45. Creating a short term strategy for yourself

In this episode, we talk about the process of developing a short-term strategy that helps you work towards your goals - and I used my own end-of-the-year strategy as an example! I know I love a good story or example, so I hope that listening to what I plan to do to lose weight in the rest of 2024 will help you to think of your own strategies you could implement. 

We discuss:

• How to create a plan for yourself that you can trust and stick to
• Tips for avoiding information overload and focusing on small, practical steps
• Why listening to your own body leads to better, more sustainable results
• Strategies for managing daily routines and expectations, especially with ADHD
• Why it's so important to create a plan/strategy that is based around YOU and your life - not a plan that someone else hands you (don't tell me what to do!!!)

If you’re looking for ways to build confidence, trust your own decisions, and create a plan that truly works for you, this episode is for you.

I'd love to hear from you! You can connect with me in the following ways:

Instagram: @thejennwatts
Email: jennifer@jenniferwatts.ca

If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, rate, and leave a review. Your feedback helps me continue to create content that supports you on your journey.

I'd love to know if there's something you want to hear more about or if you want to let me know about your own experiences with ADHD and weight loss.

Transcript

Hello, everyone. Welcome to this week's episode. Today I am going to talk about my plan for the rest of the year. So I if you follow me on Instagram, I went live last week, which was actually the first time I've gone I went live,

um, but I decided that what I wanted to do was kind of create a little mini strategy plan, something to just kind of boost my interest in working towards my own goals for

the rest of the year. Because on that day, I had realized there was 110 days left in the year. I don't know why I was looking that up. Such a weird thing to be looking up. But 110 days left, and I was like, you know, I kind of feel, I always feel like this new energy in, you know, September, anyhow. But it was kind of like this point where the kids were settled in with back to school. I wanted to feel sort of re energized with what I'm working towards, especially after, like so many months of feeling run down, burnt out, and kind of pausing and resting on a lot of things. So I decided, then that very day,

that I would plan out how I was going to, you know, optimize the rest of the year for myself in working towards the things that are important to me right now and right now. There's kind of two categories that I'm working on, weight loss, of course, you know, I'm very clear on this podcast and everywhere that I'm still on my own weight loss journey. Still hate the word journey. I

don't know what else to call it, but I decided that I would. So, yeah, that's my first goal is, I said, lose 20 pounds by the end of the year. I don't know it's, it's a seems like a healthy amount for me. And I'm not a, usually, a huge fan of putting numbers on it, or like that, you know, out of that kind of expectation on yourself, but I like to have a really clear thing that I'm working towards. So I just felt good about putting that. I'm not going to be like disappointed if I don't hit that number. But I just decided to say that. So I'll say 20 pounds by the end of the year, which is a very, you know, reasonable healthy amount, especially considering that I haven't really lost any weight for the last few months because of that. It wasn't that I was, like, unengaged, it was just I was really taking care of myself, especially in the rest department. So anyways, yes, number one, lose some weight, and the other thing is simplifying my life, because they kind of go together.

I really am deeply impacted by the environment, especially in my house, especially because I'm here all the time.

I am a true hermit.

But I really, really just it's not nesting like when you know before you're gonna have a baby, and you're like, trying to get everything ready for yourself, but like, it really feels like I just love my home. I love being here, and I want to, you know, continue to sort of cultivate that environment that's so rich and

comfortable and cozy and really supports me in working towards other things, like my health and,

you know, my business and my family and all those things that are really important to me. But just having an environment that feels like me and feels like really home, home like

is super important and so, and then even, I mean, in simplifying things too. Like, I was just cleaning up my daughter's closet this week, and that's a great example, like, of the kind of simplifying that I want to do. It's like, we didn't have a good system in there for her, so we, I went and bought a dresser and built it, and we, like, got rid of all the things that she doesn't use, and, you know, put that closet in there, or that dresser in there, and now her stuff is organized and it flows, and it's really easy for her to tidy it up. So that is such a good, you know, simplifying in a way.

