always ok with that until the doctors said I was still to heavy. Then it became 2-a-day workouts to try to lose the mass and lean out. A full hour of straight cardio (I hate cardio) and and evening workout of toning (high reps little weight) because I was afraid to gain. Then attention turned to my diet… I love carbs. I’m Italian and can not live without pasta and bread.. guess what they wanted cut out of my diet… yup! Pasta and bread.. well, my weight dropped slightly, my memory was foggy, I was miserable and tired all the time. So my workouts stopped because I just couldn’t find the energy. Fast forward to here and now- I’ve tried all the diet fads and many workout programs.. I tried being a beach body coach for accountability because I love to workout. I love to feel strong. I love when my back doesn’t hurt from bending over the sink to wash dishes or wash my kids hair in the tub. I love feeling happy. But my trouble now- when I start working out after a break my body swells up and I start to gain weight.. I currently sit at 200lbs after 3 babies and I find it hard to be proud of what my body has accomplished because I feel like crap.. I feel discouraged and defeated when I try to make the changes. It is so difficult to break away from the mindset of the number. About a year ago I went to a nutritionist. I did a 3 day protein fast and ate a high protons diet.. but they told me on this diet they had me on it wasn’t safe to work out.. no carbs, no sugar, no dairy. Just unhappy and dropping lbs and no working out. I stopped with the nutritionist because I wanted to work out. I would rather be strong, “heavy” and happy than skinny and not be able to eat. My kids deserve the best of me. So my goals this week are to get to bed at a decent time. 
Wake up early at least 3 days to get my workout in.
And drink mor water thank coffee through that day 😉 I’m so excited 😆

Lauren

Why the scale shouldn’t be your only goal.

Storm

Exactly what I needed to hear and reflect on! Thank you! These motivational Mondays are so so awesome!

Janine Ducharme

Discipline and Grace

Really good, I felt reassured with Mindset Monday talk today. After losing motivation, hearing this was a great pick me up! Thanks!

Love the 5 minute rule, it works every time. The tip to buy a new outfit works for me sometimes too lol. Dang ptula! 🤣

Ashley Powell

This was the reminder I needed! Thank you!

Stephanie

Motivation

Hannah your reaction to Michal’s story was so funny😂

Francesca

Meaghan

I feel michal’s words when she said “or you’re trying to hold in a fart” 😂😂 too real

Lily

Confidence in the gym

That was great! It was exactly what I needed for support and encouragement! Thank you for creating amazing content and sharing your wisdom and knowledge in this area of fitness and wellness!🧡💜

I love starting my mornings with these. I have positive affirmations written all over rmy house on sticky notes so I see them all the time and that helps me significantly! ❤

Positive self talk

Thank you so much for covering this topic!! I have been working hard for the past 10ish months to repair my relationship with food and come to a healthy mental place with food and figure out what I want long term. This is so, so critical. But this is what the diet industry thrives on and it is tough to undo all our years of programming. Thank you both for knocking down these walls and talking openly. YOU ARE MAKING A DIFFERENCE 🥰

Tiffany

Oh, that hit too close to home. Guilty of the clean eating and good food VS bad food. When Hannah said, "don't eat food to lose weight", that clicked in my head!
This is going to be a struggle for me, but 1 of the main reasons I joined the challenge!

Marie

Love the idea of adding in rather than taking out!  Eat to fuel not to lose.  Working on this!

Katie-Mae

Nutrition Episode 1

Thank you for the encouragement. My therapist is on a leave of absence and I was procrastinating finding a new one but this video was my push and reminder to do so. 
Thank you ❤️

Tammy

Mental Health

That was really good and informative to hear. Thank you

This too was another one of those most needed ones for me to hear. My daily job is physical, I work out I eat pretty healthy weekends tend to  be fun lol but this is good for me to hear thank you!!!!

Nutrition Episode 2:  Law of Thermodynamics

That was really good to hear, I love Michals perspective about the telling yourself “No” and validating own feelings but still saying no. I’m going to try using these tools next time I feel like I’m arguing with myself. 
Thanks so much! You ladies are awesome!

Natalie Uva

I picked to watch this because I was feeling so unmotivated to workout and getting more tired but I had told myself I was going to workout today! So thank you for the tough love I needed to get going today! ❤️

Erica

Tough Love

I haven’t watched a mindset Monday in a long time and decided to start catching back up. I’m so glad this is the first one I watched! Implementing some major lifestyle changes currently and needed some reassurance that I don’t have to do it all at once. Slow and steady wins the race!

Hannah

Great! Nice reminders of the lifestyle change.

