Most of us are stuck in habits and thought patterns that we didn’t even realize we were practicing. Whether it’s negative self-talk on loop, the trap of thinking every workout has to be a high-intensity suffer-fest, or being so obsessed with the scale that we miss the small meaningful wins, these mindsets can sabotage our progress. In this blog, we look at how to identify these traps, give ourselves some grace, and start choosing a new way to think about health and consistency.
Raise your hand if you're busy. Yep. That's just about everyone. We are all busy. If you want to live a healthier lifestyle, the good news is that you don't have get up at 5am to exercise for two hours a day and survive on kale and skinless chicken breast. You don't have to change your whole life to live healthier, rather you can find success by fitting healthier habits into your current (already busy) lifestyle.
Whether we like it or not our environment has an impact on our decisions. We can control our environment to a certain extent. We can stay out of bars if we don't want to drink alcohol. We can clean out our cabinets so that only healthy foods are within arm's reach. We can try to spend more time with friends who want to eat healthy and exercise with us.
However, there are always going to be factors that we can't control. Our husbands and kids may not want to eat healthier and beg us to order pizza. We may be chained to a desk eight hours a day while our co-workers try to push us to have that piece of cake. ("Oh, come on, you know you're just going to run it off later anyway"). The healthiest choice in the vending machine is organic Doritos. Spoiler alert: not healthy.
I am not suggesting that you get a divorce, quit your job and give away your kids. We can't always control our environment (and we happen to love those darn kids) but we can learn to navigate it to set ourselves up for better health. It's not about being perfect all the time. That would be impossible. It's doing the best we can in every situation in the life we are already living.
The best defense against poor choices is planning ahead. When you're starving and rushed, you're more likely to hit the drive through, vending machine or deep dive into the ice-cream aisle. I try to keep healthy snacks close at hand. If I always have nuts, seeds, a piece of fruit or a protein shake nearby, I'm less likely to make poor choices because I am hangry.
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How and where you eat your meals has an impact. We usually eat the amount of food that is served to us (or we serve ourselves). I am always reminding hubby of proper serving sizes because he thinks nothing of filling half my plate with buttery sweet potatoes. While I love buttery sweet potatoes, I don't need a half plate of them. I use Precision Nutrition's cupped hand portion serving size as a general guide. Not complaining about hubby cooking and serving dinner though.
If we use smaller plates, we tend to put less food on them and naturally control our serving size. If we finish eating, then wait 15 minutes or so and still feel hungry, we can always eat more. The idea is that we are not mindlessly eating just because it's there. If we serve food on smaller plates, eat slowly and stop when about 80% full (this takes practice) we solve most of our food portion issues.
Sit at an actual table (not of the coffee variety), turn off the TV and put away the phones so you can savor and enjoy your meal. If you work outside of the home during the day, pack a lunch and eat it away from your desk. Sometimes just the act of slowing down and paying attention can yield big results.
Clean out your cabinets and remove any foods you have trouble maintaining control over. I usually have to keep salt and vinegar potato chips out of my house. It's not to say you have to get rid of all unhealthy foods, because there is definitely room for treats in your diet. Only keep the foods around that fit within your goals. If you have to get dressed, put on shoes, find your purse, comb your hair, get in your car and drive to the store to buy it, you're less likely to indulge in it when you have a craving a 9pm. Just make it a little harder on yourself to get those types of foods. You can have them when you really want them, just don't make it so easy on yourself.
Sign up for a CSA box so that fresh, healthy produce and/or meat is delivered to you. In Texas (and other states, I hear) we have Bountiful Baskets, a co-op where you can pick-up fresh fruits and veggies for $15 a week that have a retail value of around $50.
Spend time on the weekends prepping and cutting meals and veggies. If necessary, buy pre-cut veggies. If you don't have time to meal prep, sign up for a healthy meal delivery service.
No matter how much or how little you workout each week, you can set your environment up to get more activity in throughout the day. Remember, it all counts. It doesn't have to be structured exercise to have an impact.
Park your car in the farthest spot away from the entrance of school, work and the grocery store so that you have to walk. Ride your bike or walk instead of driving to places that are nearby.
Do squats while you brush your teeth or incline pushups against the kitchen counter while waiting for the microwave to ding. Do a four minute tabata workout when you get out of bed in the morning to kick your day off on the right foot. It all counts. I promise.