That you feel good because there's not a bunch of clutter and junk everywhere, but also you feel good because it's not like it's, it's very there's a lot of ease in maintaining that sort of status. So that's, that's what I'm working towards. So I, I think that's exactly what I called it on my Instagram Live. I think I said I was, yeah, I said simplifying life and losing weight in 110 days. So I thought that I would tell you on here, on the podcast, what what my goals are, because I think I know that I learned so well from hearing examples and hearing stories and observing what other people are doing, not in the way of like I'm gonna do exactly what they're doing,

but in a way of like, it just like I was the same way in school, like if you give me an example, or I can walk through something and I learn it so much better. And I'm not saying you guys have to learn about what I'm saying or teaching or whatever, but what I I just, I just feel like, if it was me, I would love to hear an example of what somebody else is doing, especially as an ADHD er who is not just following some other person's protocol, like I have been doing this long enough that I have really, like done a lot of made a lot of mistakes that I've learned from and really worked hard to figure out how I can structure things for myself in a way that will actually move the needle

and be just kind of like, yeah, a structure that makes sense for my life. So anyhow, here is my plan. And I guess you can kind of, it's not like a crazy, structured thing, and that's, that's the big part of it

all. Okay, here's all that I'm really planning to do. Here's my strategy. I am going to eat more fruits and vegetables. I initially was thinking like, oh, I have to have fruits and vegetables at every meal. But I'm not placing that on myself. My part of this, the ease, the thing that makes it really easy with this is I mentioned this in the live but like Jordan sayat, he always talks about having one big ass salad per day. Am I allowed to say that? Because I don't mark this podcast as explicit, so I hope I'm allowed to say that BAs

big ass salad. But that is like, really easy, and it makes you feel so good. So yeah, fruits and vegetables, adding more of those in, I feel so good when I am getting a lot of that. And so adding more of that in, adding in more protein, especially in at breakfast time, it makes a huge difference for me, because I do get a lot of like,

it's almost not exactly cravings, but like a desire to eat more later in the day. And I know that that is more often than not usually. I mean, it is often stress driven, but more often than not, it's actually on days where I haven't had enough protein in the morning. So that has become really important to me to have enough protein in the morning. And honestly, I just, I, I'm a creature of habit. I like to have the same thing all the time. And right now, my breakfast is just Greek yogurt with fruit, bit of granola and sometimes some white chocolate chips, because I love them, flax meal. I don't know different stuff, but it's always right now, it's always Greek yogurt, and I mixed in some of that collagen protein too, because that was just a little extra boost. But yeah, so fruit and veg, protein, I'm going for my walks every day, and that's the only, that's probably the only thing where I'm like, this is something that I am placing a, like, everyday, um,

sort of rule, I guess you could say on it, because I wow, like, what? Like, just I've gone every single day for the last

probably three weeks, and I just cannot believe the difference that it makes in my energy, in my sleep, in how I feel emotionally. It really, really impacts me. And so for my own benefit, I It's a non negotiable. It's the it is truly a non negotiable. But really, everybody in my household benefits. When mom gets her walk every day. It's good,

and I love it. It's like, I look forward to it. It's like, my me time. It's my Get out nature time. I can listen to good podcasts, music if I want. Yeah, so continuing with my walks every day, and right now, honestly, I'm going for like an hour, and I love it, but I had to work up to that. But anyways,

the another thing that I'm doing is that I'm trying to be intentional about paying attention to my body, which we Yes, of course, we've talked about this so much before, but we aren't naturally, the type of people that that can easily hear our body cues, right? So I am trying to remember again, not it's not a steadfast rule that I must abide by, and if I don't, I'm failing. But before I eat, I try to just like, pay attention and just check like.

Like, what do I feel like right now? Do I feel hungry? Do I feel anxious? Do I feel like,

you know, just anything like that? So because if I just, like, intentionally recognize that, then I'm much more likely to pay attention to how I'm feeling as I eat and when I might be getting close to feeling satisfied.

I'd like to say I'm like, gonna eat slower. Because, like, eating fast is has always been an issue for me. I think that's because I came from such a big family. There's 10 kids my family, and it's kind of like, if you don't eat fast, then you're not gonna get seconds if you need it.

So I'm a fast eater. And then also too, and you have little kids, and you just like, you can only eat when you can. So, yeah, definitely a fast eater over here. But

I'm not trying to, like, change too much, so I'm not being like, you ought to slow down when you eat, because I don't know it's probably not reasonable right now, but I am just being intentional about listening to myself,

because I'm really working on that more as like a cue or like a reminder to myself that

