Honestly the more we want overnight results, the less likely we are to truly see the results we want and deserve.

Fad diet results often not only aren’t real results, but they aren’t lasting results because we haven’t truly created sustainable habit changes.

So as much as I know we all want results yesterday, we have to get ready to make some true lifestyle changes if we want to see the amazing results we deserve.

That’s why I wanted to share 6 things that often hold us back from truly reaching our goals…

1: Trying to out exercise and out diet time.

The more we try to do more to get results faster, often the less sustainable the habits are and the quicker we burn ourselves out.

Sure we may see slightly faster results, but often we just waste a ton of effort spinning our wheels.

Because the simple fact of the matter is, we can’t out exercise or out diet time and often results need time to build.

Plus we have to go through a learning process to realize what our body truly needs.

Instead of trying to do more short term, focus on the small changes you can create to build.

Too often we simply overestimate what we can do short term, while underestimating what we can accomplish long term with consistency.

So find ways to help yourself get consistent and realize that build is truly needed.

And by doing more often we just sabotage our own consistency making ourselves run out of self control and willpower so we fall off our plan.

2: Not taking pictures and measurements and recognizing the progress along the way.

This may even mean tracking your pace for your race or anything else that is focused on your goal.

But too often we just see our end goal and we just see how far we still are from it.

If we want to make progress forward and keep ourselves focused though, we need to recognize the changes along the way AND we need to track different types of progress.

With weight loss, don’t just use the scale. Measure. Take pictures.

Even focus on performance goals along the way that you know will help you stay consistent in your training.

Find ways of measuring and showing yourself progress in ways that you can celebrate daily and even weekly.

As cliche as it is, even find ways to celebrate consistency in habits as we know those things done daily will build as unsexy as they may be!

3: Not reminding yourself of how long it took you to gain/how long you’ve been NOT at your ideal.

We often didn’t get into your current position overnight, and we won’t correct it overnight either.

I think often it is even key we recognize how long we’ve been struggling to give ourselves perspective when we wish results would happen faster.

We have to remember that the longer we’ve been away from our goal, the longer it will take to get back there as our body doesn’t like change. Our body thinks where it is at is normal and best.

So the longer we’ve been at this “normal” the more our body will fight changes, even if they are good changes.

It can even be good to set out a calendar or chart that reminds you of how short, in comparison, you’ve been working at a goal. Sometimes seeing the visual reminds us to appreciate the gains we’ve truly seen in a shorter time!

4: Trying to avoid the hard.

The more we look for a quick fix, the more we set ourselves up for a lot of wasted time and effort and huge ups and downs.

Sure you may see results initially but that Keto diet working for you that you ultimately can’t sustain is just you wasting time and effort avoiding the true learning process.

I know everyone loves to hate on macros but macros are the dieting fundamentals.

I know people want workouts of the day, but progressions show you the build so you can track what is and isn’t working.
Stop searching for the new sexy thing. Go back to basics. Seek to really learn about your lifestyle and how you mentally and physically respond to changes.

The more we can stay focused on who we are and the goals we have, the more we can make 1% improvements that truly add up.

So as hard and as sucky and as frustrating as it can be to be BAD at something new, stop trying to find a way around the hard. Embrace it and head right into it! You’ll ultimately get there faster!

5: Not tracking.

What we measure, we can manage.

When you track, you have accurate data to make changes. You don’t have to guess or wonder at what is or isn’t working.

Emotions can’t win out and make you “feel” like you aren’t making progress when changes are actually happening.
Data is objective and allows us to make changes.

That tracker isn’t telling you to feel guilty. It isn’t telling you to restrict. It’s telling you what YOU are doing so you can make changes and feel your best.

So remember data is power. It is the power to truly adjust what is going on in your life in a sustainable way vs letting feelings sabotage you or having to arbitrarily restrict.

The more data you have, the more you can learn what you need to even be able to be looser with tracking as you maintain your results.

Tracking can then be a tool we can return to whenever we need that push back toward a goal.

6: Believing results are all about discipline.