Join a run club or active social group to find a workout buddy. Find like-minded people who are interested in their health, fitness, and nutrition. Ever hear of November Project? Just show up. Organize your social events around being active; go for a walk, run or hike instead of meeting up at a restaurant or bar. Find friends to sign up for an obstacle race or fun 5K with you. Join an adult soccer league. Whatever floats your boat. Hey, good idea. Go swimming off of a boat! When exercise hour becomes social hour to catch up with friends, the more likely you'll do it.
A four-legged furry fit friend can be the best kind. Get a dog that needs a daily walk. Can't have a dog? Borrow from a neighbor or volunteer to run with shelter dogs. I guarantee they will love you for it.
You don't have to overhaul your whole life to live healthier. Use this healthy lifestyle guide to help you incorporate new healthy habits into your busy day. You're never going to be less busy, start making small changes today.
Like this post? An angel earns its wings every time you share.
When progress feels slow or uncomfortable, it’s tempting to chase something shiny: a new diet, a new plan, a total overhaul. But what if the problem isn’t your plan? What if it’s just the part where it gets hard? In this post, I’m sharing the simple mindset trick I use to stay focused when distractions pop up, and how the same approach can help you stop starting over in your health and fitness goals.
You don’t have to wait for life to calm down to take care of your health. The people who stay consistent aren’t relying on perfect conditions. They build habits they can lean on when things get hectic. It’s not about finding more time, it’s about using the time you do have, five or ten minutes at a time, to stay connected to movement. That’s what keeps the momentum alive.
Discover the 5 stages of fitness progression—from building the habit to optimizing your routine. Learn how to stay consistent, make progress at your own pace, and create a sustainable fitness lifestyle without the pressure of perfection.
Are you someone who feels the tension between what you should do and what you want to do and hopes to make better choices and decisions to enhance your long-term health? I will cover some tangible ways to revise your thinking, environment, situation, and habits for the best chances of success. People with greater self-control are more likely to achieve their goals
What happened when I gave up alcohol for 1000 days? Spoiler alert: Everything got better.
Do you have reasons for missing workouts? Or are you making excuses? Do you know how to tell the difference? In this post, I will help you discern between excuses and reasons so that you can move forward in your training despite obstacles, fears, and setbacks.
If you’ve been tempted by a quick fix in health and fitness, we all have been there. It’s easy to think that if you could achieve results quickly, you’d be happier, but the real transformation happens during the journey. Learn to love the process and a healthy lifestyle will follow.
It’s not too late to salvage this year and get on track to achieve your 2020 goals in the last 100 days of the year. Sept 23 is the first day of the last 100 days of 2020. In this post, I share the framework to achieve your end of year goals.
Welcome to the latest edition of 52 healthy habits, where each week we tackle a new healthy habit in order to improve our lives. Healthy habits are the building blocks of a healthy lifestyle. When we work on improving our habits one at a time, a healthy lifestyle emerges. It takes time, but it's worth it when willpower and motivation are no longer needed. I invite you to follow along with my habits each week, dig into the archives to work on a past habit or make one up of your own. Pick something you want to work on and get started.
Some weeks in the 52 healthy habits series I give you ideas of healthy habits you can work on. Some weeks I tell you about the things I am working on. This is one of those weeks.
Speaking of healthy habits, I got a massage last weekend and I had an interesting conversation with the massage therapist.
"Your shoulders are rounded forward. This happens from sitting at a computer all day, looking down at your phone, even driving."
"I do all those things at least 10 hours a day, probably more."
"That's the issue. But it's no problem. We can work to correct it, but you need to work on your posture throughout the day. Push your shoulders back and down and hold your neck neutral whenever you think about it during the day, set a reminder on your phone if you need to. You can't correct it in a day, a week or even a month, but if you make an effort to improve, make this small posture change repeatedly on a daily basis, over time your body will respond."
It struck me that he was talking about building a habit of good posture. It's exactly what I teach here week after week. Make an effort at the small things that seem insignificant and big results will follow.
