171. Getting Unstuck

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 171 of Running Lean. My name is Patrick McGilvray, the weight loss coach for runners. And today, I’m talking about getting unstuck. One of the biggest problems people come to me with when they can’t seem to take action toward a particular goal is feeling like they are stuck.

Feeling stuck can literally stop you in your tracks. It can make you lose all your motivation, drain you of any willpower you might have had, and generally make you feel pretty terrible. The solution then becomes pretty simple. You’ve got to get yourself unstuck. But what does that even mean?

How do you get yourself unstuck when you can’t seem to make any progress at all? What do you do when you feel like you’re unable to do anything? So that’s what I’m here to share with you today. This episode of the podcast is all about getting unstuck.

So I’m going to share some ideas for getting yourself out of stuck mode and into action mode so that you can keep making progress toward all of your health and fitness goals. But first, are you following the typical runner’s diet?

And if you’re not sure what I’m talking about, it looks something like this. Pretty much. The vast majority of your calories are coming from carbs, you carb load in the days before long runs, you load up on carbs, right before you run, you suck down all the sugary gels and stuff during your runs. And then you refuel with lots of carbs after running. Then to reward yourself for running, you eat all the pizza and the beer and the fries and the doughnuts and the ice cream. Because, hey, I ran today.

So I’m kind of joking about this. And you may think I’m exaggerating here. But this was exactly my diet for years. And even though I was training and running ultra marathons, I kept getting fatter and fatter. And I’ve said this before, but you can’t outrun a bad diet. I discovered the hard way that it’s virtually impossible to lose weight, while stuffing yourself full of sugar and refined carbs. It’s just really, really hard to do that. Okay.

For me, the typical runner’s diet was fighting against me every step of the way. And if this approach isn’t working for you either, then I want you to know that there is a better way. This doesn’t mean you never eat a piece of pizza again in your life. But you need to get off the sugar wagon, you need to get your body working the way it’s supposed to work.

And this is exactly what you’ll learn in the Running Lean Coaching Project. The Coaching Project is my lifetime access program, where you get weekly live coaching online courses and workshops, a private podcast just for members and all the support you need to become the healthiest and most badass version of yourself.

And I’ve talked to literally hundreds of people about my program. And I’ve gotten a lot of feedback, I want you to know that. I’ve heard you. And so I’ve recently made some changes, I’ve made like three big changes to the way that I structure my program and the signup process. And I’m going to tell you about those really quickly here.

The first is that you asked for more transparency and openness. You just want to know how much the program costs. And I’ve heard this, and now the prices are clearly posted on my website. And the reason I didn’t have these prices on there before, it was suggested by several of my coaches and my mentors, that for a program like this, you typically don’t list your pricing.

And honestly I just never really felt good about this, but I did it the way that was suggested. But I want you to know that for me personally, I want to know what I’m getting into like financially before I can make a good decision about something. So now I feel like having the prices out there. It’s all in alignment with who I am and what I want to do. And it’s all there for you too. So you can just definitely check it out.

Number two, a lot of you have asked for another option, a kind of a less expensive option for coaching. I get it, hiring a one on one coach is maybe a little more than you’re used to paying for stuff but the time and effort that goes into one on one coaching experience and the amazing results that you get are totally worth it. But that being said, I’ve now included a group only option that’s very affordable.

And you still get lifetime access to everything in the Coaching Project, live coaching, community courses, all that just without the one on one coaching part of it. Okay, of course, you can always add six months of one on one coaching, if you want to do that, or add coaching later, one on one coaching later. But now there’s a couple of different investment options. So definitely check those out.

And then lastly, many people who’ve gone through my program have gotten so much out of it. And they want an option to be able to continue with that. And I just didn’t really have a good way of doing this. And I felt like I was kind of stuck with that. So I finally decided that I was just going to give everybody who joins the Coaching Project lifetime access to everything; lifetime access to the weekly live coaching calls, lifetime access to the private podcast, all the online courses and workshops that I have, and everything new that I create going forward all of it, okay.

So if you’ve ever thought about coaching in the past, or maybe you and I have even talked about it on a call, I want to encourage you to check out my revised website where everything is laid out there for you. All the information you need to make an informed decision is right there.

There’s even an option to message me if you have any other questions about the program. Cool. I am super excited about these changes. And I hope you are too. But I’m most excited about seeing you in the Running Lean Coaching Project. So to learn more, and get yourself signed up, just go to runningcoaching.com/join. Go! Awesome.

