Ditching The All or Nothing Mindset

Ahhhh….I’m sure you’ve been there before. You say you’re going to workout 5x this week and eat only “healthy” foods every single day. You start off the week strong, then BAM. You have an unexpected meeting at school that requires you to stay late and by the time it’s over, you no longer have time to workout. You’ve got to get home and get your own kids dinner, spend time with them and put them to bed. Since you missed one workout, this leads to eating one too many donuts in the staff lounge the following the day. Welp, you’ve already ‘ruined’ your week, so you might as well just enjoy it and start fresh on Monday. Sound familiar?

If this is you, you are trapped in the all or nothing mindset. It’s a dangerous place to be because the truth is, life will NEVER be perfect. It won’t always go according to plan (if ever). If you’re setting unrealistic expectations for yourself yet then completely ditching everything when you miss one workout or get sick, it’s going to be nearly impossible to ever get anywhere.

If you’re serious about reaching your goals, you HAVE to get out of this mindset. It won’t happen over night and it does takes practice, but you can do it!

Here are 3 practical tips I have for you if you struggle with this:

1) Make sure your goals are realistic for you and the season of life you’re currently in. This means if you aren’t working out at all right now, quit telling yourself you’re going to workout 5 or 6 days this week. Tone it down! 3 is a great starting place. Then you have 4 days of wiggle room if something comes up :)

2) Focus on making the NEXT best decision when something doesn’t go according to plan. Maybe you tracked your macros for the day but then ended up logging something incorrectly or ended up going out to eat with a friend unexpectedly and didn’t meet your macros- that’s okay! What is the next best decision you can make tonight? Maybe that’s making sure you still get all your water in, preparing for your workout tomorrow, or doing a mini meal prep if you’re running low on food. Missing one workout isn’t what’s stopping you from getting results. It’s when you let it turn into a week of workouts and completely self sabotaging.

3) Have a plan in place when something DOES come up (because it will). For example, if you miss your workout on Monday, what’s your back up plan for this week? Can you squeeze it in on Saturday instead? The more you plan ahead and EXPECT things to come up- the easier it’ll be to “adjust” when they do. As I always say, be strict with your goals but flexible with your approach.

Also, think about this- if you had one flat tire, would you slash the other 3? OF COURSE NOT!!! So stop doing it to yourself with your health and fitness goals. Something is ALWAYS better than nothing.

I hope this blog was helpful for you and remember, we’ve ALLLL been in this cycle at one point or anther. You aren’t alone! But you’ve got to take the steps to work your way out of it.

Rooting for you!

Brooklyn