It's funny he mentioned it because it was something I noticed myself just a week earlier. I am working on body composition improvements so I asked hubby to take some "before" pictures so I could note visual changes as the weeks progress. (I know better than to rely solely on the scale when working to increase muscle because the scale is a damn liar.) I was shocked when I looked at the first side view picture. My shoulders were hunched over visually but I was standing normally.
Left: anterior rotation of the shoulder. Right: shoulders back and down, neck neutral. Note to self: comb your hair next time. Hah.
Now I have something new to work on. Just like any other healthy habits we talk about here, it's the small incremental changes that lead to big results over time. You don't notice the difference in one day, one week or even in a month. When you eat slowly, drink more water, sleep more hours, eat more vegetables, eat more protein, you won't notice the changes right away but changes are happening.
Just like my rotated shoulders. It didn't happen overnight, but the cumulation of my bad habits (slouching over a computer, looking down at my phone scrolling Instagram, not paying attention to posture while driving) added up over time. It works both ways. We don't notice the small things, but it's the small things that make a big difference.
Standing up straight or working on posture seems like a small insignificant thing. The small things are easy but they are also easy to overlook or skip. Do the small things to make big progress.
Awareness is always the first step. Now that I am aware of my shoulder rotation, I can work to correct it. How many years did I walk around slouched over, blissfully unaware? Now I know better and can work to improve. That's the first step. This applies to anything you want to change. Understanding that you need to make a change and a willingness to work on it is the first step in the right direction
Even the smallest action will move you forward. I'm not going to fix my shoulders overnight, but the actions I take today will pay dividends in the future.
Shoulders back and down when walking. Every time I stand up to walk or when I walk my dog (Hi, Ollie!) I would make a conscious effort to keep my shoulders back and down.
The massage therapist told me to lie on my back parallel to the foam roller with my head hanging off the end. He said not to roll, but to press my back into the foam roller, then lift my shoulders up, then press them back down for scapula retraction. Do 12-20 reps. This felt amazing. I am adding it into my daily workout.
He also showed me some stretches to release my tight pectoralis muscles which is part of the reason my shoulders are rounded forward.
foam roller and skull leggings for the win!
In our current environment, rounded shoulders is a common problem. We are looking down at our phones, spending hours in the car and in front of computer screens. Working to correct posture is a healthy habit that can be cultivated and built into our daily routines.
Like this post? It helps me when you share with your friends and followers.
In 2017, while working a corporate job I wrote a blog post dated five years into the future. I described my dream life in vivid detail, right down to the breakfast I'd eat and the way my business would feel. Then, I let it sit in my drafts for nearly a decade.
Reading it now in 2026 is surreal. While the timeline took longer than I imagined, the feeling of my life today is identical to that vision. I am sharing the unedited 2017 draft today as a lesson in the power of knowing your "why" and daring to write it down.
When progress feels slow or uncomfortable, it’s tempting to chase something shiny: a new diet, a new plan, a total overhaul. But what if the problem isn’t your plan? What if it’s just the part where it gets hard? In this post, I’m sharing the simple mindset trick I use to stay focused when distractions pop up, and how the same approach can help you stop starting over in your health and fitness goals.
You don’t have to wait for life to calm down to take care of your health. The people who stay consistent aren’t relying on perfect conditions. They build habits they can lean on when things get hectic. It’s not about finding more time, it’s about using the time you do have, five or ten minutes at a time, to stay connected to movement. That’s what keeps the momentum alive.
Discover the 5 stages of fitness progression—from building the habit to optimizing your routine. Learn how to stay consistent, make progress at your own pace, and create a sustainable fitness lifestyle without the pressure of perfection.
Are you someone who feels the tension between what you should do and what you want to do and hopes to make better choices and decisions to enhance your long-term health? I will cover some tangible ways to revise your thinking, environment, situation, and habits for the best chances of success. People with greater self-control are more likely to achieve their goals
What happened when I gave up alcohol for 1000 days? Spoiler alert: Everything got better.
Do you have reasons for missing workouts? Or are you making excuses? Do you know how to tell the difference? In this post, I will help you discern between excuses and reasons so that you can move forward in your training despite obstacles, fears, and setbacks.
If you’ve been tempted by a quick fix in health and fitness, we all have been there. It’s easy to think that if you could achieve results quickly, you’d be happier, but the real transformation happens during the journey. Learn to love the process and a healthy lifestyle will follow.