Alright, let’s talk about getting unstuck. So, so many people I talked to get to a point where they just feel stuck. And this can look very different for different people. I’m going to give you a quick little story about my “being stuck” experience.

I remember trying to lose weight for years, and counting calories and trying different, you know, fad diets and things and none of that stuff was really working for me. And I remember one summer where I was spending a lot of time out in LA because I was attending some coaching workshops and seminars and I remember having to stand up in front of people and give a talk. And I was getting ready to do that.

And I was putting my shirt on which is like a button down shirt. And my belly was so big that my buttons were almost like popping up and like my shirt couldn’t hold me in anymore. And I was like, oh my god, what is happening? Like, why? Why am I here? How did I get here?

Because at the time I was training for marathons, and ultra marathons, I was running all the time. And whatever I was doing just really wasn’t working for me. But it just all came to a head to where I just felt like nothing I was doing was working, nothing would ever work. And I just felt super stuck and then putting your shirt on or trying to put the shirt on. I was so embarrassed to stand up in front of people.

Because here I am, this guy who’s a runner and running ultra marathons and training for this 50 miler or 100 miler. And my clothes don’t fit me, you know, and I have this big belly, you know, and I don’t know if you can relate to what I’m sharing here, if this is you now or if you’ve ever been at that point in your life, but it is a really terrible place to be.

And I really didn’t know what to do. And I really did feel like I was stuck. Like, all the things I was trying weren’t working, and all the things that I thought were supposed to work, were not working. And I just got to this place where I finally had to make a decision to do something about it.

So first thing I want you to understand is that if you’re feeling stuck, and where I was in that moment, I wasn’t really stuck in that moment. Okay, it wasn’t real. Being stuck is not a real thing. Being stuck is a mental construct. It’s a feeling. It’s a feeling of not being able to take action or not being willing to take action or feeling like you don’t have the choice to take action.

When in reality none of those things are true. You always have a choice. You can always get into action mode. But feeling stuck is more of an excuse than anything else. It’s an excuse because you don’t want to take action. And I didn’t want to take action because what I was doing at the time felt amazing. I was eating all the junk food, I wanted all the pizza and the ice cream.

And, you know, at the time I was like plant based, but all these things I was eating was sugar, and refined grains, like that’s the whole diet was just that it was not a good place to be. And I just kept packing on the pounds. And I really wasn’t stuck. I just didn’t want to change that. Because what I was doing felt amazing. It feels amazing to eat sugar all the time, at every meal. It feels amazing to make every single meal basically dessert. Right? Why would you want to change that?

So for me to sit there and say like, I’m stuck, I finally had to get real with myself and say like, this is not what’s happening here, I am not stuck. I just have to do something differently here. And what I had to do was to get uncomfortable, and do the hard things and do the hard work.

And that’s where most people would rather just say they’re stuck than do the actual hard work. Because doing the hard work is by definition hard work. It’s uncomfortable. It’s getting yourself into unfamiliar territory. You’re used to rewarding yourself with junk food, and sugar, and you’re used to feeling a certain way. And eating certain foods.

And to think that you can give those things up is really uncomfortable. Nobody wants to do that. Nobody wants to give up eating amazing chocolate and ice cream and pizza and all the things, right? So one thing that we have to really wrap our heads around is that feeling stuck is just that it’s a feeling. It’s not real. It’s kind of like saying, I’m stuck in this chair. I’m sitting here recording this, I’m sitting down. And it’s like me telling you like I’m stuck in this chair, I just can’t get out of this chair. No matter what I do, I just can’t get out.

And you’re probably there going like, dude, just get up. Just get out of the chair. Nope. But I’m stuck. You know, I’m just stuck here. You know, I have, I’ve tried to get out, but I just can’t. It’s like no, dude, just get up out of the chair. It’s ridiculous to think about it that way, right?

But when we’re feeling stuck, and the next time you think you’re feeling stuck, I want you to do this, just remember the chair, like just get out of the chair, just do something, take some action because feeling stuck, really, it’s just an excuse for not wanting to take action for not wanting to do the hard work for not wanting to feel any amount of discomfort.

And I get it. Nobody wants to do hard work. Nobody wants to feel discomfort, but you know what, if you want more for yourself, the only way you’re gonna get there is to go through the gauntlet, is to go through the hard work. You don’t get bigger muscles by thinking about lifting weights, you don’t run faster by thinking about running faster, you don’t lose weight by thinking about eating healthy, you have to do the actual work of showing up for yourself every single day, and doing the hard things that make positive changes in your life.

