Guest post from Recharge Athlete, natural bodybuilder @DeejPt who specialises in working with busy dads.
So when it comes to mental health that’s a very broad topic to cover in any one article. It covers a multitude of things and I wanted to talk about my own experiences of helping myself and then my clients through what I would call situational depression. This feels really pertinent with blue Monday just around the corner and these unrelenting dark and gloomy days.
Situational depression is not to be confused with clinical depression which I am by no means qualified to council through and if you are clinically depressed you should most certainly get professional help in this area. So what is situational depression?
Situational depression is caused when it feels like you are no longer in control of a situation and you become hopeless. Like things will never get better.
If you get stuck in a job that you hate with not a chance of progression. If you get stuck in a relationship with someone whose values don’t line up with yours but you don’t break up with them because it's the easier option.
If you get stuck with your health and fitness and when you look in the mirror you don’t even recognise what you see, you just want to feel like you again.
If you notice the common theme here they are all situations where you have submitted control to someone or something. You may not feel like you have any control but you have made the choice to give that to someone else.
Let's face it, most of us are running on autopilot, it's a natural behaviour.
We don’t make conscious decisions every day and we fall into repeated habits and patterns. Why? Because it's how we are wired.
That is, therefore, why so many people get stuck into negative routines. You're 'stuck in a rut', and that's never good.
The good news however, is that YOU CAN change it.
When you make a conscious choice to change things you will suddenly start to notice all the little things in your day that either help you or hinder you from this task.
It takes 30 days to make a habit.
It takes 90 days to break an old pattern.
There are few things in life we have 100% control over. Relationships have at least two people in them, you and the significant others. Focus on what you can control.
In the ditch the dad bod program we help you get a structure and provide accountability to help you take control of:
your food
and your body.
These are two things in this world that you DO actually have complete control over.
Yes, you may eat from a canteen or have someone else cook your meals.
However, you could CHOOSE to change things if you wanted to.
When you learn the skills of self-mastery when it comes to these things which are 100% in your control. Through managing your time better, being more efficient with your workouts, and getting the most done in terms of the time you invest into exercise.
There is 100% a link between feeling good about yourself, feeling healthy, being able to run around with your kids or take your shirt off, and not feeling like the dadbod is on show.
You shouldn’t get all your self-worth from how you look, but I’ve seen firsthand what happens mentally when you overcome obstacles you may have been facing for years.
When you finally look in the mirror and feel confident about how you look again.
And realise there is always something YOU can do in any situation you just have to find the solution to your problem.
So there are a few key topics we cover in the ditch the 'dadbod' program when it comes to mental health.
Take control of what you can and let go of what you can’t.
Visualization and asking for what you want
Fail forward FAST.
Be Kind to Yourself, self-talk will make or break you.
Mental health is such a big topic and so so important I think we need to talk about it more.
So if you have any questions or any of this resonates with you and you want to know more about the ditch the dad program.
Always happy to have a quick conversation about some simple things you can take control of to get some quick wins in your fat loss journey.
@DeejPt
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