I worked with a trainer for too long that made me feel terrible about myself and was constantly pushing counting calories to the point that I hated exercise and I was on the verge of an eating disorder. I dropped her and downloaded your app. I have followed you and Michal for a while and I love your approach to fitness. I actually find that I wake up and look at the app to see what workout I'm doing that night and I stay so excited to do it throughout my day at work. I wanted to just say thank you so much. Being a person in a larger body, it means so much to have a trainer that believes in your abilities and isn't just 100% focused on the scale. I can already feel a difference and it hasn't even been that long!

Getting Started

As usual, thank you so much! This week has been a hard week and baby hasn't been letting me workout as much as I like. From her elbow jutting out of my side to being super off balance, its been a weird week and she's grown a lot. To me that's an accomplishment and I can't judge the lack of working out as a failure because that's a dis-service to all my body really is doing. That being said, today feels a lot better and I'm excited for my healthy mama healthy baby workout today. (34 weeks is no joke!)

Needed that after experiencing failure yesterday at the gym!

Lori Acosta

Helped me not feel bad about running 12 min miles today because my body was tired and my soul was drained.

Audriann

Dealing With Failure

Trying not to feel the guilt. I catch myself in it.. but I still find myself doing it on day 2. I wish I didn't find Grace so challenging.

Love these sooo much!  Also, can’t believe I have been following for over 3 years…since u announced u were pregnant with Jaden.  Your growth has been phenomenal!! Your explanation of exercise and the mindset Monday of how to make this a lifestyle is so amazing.  You are a true teacher of lifestyle/preventative medicine!  Thank you for inspiring me to change my focus as a RN

Brittany

When To Rest

This was such a beautiful chat! You are both so lucky to have a clearly deeply thought out human being to lead you in life. I love the way he looks at you both with so much love …. Thankyou for the share!

Natasha

Loved loved your chat with your papa! Very wise man! Thank you for sharing!

Words of Wisdom by Papa Bower

Yes, this info is big! I've been on the diet cycle for sad to say since I was 14yrs old now 35! 
This needs to be said bc there is so much pressure of weighing a number, thank you!

Casey

This video is exactly what I needed! I am 7months postpartum and have been struggling mentally on my lack of scale progress this month. And this video put things into perspective for me, all my NON scale victories are more important and I need to slow down my expectations of how fast I should be progressing.

Katie

This! 🖤 went through a 3 month program in March-June 2020. Saw big changes, dropped weight, but it was not long enough to reverse “diet”. Got frustrated and stopped. I’ve put weight back on but i’m stronger, lifting heavier. Still struggle with the “ideal body image”.

Ashley

When You Don’t See Results

Thank you! I do love weight training now. I've seen the light! 😆

Thank you guys for this! I HATE conventional cardio.

Kirsten

I love that you choose to talk about the topics that need the attention. It is refreshing to hear someone talk truth on the subjects that are falsely talked about or not talked about at all.

Kassandra Soto

Spot Reduction

Love love love! Growing up as a competitive gymnast all through middle and high school I was called a beast, diesel, a man.. told that I used steroids.. etc. because I had such a muscular build from being a gymnast. I hated it and it really took a toll on my self confidence because I enjoyed being strong until I was called all of those things and looked down on by other kids because of it. 

It took me a VERY long time to realize that it’s ok to be strong and look muscular and have toned muscles. Ever since I’ve learned to not listen to what everyone else thinks and just accept my body for the way it is and build it up how I want to I have had so much more confidence. 

Honestly, following you through your journey you have been so helpful in reminding me to not compare myself to others… and to know that it’s ok to be muscular… and that it’s ok to take breaks and that it only takes small changes and so much more. I have been making small changes for about two months now and honestly I’m too the point where I don’t really crave the processed foods anymore. I still have them occasionally but it’s not a strong craving of I have to have this cookie or I have to have thee chips. It’s amazing what small changes can do.  I am so thankful for you, your guidance and everything you share!

Taylor Jackson

This was super helpful! I know when I was starting out with strength training I was so confused with the bulking and cutting aspect. It felt like in order to see any progress that this was something I had to be doing. I’m so glad I stumbled onto your YouTube page a few years ago and found that intuitive eating + eating more whole foods also works and is more sustainable. Thanks to you and Michal for an informative video!

Jenna

Loved this mindset Monday especially the last question!
I want to follow up with that a little bit if I can? 
I have been doing these workouts for 5-6 months and have been steadily losing weight & gaining muscle. Love it! 
My question is (with wanting to shed more fat) during the workouts whether it be upper, lower, or full body what little things can I do during the workout to shed more fat? 
I typically don’t take breaks in between sets or reps unless I’m really needing a breather. Should I try to keep HR at intervals during workout or try to keep it steady? Do I need to keep it higher or more medium for me? (I know a lot of it is how my body works and how I feel) I don’t know if any of this ^^ really does make a difference or not.
Also, I have loved listening/watching your mindset Monday’s!! Especially from people who stress the importance of “lifestyle” 🤍🤩

Setting the Stage and Managing Expectations

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