I attended three separate networking events this past week.
Y’know, starting off my year with a continued community building bang! They were all great, and I did make some lovely connections right away, which I love.
As part of all three meetings, which is probably pretty common for every January meeting and networking event across the globe, there was some version of a “what’s your goal/resolution for 2021?” question in addition to the standard introduction. You might guess, my ears perked up for each of these answers.
Some of them were business goals, stuff like increasing sales, moving buildings, expanded services. Some were life related, things like morning routines, learning a language, continuing to spend more time with family.
But a strong majority across all three meetings was some version of lose weight, exercise more, or get in shape.
I’m not surprised. (I’ll share with you more about why this week.) But each one of those “lose weight” responses does crack my heart a little. At the same time, it grounds and galvanizes me, because it means there are just that many more women out there who can really benefit from the work of Fitness Unraveled.
Listen, I get that I talk about this program often. Frankly, it’s my baby. The thing I’ve labored over for the past ten years and finally birthed into the world in 2020. My alternative to an actual child, this is the being I believe in nurturing and growing, and willingly devote my time, energy, and effort to fostering.
I also get that even though I talk about FU often, the purpose, the details, the benefits might not always be totally clear to you. Well, I mean, compare that to talking about the kid you think is the greatest thing in the world and everyone else just looks at you like you have three eyeballs. Sometimes it’s tough to explain in black and white exactly how and why something is The Greatest.
So today, I want to try to clear it up, even just a scosh more, and also, offer you the opportunity to directly clarify for yourself how FU can change your life and help you reach your goals for 2021.
What actually is this program?!?
OK. In brass tacks, it’s a 4-month long live group coaching program focused on body image and figuring out fitness in a way that works for you. It’s facilitated through a private Slack channel with daily discussion prompts for the group, weekly email check-ins, on-your-own weekly guided journaling Reflections worksheets, the reading of two books (on about exercise, one about eating), ongoing coaching by me, and six group Zoom calls over the four months.
Here’s how a couple of previous clients describe it:
“There’s therapy for our brains, this is like therapy for our bodies. I am in a relationship with my body and that relationship is deteriorating – this is like learning how to be in a good relationship with it again. It’s figuring out how to love my partner, how to love my life, how to love the thing that animates me.”
“This is a program for women identifying folks who want to gain a better understanding of fitness and health. For women who are trying to accept their bodies as they are. A program that may appear to be fitness and health related on the surface, but below that is a place where you gain so much more than that. A place where you can identify your priorities, values, and purpose in life.”
(Now you can see why it’s difficult for me to describe. This is not your typical fitness program or online course.)
Why would I do this though?
Well, why not? Seriously. I don’t have to do the thing that’s like, “If you’re tired of X, you need Y!” Because we’re all tired. But too, the reality is that you probably do have something you’re tired of which you want to change. And if that thing happens to be your fitness, your weight, or your body and how you feel about it, that alone is reason to sign up for FU. Better than that, if you’re circling back to stuff you’ve already tried, disliked, quit, or some shinier version of the same old magic bullet, there’s your answer.
Here are a few reasons why previous participants chose to do the program, and subsequently had a great experience and got everything they hoped for and more (their words):
“I didn’t like how negative and antagonistic I was about my body but I also didn’t really know how to change that. It seemed as though this was just “how it was gonna be” and that I should accept it. But then, I was like ‘No!’”
“I needed another perspective(s) on my actions, sticking points and where I could grow instead of beating myself for ‘failures.’”
“I signed up because I was tired of avoiding looking in the mirror because I didn’t like what I saw. I refused to do another diet to lose weight. I was stuck with exercise and what I thought it should be. I was putting an enormous amount of “shoulds” all over myself and really feeling like I didn’t know what else to do.”
“Feeling unmotivated and fucked up about fitness and eating and self-image.”
“Was hoping to connect with like-minded women and get some perspective on my outlook with fitness in today’s world and my relationship with it.”
“My biggest motivation for joining was to determine where my internal mental blocks are coming from.”
What am I actually going to get out of this program? Like, three bullet point takeaways, please.
