Tuesday tip: All or nothing?

Tuesday tip: All or nothing? 🤔

The all or nothing mindset is one of the biggest issues which keeps people from making meaningful progress towards their weight loss and fitness goals. I’m sure we’ve all struggled with this; I know I have and I know many of my clients do too. You start introducing some changes to your diet or exercise regime, you’re diligent and follow it to the letter, and maybe start to see some results but then life happens and you miss a few workouts, or overeat or eat something you don’t deem as ‘healthy’ and suddenly

everything seems to go to pot. Your motivation disappears and you feel defeated, frustrated and discouraged. Somehow one meal or day overrides weeks of progress. You’re hard on yourself and start to fall back to old habits and progress stalls. You think ‘f*ck it’ and don’t even bother trying to be ‘good’. Then after a while, you are unhappy with your weight and the whole process starts again.

This type mentality is very black and white, or off and on – like a light switch. You’re either committed to your goals and the switch is on, or you’re not and the switch is firmly off. It doesn’t have to be this way. It’s not a very healthy mindset to have for long-term, sustainable progress. Think about why you want to improve your fitness or lose weight. Ultimately it’s to live a healthier and happier future, so you can enjoy life. That means you’ll have to learn to manage life and all it entails, and incorporate some of that enjoyment into your new habits and weight loss journey. This means you’ll need to accept that sometimes you’ll do things that don’t fit perfectly into your fitness/weight loss goals, and that’s ok! It’s not about perfection, it’s about consistency.

Rather than being either ‘on’ or ‘off’ instead think about more of a dimmer switch. You can dial the intensity of your effort up or down depending on what’s going on in your life. Recognise that sometimes it’s ok to indulge or to not exercise, and dial down your expectations during that time. Practice a little self compassion and understand that progress isn’t linear and that being able to incorporate these times is actually progress itself. If you are making things too restrictive then it won’t be a long-term sustainable plan for you. Focus on consistency not perfection and with a little patience you will reach those goals. So remember if life gets in the way- dim the lights, don’t turn them off completely, so you can still see your goals!

Happy Tuesday 🤗

Xx