So often people will comment on my photos about my discipline. And while discipline is key to success, I think too often we try to overly rely on it and that is why we fail.

We try to out discipline life. We try to out discipline our needs. We pretend discipline is just infinite for some and it isn’t.
Self control is a gas tank that can become depleted very easily throughout the day.

And while discipline is having the habits a bit more ingrained so we replicate them at times when we don’t even want to, too often we try to force so many habits we can’t create that discipline with them before motivation fades.

Instead of trying to create all of these restrictions and massive changes, make small improvements.

Focus on who you truly are. The more you know yourself, the more you can work with your personal freakdom and lifestyle to make the healthiest version of your personal lifestyle.

The more you can base changes off of your current lifestyle, the less discipline you’ll need to use to replicate them and the more you’ll truly be able to build that new lifestyle that you need.

Because we do have to create changes that last to maintain our results. We have to realize we can’t go back to what we were doing BUT also that maintaining often doesn’t just mean doing what we did to get to a goal.
So focus on learning. Focus on improving daily. Focus on small habits. Those will allow you to build momentum and ingrain them so you don’t have to feel like you’re out disciplining life and what you want to do in life to ENJOY it.

SUMMARY:

Remember changes will not happen overnight. And the more we focus on who we are and what we need and make those 1% improvements the better our long-term results will be.
We all want results yesterday, but we need to take ownership of our journey and embrace TIME if we truly want to succeed!

Yup you heard that right. We make things impossible because we tell ourselves they aren’t possible.

And guess what?

Sure…everything isn’t possible…nor we will achieve that goal in the same way someone else has even if we get there.

Getting abs for you may be different than for me.

We of course all have genetic limitations and pre-dispositions.

But to just say you can’t get abs…well why not still strive for YOUR version of your leanest physique?

Why just say you can’t have that exact thing and give up?

Seriously then what is the option?!

So often if we believe we can’t have something we just don’t even try!

But we’ve got to stop telling ourselves we can’t if we want to move forward.

Life is about constantly growing and improving. That is the fun in it.

And I do truly believe that too often we write ourselves off.

I didn’t think I could get abs!

I didn’t think I could deadlift 310 pounds.

I didn’t think I could get a tennis scholarship to a Division I team and play.

I didn’t think I could start a business and go out on my own.

Heck I didn’t think I could be that person in front of the camera!

But I also didn’t not try.

There will always be a DOUBT that you can’t do something, but while I didn’t necessarily know it was possible until it was, I believed in the opportunity.

I believed that there was no point not to try.

And I think that’s the key, realizing the alternative.

Which the alternative is to just give up, never move forward, never improve.

Is that really what we want?

Any time I’m presented with these situations I like to reflect on what I do, what I’ve seen successful clients do, to share tips…and here are 3 mindset shifts I think are key to putting ourselves out there and seeing what is possible.

#1: So What If It Isn’t The Same?

If you have loose skin, your abs may not look like that Inspo picture you have.

But guess what? Almost no ones abs look exactly like someone else’s.

Our lifestyle and previous habits and scars are all there.

But that doesn’t mean you can’t have YOUR best looking abs.

We need to shift our mindset to saying we want this as it pertains to OUR best selves in that area.

Whether it is an aesthetic goal or performance goal we need to see that “ideal” as us achieving it in our own version.

This drives us forward.

Maybe you’ll never deadlift 400lbs. Maybe you’ll never be an elite marathoner.

But why not say you want to reach the elite level that YOU can?

We can always be our healthiest, fittest, happiest selves. But we need to remember that our journey and our ultimate win WILL look different than someone else.

#2: Possible ALWAYS Seems Impossible…Until You Get There

If you’ve never achieved something before, you don’t know how to get there.

It’s also why I hate those fit to fat to fit again things…so difference when you know how to do something or your body even wants to get back to that point.

But honestly, over your entire journey to results, you don’t fully know if you’ll get there until you do.

It’s why celebrating the habits, remembering why we started and then recognizing the wins along the way are key.

