Survival mode: how fat was designed to protect you.
Fat is a survival function of the human body. For example:
Body fat is stored energy for when there’s no food.
Body fat protects your internal organs by cushioning them.
Body fat insulates you from freezing temperatures.
Fat in the body carries crucial vitamins and minerals throughout the body to protect from disease and injury.
Fat protects your nervous system signals so it fires correctly.
Conclusion: Fat PROTECTS you.
Next conclusion: if you’re gaining unwanted weight, your body might be telling you something - you might be in survival mode.
Survival mode in athletes can be SO sneaky - because your baseline habits, your day to day, your health overall is WAY better than the general population. You work out, play volleyball, eat decently, aren’t really overweight - but there’s still that something that’s there in the back of your mind holding you back.
Fat insulates you.
Maybe it’s extra body fat. Maybe it’s a lack of muscle tone. Maybe it’s ‘skinny fat’ where you aren’t overweight, but you know you don’t eat well.
Survival mode in athletes usually looks like:
All or nothing mindset. You can go hard - count the macros, eat the right things, totally avoid dessert, workout 5x a week…for a month, maybe a few months. Then you swing hard in the other direction and totally lose yourself and your gains and your goals.
Lack of balance. You don’t feel harmony in the things you do - your life feels up and down and all over the place, and there’s a huge lack of consistency in important areas.
Unproductive, negative, and harmful self-talk. Beating yourself up and using language like ‘I failed, I’ll never do it right, I hate myself for that - all signs of survival mode.
Lack of self-trust. You don’t follow through on the things you promised YOURSELF that you were going to do. You don’t hold boundaries to protect your own needs with those around you.
Avoidant behavior. Avoiding tough conversations, situations, or places that could be a great part of your life if you dealt with the issue at hand.
What can you do about it?
Slow down. Take a breath and evaluate where your life is at right now. Rate each area - nutrition, movement, work, family, friends, love life, mind/body, etc, on a scale of 0-10. Taking an inventory of where you are can be an eye-opening experience.
Create a vision of what you want your life to look like. Find a word that you connect with - clarity, harmony, balance, intention, curiosity, etc - build your life around that word.
Decide who you want to be. You didn’t get to choose who you are TODAY, but you can consciously choose and work towards becoming who you want to be TOMORROW.
Feel like you’re in survival mode and you’re ready to start thriving? This coaching program is for you.
