Struggling to Achieve Goals? Reframe Your Mindset!

I recently met with a client regarding nutrition and, surprisingly, we didn't talk much about food at all. 

Instead, we talked about mindset and WINS. 

Actually, our convo started out with her not being very happy with herself.

She felt like she was failing. The things she needed to do on a daily basis to align with her goals weren't getting done. 

I didn't want to focus on her gaps though. Me lecturing her or focusing on the negatives wasn't the right path. 

So, I changed the perspective. 

I dug in and quickly found she had achieved more than she was giving herself credit for. 

Her goal is weight loss, and she hadn't lost much in the 4 weeks since our last meeting. 

Because of this there was a feeling of no progress. 

But progress doesn't always come in the ways that we expect. 

Sometimes we need to take a step back and look at the mental wins, and not always the ultimate physical goal.

Here's a great example.

She had a long history of waking in the middle of the night and eating. 

Guess what ... since our initial meeting, she had broken this habit and she has not reverted back. Not once.

MASSIVE WIN!

And a win she wasn't recognizing, much less giving herself credit for.

Another example was family dinner. 

She had gone from a sporadic one or two times per week to a consistent two times per week. 

Consistent family dinners were a goal. So, once again, BIG win. 

Reaching health and fitness goals is seldom linear or quick.  And creating the right mental environment is just as, if not more, important than the training or nutrition implementation itself. 

Recognizing and celebrating these wins can go a long way to establishing that positive mental environment. 

So where do we go from here? 

It's simple. 

We layer in more positive actions by setting up our expectations realistically. She's going to keep the aforementioned habits in place and now add 2 days of consistent walking. 

Just two, you ask? Why not 4, 5, or 6? 

Because we want more daily and weekly wins to continue to build a successful process. 

By being able to consistently perform two days per week, and adding in more if possible, plays on a positive mindset. 

She's reached her goal of two. That's a win! 

However, if she set a goal of five days per week and walked "only" two days, that may feel like failure and lead to negativity and a downward spiral. 

This is an obvious example of reframing the mindset to achieve the ultimate goal. 

The mind is a powerful tool in our health and fitness journey. It can lead us down a dark path, but it can also lift us up when we have a better, more positive outlook. 

Give yourself credit for the successes you have achieved and don't dwell on the things that you aren't doing. With time, it will all improve.

As always, 

GIVE YOUR BODY WHAT IT NEEDS, WHEN IT NEEDS IT.

Jaime Rothermich
RD CSSD LD PPSCxKB CSCS
Functional Elements Training & Nutrition
TRAIN FOR LIFE