It’s why you also have to see everything as an EXPERIENCE.

Life is meant to be LIVED. What experiences do you want out of it?

What ways would you like to improve?

Because even if you don’t “get there” isn’t it fabulous to see the growth? To know you moved forward? To know you’ve learned?

Heck to even know you tried?!

I never want a regret because I didn’t at least TRY at something.

So just remember it will be impossible till you prove it is possible!

#3: What’s The Alternative?

This might sound weird, but when I doubt myself, when I consider not doing something, I always think…

“What’s the alternative?”

And often I realize the alternative is keeping myself stuck. Keeping myself in a situation I do NOT like.

Not seeing what I CAN actually achieve.

Really if we aren’t choosing to try for a goal, often we aren’t allowing ourselves to grow.

And who doesn’t want to learn and improve and grow?

Who keeps wanting to be frustrated feeling like they’re stuck?

So if you’re scared to get started, if your scared of failing…which there is always a chance you will, think about the alternative of never trying.

There is the saying, you never regret the workout you did…Well I honestly think that applies to most goals we work toward even if we “failed.”

Most of the time we don’t regret TRYING. We feel good for it.

Strength comes from overcoming things. Growth comes from stepping outside our comfort zone.

Don’t fear failure.

Realize it is a part of success.

And realize honestly that the alternative of not at least TRYING to reach something we think MAY be impossible is staying stuck and believing it will never be possible.

I don’t know about you, but that gives me FOMO!

It’s undeniable our body changes as we get older. But so much of what we attribute to age is actually other lifestyle factors adding up.

I got an email saying “What about the stubborn belly fat? Yeah I know macros, but what else can I do?”

My reply – “Why add complication to something that should be simple?”

Too often we want to do more. We want to do things that maybe make that 1% difference over staying focused on the thing we just simply need to do consistently.

Because it makes us feel more in control…or often we even hope we can AVOID doing the hard but key thing to get results.

I know this is not “sexy.”

But truly results are built off of those boring basics.

It’s not the supplements. The fancy equipment. The crazy moves that make the difference.

It boils down to clear workout progressions repeated weekly with a focused goal for their design and macros.

Yup macros. No matter your goals.

If you use those two fundamental things and seek to always learn and track (what I believe is self-empowerment), you will be able to adjust your lifestyle as your needs and goals change – whether those changes are due to shifting priorities, simply something new you’d like to work toward or changes with age and hormones.

Now I get that neither of these things are the fast fixes and that they take learning and consistency when we sometimes want something shiny and new, but they are key.

Why Macros Matter…

Macros are what every diet dials in even if it doesn’t tell you that. Some diets may tell you to avoid specific foods or food groups. But this is to eliminate or reduce a macro.

The issue with this is…What if you plan to include this food long term?

You don’t know the balance.

Not to mention the second we restrict something, the more we want to rebel even if we didn’t eat that food often.

And so often in this restriction of specific foods, we don’t account for changes in our lifestyle. It’s why something may work for a bit only to not work later. It leads often to frustration when we’re doing all of the “right things.”

It’s why you need to seek to really understand the foods you’re consuming and how they impact you.

That way, if you start training more, you can adjust your fueling to match.

If you find you have cravings around your period, you can actually steer into the skid and adjust because your metabolic rate has changed.

If you are busy at work and training less, you can adjust your macros.

Want to build muscle, you can adjust.

You are in control AND you don’t have to restrict anything specifically.

You can find YOUR balance.

Why Progressions Matter…

Too often we see training as calories burned. Working harder over working smarter.

But this is often why we end up like that hamster on the wheel, running really fast to not get anywhere.

Like everything in life, we have to have a clear destination and map out a course to get there.

You don’t just get in your car and drive to a location you’ve never been. You map out the route so you can track your progress toward your destination and be able to correct any wrong turns.

Same thing goes for your workouts.

You need to map out a weekly schedule based on YOUR schedule, needs and goals, and then track your progress toward it.

I know people want to claim it is boring, but this is an excuse not to dial things in more and be intentional.

