Let’s break down why this thought process may be happening…
1. On the surface, maybe you’ve had a busy few weeks or a challenging situation has arisen such as time away from home or various occasions that you’ve celebrated.
It can feel easy to cancel your appointment and rebook for a later date as you may feel there is nothing to talk about as there may have been no progress made yet.
In our experience, this is actually a crucial time to check in with us as it can make or break your ability to find a plan that works WITHIN the context of your busy lifestyle.
So if that’s all that’s going on here, it’s actually prime time to check in with us and talk about strategies and hacks to manage these difficult times to make your nutrition and exercise program SUSTAINABLE and solid so that nothing gets in your way of achieving your goals!
2. But what if there’s more to the story?
Change can be subconsciously scary and overwhelming. You’ve started with us because you want to make a difference but sometimes there are mental blocks that come up and prevent you from achieving your goals. We understand this happens and see this all the time. We just want to support you as best as we can and see you live your healthiest life and finally get those results you’ve been dreaming of!
If you are someone who regularly cancels or postpones appointments, ask yourself why?
– Is it a fear of failure?
– Do you feel shame to report that you haven’t been able to stick to what you initially agreed to with us?
– Are you still unsure of whether change is even possible?
– Are you afraid to succeed?
– Are you repeating old habits?
We can discover what may be preventing you from moving forward with your health journey or coordinate referrals to people who might be able to investigate this further
Waiting until you are back on track to book your appointment usually delays your results and reduces your chances of successfully attaining your health goals.
A common example is comparing the results of my clients following Christmas time. I’ve seen 10 christmases come and go during my career as a dietitian and I always love to analyse the behaviours of my clients who do really well throughout this period. Most of our clients typically hit a bit of a disruption to their food and exercise routines as expected during Christmas holidays and tend to “fall off the wagon” a little bit each Christmas.
Client A: For clients that book a review appointment in early January to reconnect and recommence their program, Christmas is a little blip in the radar, we accept the lapse, talk about the changes that happened, we learn from them, carefully pick out strategies to reduce the effect of these situations having an effect next time and then we continue with our program. The result is only a minor deviation in attaining our goals.
Client B: For other clients, Christmas can really rock their chances of success. For these clients, they avoid returning and give themselves “an extra month or so” with good intentions to get themselves back on track before facing up to coming in. This tends to have a more significant impact on their overall progress and some might fall off track completely.
Although it might be really hard to do, try to lean in towards the discomfort, keep your appointment and let’s work through these mental blocks together.
After all, you’ve signed up for a lifestyle change and not a diet right? So what good is it that you can stay on track for a short while but be derailed by any significant “life event”? Don’t miss out on the learning opportunity there is to gain from a lapse like this!
In fact, when you are on track we think that’s when the lifestyle change has really stuck for you, we jump for joy knowing we’ve done our job and we often recommend spacing appointments further apart!
When challenging situations arise we are here to delve deeper into why and provide you with the strategies you need to move forward with your health. To chat to us about what may be going on for you, email your dietitian or exercise physiologist directly, call us on 0452 458 146 or book online.