Full disclosure: I freaking hate bullet point takeaways. I get it, we all want solid reassurance. But hey, we can’t always get what we want. And for this program, truly, it’s choose-your-own-adventure. Every single participant gets a little something different, and exactly what they need.
If you really insisted on forcing me into nailing it down though, here’s what I’d say:
- New, supportive, like-minded friends.
- Applicable, effective tools and advice and next steps for your individual situation and priorities.
- Peace
Here’s what some clients shared as their biggest takeaways:
“It’s ok that priorities change…in fact they should change!”
“Just being able to breathe again. Just feeling free.”
“That accepting my body as it is instead of listening to the voice in my head that is negative is freeing.”
“I don’t want to be smaller, I want to take up space and love myself where I am today no matter what that looks like.”
“Doing what you enjoy rather than what you think you should be doing will create more action in your life.”
“Giving myself more damn credit.”
“My number one takeaway is that even when you think you know it all, or have already tackled and unraveled fitness, there is still so much to learn! While that may have been the selling point, beneath it, there was a lot more to really learn about myself.”
Hmmm, but who even are these people?
Ummm, they’re totally awesome women, a whole lot like you. All ages, all places, all stages of life and career. The who is definitely a huge part of the magic of FU. To be a little more explicit, previous participants have ranged in age from 28 to 55. They’ve hailed from all over the US, as well as a few spots in Europe. Just under 60% of them have children. All of the women have been employed, only a few self-employed. Their career expertise has included sales, HR, education, research, hospitality, social work, tech, government, engineering, and astrology. And their hobbies have included things like gardening, reading, cooking, playing music and adult league sports, travel, hiking, watching Netflix, and adopting shelter animals.
FU is a brave space for any and all folks who identify as women. So, that who could definitely include you.
OK, and are we doing this online? (Ugh.)
Yeah, we are. But that’s always been how I’ve facilitated this kind of work. My group programs have been all online since 2017. I know we’re all a little burned out on that right now, but the first two cohorts of FU did take place in 2020, and they still survived – if even perhaps looked forward to the digital interaction for this particular group.
Here’s what the most recent participants had to say about this:
“The most valuable part of the program was the Slack interactions honestly.”
“OMG DO NOT STOP THE ZOOM CALLS”
(Told you. *Magic.*)
Alright. I think I’m getting it. When do we do this?
We start January 25. We finish up May 16. And if we’re lucky, at some point later on in 2021, we’ll gather again in person. And you can sign up anytime between right now and January 24. This is a live program, meaning it happens in real-time. It’s not a buy it and do the first week of videos and then lose the login in your email forever. And that’s not because I want to force you into a scarcity or fear-based decision, it’s because being present is what actually works and leads to all the results I mentioned above.
OK, so now that we’ve got the 5 Ws covered, what’s next?
Two options. One: sign up. If your questions are answered, trust your gut.
Next option: chat some more with me to get your personal questions answered in more detail.
We can do a phone or Zoom call and talk through anything that’s on your mind. I’ve opened up my schedule availability even wider for the next two weeks, so please, take advantage! I love chatting about this stuff, and I’m happy to answer all your questions, give you any info I may have missed, and help you figure out if FU is a fit for you right now. No pressure, of course. Plus, you get to meet my dog.
Circling back to that resolution question, I just keep visualizing how I want this to look next year, how it can look. Whereas a lot of people’s first thought this year may have been something like I need to lose some weight, I really need to be better and healthier, I’m going to be more disciplined – I want a world where our first thoughts of the year are something more like I like myself today right where I’m at, and I have other, more aligned options for being healthy in my body.
My goal for 2021 is to make that happen through FU.
So, what are your thoughts?
Seriously, email me and ask me questions or share with me your concerns or what’s holding you back from signing up for FU today. I’ll reply within a day. Or go ahead and schedule that call.
And if this isn’t for you this year, I totally get it. But maybe you can still help change how we think of resolutions next year, and help me meet my goal in 2021, if you share it with someone you know who might be up for it now. Feel free to forward this post or do an intro anytime.