That’s it, you’re never really stuck. You never are. You just think you are because you don’t want to change. Or you say you want to change but you don’t want to do the work to change. You say you want to lose weight, but you don’t want to give up pizza and ice cream and candy bars and french fries.

You say you want to run faster, but you don’t want to do the speed work. You don’t want to run hill repeats, you don’t want to do fartleks runs. You say you want to look good naked, but you’re not willing to lift the heavy weights, you’re not willing to go to the gym and put in the sweat equity required to get there. So I want you to just stop saying that you’re stuck because you’re not. You’re never stuck.

What I want you to do is start saying that you’re just not willing to do what it takes to change. And if you’re not willing to do what it takes to change, then, you know, that’s not a good place to be. I’m just gonna tell you right now.

What would it take for you to flip that switch? What would it take for you to be willing to take action? You got to really want it for yourself first of all, because if you if you just think like, well, you know, I want to lose weight, because you know, I want to, you know, just, I should be at this weight, but I’m at this weight, maybe that’s not big enough for you.

So what is it really going to take like, you want to do this because you want to set a good example for your kids maybe, or you want to do this because you know, your, your parents, they passed away at a very early age and you don’t want to follow suit. Now, sometimes, you’re stuck because you don’t know what to do.

And this can seem like a very valid excuse, or a very valid reason for being stuck like, oh, well, you know what, I just don’t know what to do. But listen, this is 2023. This is not a valid excuse at all, just go on the Google’s, google it, watch those YouTube videos, try something, get a coach, join a program like the Coaching Project, surround yourself with like minded people who are doing the work.

Right, there’s so many options to get you out of that place of like, well, I just don’t know what to do. Come on, honestly, you know what to do, you’ve got to just take action. The first step in getting yourself unstuck is to get out of the chair, just do something. I don’t know, I don’t know what that looks like for you. I tell people all the time, if you want to make a change in your diet, like you want to start feeling better, and maybe get yourself started on a weight loss journey, just stop eating sugar, just cut that out of your life, pretty much 95% of the time, that will make a huge difference for you.

That’s one thing you can do right now, to start moving in the direction of oh, I want to be a healthier, leaner, stronger person. Getting unstuck means you stop it with all the excuses, and the stories, and the reasons why you can’t do it. And it’s about getting yourself into action, just get out of the chair.

And this all boils down to one thing, it boils down to you making a decision, you have to decide that you are done being stuck. Decide that you want to lose the weight once and for all. Decide that you want to look good naked, even though you know it’s gonna take some hard work to get there. Decide who you want to become. And then just start, get yourself into action.

Get into action mode, and stay in action mode. Because when you are in action mode, consistently, you become unstoppable. Now one of the keys to getting unstuck, is to keep yourself in the game, you got to stay motivated, you got to keep your head in the game, right? When you’re motivated, when your head’s constantly in the game, you’re consistently taking aligned action towards your goals. This is how you make progress and build even more motivation to take more action, right. And it’s a beautiful cycle to be in.

The people who are most successful with weight loss, they keep their heads in the game consistently. But consistency can be hard sometimes, and I get that it’s hard to stay on your food plan when everyone around you is eating pizza. It’s hard to get out there and run on a cold Saturday morning, when your bed is so warm and comfy. There’s just no motivation there. Right.

So I want to tell you about something really quickly, I created a brand new online course called Creating Unstoppable Motivation. It’s an online course/workshop that will show you exactly how to stay motivated, stay on track and keep making progress towards your goals, even when you don’t feel like it. It’s a self paced training you can get right now.

As soon as you sign up, you’ll have instant access to the course and you can take as much time as you need to complete the work. There’s no rush to go through it, you’ll have lifetime access to it. So you can go back through the material at any time and actually going back through the course at a later date, maybe when you’re feeling stuck, could be just the thing you need to get you motivated and get you back on track.

Again, I’m super stoked to share this with you this little workshop that I put together to learn more in graduate training right now just go to runningleancoaching.com/motivation. Okay, so let’s stop being stuck. Stop it with the excuses. Get out of the chair, take some action and start making actual progress toward all of your health and fitness goals. Cool. That’s all I got for you today. Love you all, keep on Running Lean, and I will 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.