I have this knowledge inside of me I can trust myself, and I don't need to count my calories in order to know what my body needs, which I'll talk about in a little bit, but that's that. And then just the only other thing is, really, I'm so sporadic with my, like, vitamins and supplements. I don't take a ton of stuff. But, like, I mean, I live where I live, it's important to take your vitamin D

and so, but I just, like, don't take it regularly, because it's not, like, a I don't have a cue kind of to remind myself so. And then I also have to take, like, iron supplements. But yeah, that's another thing that I'm being, like, really careful about taking that stuff, what I'm supposed to and not just like, hey, I happen to remember today, so, yeah, so that's about it. And like, really, do I do talk a lot about, like, kind of assessing the day, and I am still trying to do that, but I decided actually, that I wasn't going to say, like, Oh, this is something you have to do every night. You got to take out pen and paper and, like, write down an assessment or journal or anything like that. Because I really recognize that, like placing that on myself makes it feel like an obligation or a duty, and then I start to, like, feel resentful about it. So all I'm doing is that, like, when I get into bed at night, I just take, even if it's like, five seconds, to just kind of like, run over the day really quickly and be like, this. Happened, that happened, I felt like this. I wonder why that was, or whatever, and just kind of assess, because that's a super easy way to notice if there were things that maybe didn't go well, and try to try to, like, connect the dots. Or if, if you felt really good, if I felt really good, then I can say, you know, kind of recognize, like, I wonder what led to that. Or I yeah, like, I say I felt really good today because of this, or I felt really tired today because of this, you know, and then that is what can propel me to make changes if I need to. So, yeah, let's just recap really quickly.

I am eating more fruits and vegetables. I'm eating more protein. I'm walking every day. I'm tuning into my body before I eat, and I am taking my vitamins

and

trying to notice what happened at the end of the day without forcing myself to journal about it. So

this all works for me, or will work for me, and I already feel great, like it's only been,

I guess, about five days.

This works for me because of a few reasons, mostly because, like I mentioned before, I have learned through trial and error what works for me and what doesn't, but what I know is that I don't,

I just don't succeed when I'm doing something that somebody else told me to do. And there's a variety of reasons for that, but like, I don't like being told what to do,

but I think a big reason for that is that I the intention behind something is what's so important. And I like to understand things for sure, but like, if I don't believe in the reason for something, then I'm probably not gonna do it, or if I can't see how it's affecting me, or the purpose of it, I'm not going to do it, you know, like, I for instance, like, if somebody just said to you, eat more fruits and vegetables, you'd be like, like, what, what? Why? But I know I can feel the difference in my body when I eat certain things or when I.

Have a more of a volume of that type of stuff. So I know that, and I desire that outcome, and I've seen the evidence of it before. And so then I know, like I can choose to do that, and I know it's going to make me feel this way, because I already have seen that move the needle in that direction. So I think that's part of why this works, is because I have learned for myself what works, and I can then implement it because the intention behind it, I get it like I understand it, and I know how it's gonna affect me. And it's not just that somebody told me what to do. This is a lot of why, like traditional weight loss programs just don't work,

you know, for people, for me, anyhow, I don't want to generalize and say that they don't work for you, because really, any really, quote, unquote diet will, you'll lose weight. But like, are you going to feel good while you're doing it? And are you going to keep that weight off, or are you just going to go back to whatever you were doing before. These are all things that I'm doing that are, like sustainable. I recognize the impact of them, and I just feel so good when I'm doing them.

And, you know, I like, I love structure, but I don't like rules, and so these sort of guidelines that I've created for myself, it's nice to have these simple, clear, you know, doable strategies for myself. And it's not like a big running checklist of things you must do every day. Like, I know a lot of people really like habit trackers. And I go through some seasons where I'm like, Oh, I like that. It's some colorful thing where I can check off every day that I did something. The problem for me with those kind of things is that that, to me, there's no way around the perfectionistic element of that for someone like me, like I can't have a habit tracker without thinking, I have to be 100% on this. Do you know what I mean? Like, I see that say it's a little bubble that you're gonna check off every day, and if I didn't do it that day, I'm gonna feel like garbage for not checking off that or coloring in that bubble or whatever. So I noticed that I am in a season where a habit tracker is not a good thing for me, and that's great, so I'm not going to do it,

not saying there won't be times where it will be beneficial, but right now it's not beneficial. So I can just say I'm not doing it, and it's not like I'm following some program that says you got to do you got to use a habit tracker. And the fact that I'm not doing it means I'm not compliant.

It's my it's my plan.

