Stop Sabotaging Yourself with Unrealistic Expectations

This New Year’s I want you to save what I’m about to tell you into your memory bank. 

Do not “go hard or go home.”

What? Why is a personal trainer telling me that? Stay with me, now. You’ll understand in a moment.

Every January, and I mean every January, the #1 New Year’s Resolution has something to do with weight loss, getting fit, etc. This means the casual gym goer, or someone who never works out, suddenly feels compelled to get into the best shape of their lives. Which is great!

However…..

As a personal trainer for nearly ten years, I can tell you the grand majority of these people will have a “go hard or go home” mentality. 

In other words, these people will try to workout every day. They’ll take on extreme diet methods to lose weight as quickly as possible. Their expectations of weight loss will be super high and unrealistic. If they miss a day of working out, or eat one “bad meal,” they’ll punish themselves the next time they go to the gym. 

This ladies, and gentlemen, is the “go hard or go home” mentality.

And you know what? IT DOESN’T WORK.

Here’s it ends up going for most of you out there:

1. After 2-6 weeks the motivation is gone. 
2. You’ve become too easily discouraged by lack of progress.
3. You went from working out almost every day to hardly ever or never.
4. Most of all, you’re sick of the crazy diet plan you were on.
5. There’s always next year, right?!?!

Folks, don’t let the “go hard or go home” mentality be your undoing of goals that can be accomplished. As long as you take on a more doable pragmatic approach, you can conquer the seemingly unconquerable.

Here are a few suggestions to keep in mind for this year….

Lessen The Amount Of Workout Days

Instead of trying to work out every day, try to work out 2-3 times a week. This is a far more practical goal as opposed to 5-7 times a week. You don’t need to work out for an hour or two either. If all you’ve got is 20-30 minutes for a quick home workout, that will go a long way in the long run! Remember, it’s the little things that add up.

Your Nutrition Plan Should Be Sustainable

Look. I get it. There’s a ton of “lose fat” quick methods on social media to last us a lifetime. Heck, I’ll even admit some of them even work, until they don’t. The reason why they inevitably won’t work is because it’s not sustainable. Nor are they ever healthy for you in the long run.

One of the first things I tell my clients is nutrition should include what you want, and what you need; within reason of course. Here’s food for thought. Take baby steps! There are plenty of ways to start things off easy when trying to eat better.

For example, if you tend to drink six cans of soda a day, cut that down to three. If you don’t typically eat fruits and vegetables, add an apple and a salad into your daily diet. If you eat fast food or get takeout 4-5x a week, cut that down to 2-3x a week.

As you continue building better eating habits, your knowledge of what to eat and how much to eat will naturally expand!

Be Honest With Yourself

Hold yourself accountable. If you find yourself in a slump as the weeks go on, ask yourself these questions:

“Am I trying to do too much at once?” “Have I honestly been making a consistent effort to improve my daily diet?” “Am I giving this my very best, or am I looking for a scapegoat so I don’t blame myself?” “What little things can I do so I get better at x, y, and z?” 

This year, don’t “go hard or go home.” Instead, take your time, and be practical. You’ll be a lot more happier that way if you go at a pace that suits YOU. Don’t worry about what others are doing. Experiment with different exercises and diets until you find something you can rock long term.

Don’t Give Up

You will make mistakes. You will have moments where you feel frustrated. You will not get your dream body in just a few short weeks. That’s okay! Believe it or not, that’s the way it goes!

It’s going to take trial and error. If you mess up, don’t let that deter you from trying again or giving up. At the end of the day, we are instrumental in how this story goes. More often than not, we are the reason why we either do or don’t attain a goal.