You don’t have to repeat the same workouts forever. But giving yourself time to truly maximize and build is key. Even 3-4 weeks is enough.

And then you can change things up a bit, even progressing moves through the same but different. This helps you truly create the progression you need to build back stronger. And it helps you avoid overtraining and wasting a ton of time and effort.

More is not better. And more is often why we don’t see progress and end up standing still.

Raise your hand as high as you can.

Go ahead…do it right now.

Now raise your hand higher….

You did didn’t you?

Funny how I told you to raise your hand as high as you can and yet you could still raise it higher when I said to….

Funny how it didn’t take really much more effort to raise it a bit higher either….

Why do I mention all of this?

Because A. Often we don’t realize we can give more until we are asked to.

And B. So often we don’t necessarily do everything we can even though those little tweaks, doing just a little bit more, doesn’t take much more effort.

It isn’t that we are lazy either. Or that we don’t care or want to give our all.

We do. 

But I think sometimes we just don’t realize how much we are truly capable of. We don’t realize the little bit more we can get out of things with just a very small bit of extra effort.

Sometimes we need that extra outside push.

That outside perspective.

We need to be shown that our limiting beliefs are false and that more is possible.

Heck sometimes we just even need someone making us aware that this could be happening like I have done right now asking you to raise your hand.

But how can you do this on a continual basis?

How can you not let yourself “get away with things” and be held back by your first impression of your attempt at something?

I wanted to share 3 ways to reflect on your effort and always get a little bit more out of yourself…

1: Simply ask yourself, is this really all I can do?

Often we don’t question if we are giving our all. We simply FEEL like we are and go with it. But always question yourself. Believe you can always push your boundaries.

This isn’t telling yourself that you aren’t doing enough, it is simply believing that as you learn and as you work through things you are then possible of MORE than you believed to start.

As things become habit, we can often get even more out of them. As you improve your running, you can push the pace, go a bit longer.

But the key is ASKING OURSELVES TO! We need to be able to question our own limits and do it often. Maybe each week reflect on your habits, rate yourself and your implementation. Set a goal of doing something to improve the next week!

2: Look for extra small tweaks. Think oil on the machine not adding another cog to it.

Often we look for a part to ADD when we think about doing more, improving something. But that’s like adding a cog to a machine where no cog is needed. It could just be pointless, it could end up breaking the machine or it could simply make something more complicated than necessary to operate.

Instead we want to think about changes as adding oil to a machine that could function a bit more smoothly. That maybe is getting squeaky.

When you make changes, when you look at where you could do more, think about where you could oil your well laid out plan. What is something small you could do to make what you’re already doing easier, more efficient, produce a better result without really adding more to your plate?

3: Don’t be afraid to set STRETCH goals.

So I like to set goals that are realistic. It’s super disheartening if you always set super aggressive goals and never reach them. 

However, I like to have a realistic goal for each week, each month, each year but also what I consider a STRETCH goal.

And I often use these on short term goals strategically when first making a change. 

These goals are a little extra aggressive and asking a little more out of myself than I sort of believe is possible.

They’re doable, but asking me to find that extra reach out of raising my hand.

And I set them knowing I may not hit them but that in seeking to, I’ll move beyond the basic goal outlined. And I do set a prize for myself if I reach them. I mean, I’m competitive and know that so set something that makes it feel extra like winning.

But don’t be afraid to challenge yourself with a stretch goal and call it that. Sometimes we have to ask more of ourselves to get ourselves to crush the true goal we want to accomplish.

Too often we end up just planning to hit the basic goal falling short when if we plan to go beyond it we truly succeed at hitting what we initially wanted!

And I don’t know about you, but the “doubts” especially if I even write down my own, add a little chip to my shoulder making me want to achieve it even more!

SUMMARY:

Sometimes we have to force ourselves to question whether or not we are truly giving something our all. We have to be willing to test our own boundaries.

And while it can be helpful to have that outside perspective and push, you can be there to support yourself using these 3 tips!