And then the another thing I was thinking is that, like, when it comes to, like tracking your food, like I'm not writing down anything,

I'm not using like, calorie counting or anything. And again, like, everything is on the table. Like, I am not saying you can't do that, because a lot of people find it super beneficial. I found it super beneficial in different times in my life. But right now, here's what I I find with tracking food, let's say in an app like MyFitnessPal or something. For me. This is just for me. I find that there can be two reasons why I'll do it. There can be, you know,

I want, I just want info, and I want to see, like, oh, I don't really have a good idea right now of how much I'm eating every day, or I don't know if I'm getting enough fiber, or I don't know if I'm getting enough protein, and so I want to track because I'm really trying to get this relevant data that I'm going to use to work towards my goals. Or the other reason could be that I'm trying to, like, constrain myself into like, really specific rules, because I don't trust myself. So I if I'm ever drawn to, oh, I should track my calories, or I should track my macros, or whatever,

I have learned now to, like, question that, like, what are the intentions? But here we come back to the intentions. But what is the reason that I want to do that? Is it because I'm curious and I want to learn and make sure I'm moving in the right direction? Or is is it that I don't trust myself, and I think I need to put all my faith into this app, because I can't, I can't, you know, I can't

trust myself to know. And it's easy for me to say this to you guys, because I have, like, a lot of knowledge around this stuff, like nutrition, the makeup of different things, the macronutrients, like all that, and a lot of experience with it too. So I realized that, like, that's not the case for everybody. I'm not saying that if you want to use calorie.

Counting that you don't trust yourself. That is not at all what I'm saying. I'm saying I have done this long enough and learned so much and listened to myself so much that I know that there's usually two different reasons when I might do it. So anyhow, I am not in a season where I need it, and I am really working towards listening to my body.

And so I'm just get I'm just going for it. And you know what, maybe in a few weeks I realize, like, you know this, nothing is actually happening, or it's not good enough. And maybe I will implement a few days of that. I don't know it's still on the table, but for now, I'm not doing it.

And the other thing is that even though I like love numbers and spreadsheets. I know it's so weird, right? I love spreadsheets. Like, if I make a beautiful Excel spreadsheet and I like, have it like, you know, like, formatted perfectly, and it's all the right numbers and fonts and all this stuff, I just, I'm just amazed at myself, and I wish I could, like, show it to people and like that, they'd be impressed with it, but people are generally not

impressed with it. Anyways, I love spreadsheets, but

I can't really try to live by, you know, numbers and spreadsheets and stuff when it comes to this type of thing, because what I know about myself is that I'll, like, go overboard, and I'll end up like, in my head and not in my body. You know what I mean? And this is so much about, you know, connecting to my body and learning to listen to myself so that I can trust myself. And so at this time, I'm keeping my beloved numbers out of the equation.

That was kind of a pun, but not really, but not intended anyways,

you know? So I'm not doing a lot of, like, analytical or tracking or like any of that stuff right now. I mean, I am gonna step on the scale every week, but, and again, you know, I know the scale is not the only metric, like, but I haven't taken measurements or anything in a while, but I'll know by how my clothes fit too. Like, I know there's so many other things besides the number on the scale,

but I just I'm not, I'm not away every day. Kind of person. Some people love to do that and take the averages and stuff. I'm not one of those people right now. Anyhow, so no tracking, no numbers, none of that stuff. Right now for me, because I am, I am looking at this really from the perspective of like adding in, adding in, adding in, because I find that to be just such a great method of change for myself is one of the things that I can add to into this, to make, to make it, you know, really

serving me in the way that I want to feel, in working and moving, like moving me down the road towards this goal. I just love it. I love looking at it from that perspective and and, like, just with this added, like, better sleep for my walks, I wake up in the morning and I feel so much more like, ready for the day and like, what am I gonna do today? What am I gonna accomplish today? Like, this is gonna be so great, as opposed to how it was feeling even like three or four months ago, where it just felt like very reactionary and very like low energy and just depleted all the time.

I just feel so much better, and I feel really energized about doing this for myself. So I would highly recommend, if that's you know, something that you would want to do, to think about ways that you can kind of, like, I've talked about it with clients before, where it's almost like

creating a little sprint for yourself if you want to reengage. Because, I mean, honestly, a lot of working towards goals, especially when it comes to, like, weight loss and stuff, can get pretty boring. It's very repetitive. It's not sexy. You don't get, like, you know, instant gratification on anything. So I'm just really excited to do something like this for myself. And I think I wouldn't, I think it's a great thing to do. And I think if you would be interested in something like that, to just go for it. I mean, I have lots of ideas of different things that you can implement, but I this is such a great opportunity for you to

really go inward and be like, Why do I What are the things that I know make me feel really good? Because let's not forget, like, not just the physical components of it matter, right? Like, it's not just, oh, because, of course, if you were like, Well, I'm just gonna eat 1000 calories a day, and then I'll definitely lose weight. Sure you would, but Yeah, how's your mental health when you do that? Right? I think it's so easy to forget about the impact on us emotionally and mentally with these types of things like that's another thing to.

Consider when it comes to tracking, right? Like, if you're somebody who, like, yes, if I track, I'll be more likely to stay within a calorie deficit. But if that, like, is really grading for you and just stresses you out, and then, like, the we can't forget about the effect of stuff like that on our physical bodies anyhow, right? Like, if you're stressed out about something all the time, that's not going to help you. So don't forget about that component of stuff. But yes,

if you want to do something like this, oh, I just really encourage you to do it, because it can really, like, it breaks up the boredom. It can become more exciting. And it just feels so nice to have something to work towards and and it like, yes, of course, it's not like, by the end of the year, I'm gonna be at, like, my, you know, an ideal body size or something, no, but like, it is gonna be, like, a nice jumpstart after a bit of a break. And it feels nice to have an end goal in mind. You know what? I mean? Like,

I operate so much better with it. And I know a lot of other ADHD years do too, when you have a timeframe on things, it can be super helpful.

So if you would ever want to talk to me about this kind of stuff, or if you want some guidance or coaching, or not even necessarily coaching, because I think it's so important to do this in a way that makes sense for your own body and your own life, right?

But it can also be super helpful to talk through this stuff with somebody. And I do, I don't know if I've mentioned this before. I mean, I still do, like, long term coaching with people, but I have also just started offering, like, one off sessions, because I think it's so important for us to have

the that's gonna say audacity, and that is not the right word.

What is the word? Oh my gosh. How has this escaped me? Just I have to be quiet for a sec so the word will come back. It's not Audacity.

It's it autonomy. Oh my gosh. I think it's so important for us to have the autonomy in this, you know, like, like, I don't think it's fair for like, if you're somebody who's like, I just want to talk to somebody for like, a couple sessions, or just one session, and then, you know, you go to see somebody's go to somebody's website, and it's like, minimum six month commitment. I don't want to do that to people. If there's somebody who just wants to talk to me, like, once, I'm all for it. And like, you don't like, Don't discredit what you can get done in one hour, like, or 50 minutes. I usually I do 50 minute sessions, unless you work with me weekly, and then we just do 30 minute sessions. But that is available, okay, if you just want to just like, let's have a brainstorming session. We can do a one off thing that is totally available. That's you can go onto my Instagram and go into my like link in bio thing, and then there's a calendar there, and you can sign up for something if you want, but um, and they're not, they're not like crazy price or anything. I think it's $150

and that's Canadian, so, um,

the other thing I'm going to start implementing soon is Voxer coaching, which is an option. So, and the reason why I'll just talk about this really quickly. Zoom is great, and I think it's such a great way to connect and have, you know, face to face and in real time talking and stuff. But I also think there is so much value in things like Voxer, because a lot of us are verbal processors. I know I am, which is probably why I love podcasting. But also I think it's so important that, like, when your ideas come to you, or when you're going through something, that you have sort of like an immediate resource for you to process it or share it with somebody or or deal with it, right? Because, if you're like, you know something happens to you in the moment, or you have a great idea about something, or something happens and you're dealing with it. It doesn't always help that you're like, Okay, well, I'll talk to my coach about this. When we meet again in five days. You like, forget about it, or you're not in the heat of the moment, or whatever. So I think this is going to be a great option for people who don't want to meet on Zoom every week, but you still want the benefit of that coaching, I think it could be really great. So I will have that offer coming in or on that offer, but I'll have that available soon for people if that's an option that you want, because I just think that's a really cool option. So yeah. So anyways, all of this stuff is available if you're interested. Not all of it, the one on one right now, but like the Voxer coaching will be coming soon. But yeah, so just go into my because I'm revamping my website right now, so I wouldn't say go to my website. So just go to my Instagram. Or I think, I think I'll put a link in the show notes too. If.

You're interested anyhow, that's what I am doing. This is my simplifying life and losing weight in 110 days plan. It's not 110 days anymore. We're right in it. But consider doing that for yourself too, if that's something that you might like.

And I hope that this helps you with coming up with sort of ideas, or you know how you can create a strategy for yourself and enjoy the rest of your week. I'll talk to you next week.