It’s not too late to salvage this year and get on track to achieve your 2020 goals in the last 100 days of the year. Sept 23 is the first day of the last 100 days of 2020. In this post, I share the framework to achieve your end of year goals.
Welcome to the latest edition of 52 healthy habits, where each week we tackle a new healthy habit in order to improve our lives. When we make the decision to live a healthier lifestyle, we often make the mistake of trying to change everything at once. We decide to eat "clean," workout six days a week, give up wine (gasp!) and then inevitably get overwhelmed and go back to our old ways. A more sane and sustainable approach is to tackle one habit and build on it slowly over time. It's not a quick fix but it is an effective long-term solution to a healthy lifestyle. When healthy behaviors become habits, then no willpower or iron-clad motivation is needed.
But where do you start? There a million things you could do and as we discussed, doing too much at once is usually not an effective solution. We want to tackle the things that will make the biggest impact when working to achieve our goals. Here are the first five habits I recommend when prioritizing fat loss. These five small habits will yield big results over time. Take one at a time, cultivate it until mastered, then build on the next one.
Fat loss starts in the kitchen. Make sure every meal has a serving of protein and veggies. Protein helps you maintain muscle, which is very important to ensure that you are losing fat and not muscle when you lose weight. Protein and the fiber from veggies help you feel full.
When you want a snack, look for a high protein snack, like cottage cheese, Greek yogurt, protein shake or a tuna packet. Focus on what you can add to your meals to make them healthier, rather than what you have to take away. Learn more about adding protein and veggies in these blog posts.
When I'm in an environment where I am not in control of the food being served: at a restaurant, at a dinner party or a work function, I always fill my plate with the protein and veggies first. It's a smart strategy to make the best decisions possible in any circumstance. We can never be perfect, but we can always strive to make the best choices possible.
When you gobble down your food in five minutes flat you don't give your stomach enough time to send the signal to your brain that it's full. I am as guilty of this as anyone. A great fat loss strategy is to eat your meals slowly. Set a timer for 20 minutes and stretch it out. Chew your food slowly (20-30 times!), put your fork down between bites, take a drink of water between bites, talk with your family. Slow it down. Pay attention to fullness signals and stop eating when full. You'll digest your food better and likely eat less, which is ideal for fat loss. You can learn more about mindful eating in this blog post.
A great habit to cultivate for fat loss is a power walking routine. No, I didn't say you have to join CrossFit or sign up to run a marathon. Those things can be great (if they align with your goals and preferences), but if you are just starting out take 15-20 minutes every day and walk a mile as fast as you can. Walk with purpose, like you're late for the start of Game of Thrones. Take your dog. Don't have a dog? Borrow a dog. They'll love you for it. Do it twice a day if you can. Little changes can make a big difference. Here is more on how to make exercise a daily habit.
Sleep is so important for fat loss that I would say if you could only do one thing on this list that you choose to prioritize sleep. It's the most overlooked activity in our modern environment but the most important. Create a sleep routine and aim for 7-8 hours of sleep a night. Yes, it matters for fat loss. Before you think about taking supplements or trying the next "fat loss secret" make sure you have the basics covered. I go into more depth on creating a sleep ritual in this blog post.
If you replace all soda, juice, energy drinks and sugar-filled drinks with water (or seltzer water) you'll cut hundreds of empty calories a day. In order to lose fat you need to create a calorie-deficit, which means you consume less calories than you burn in a day. An easy way to do this without depriving yourself is to cut out those empty calories from sugar-filled drinks. Water can help you feel fuller and more energized. Dehydration causes all kinds of problems like fatigue, lack of energy and headaches. This is easy to fix with regular intake of H20. I cover some strategies to increase water intake here.
Need help with your healthy habits? Join my online nutrition habits program!
In 2017, while working a corporate job I wrote a blog post dated five years into the future. I described my dream life in vivid detail, right down to the breakfast I'd eat and the way my business would feel. Then, I let it sit in my drafts for nearly a decade.
Reading it now in 2026 is surreal. While the timeline took longer than I imagined, the feeling of my life today is identical to that vision. I am sharing the unedited 2017 draft today as a lesson in the power of knowing your "why" and daring to write it down.
When progress feels slow or uncomfortable, it’s tempting to chase something shiny: a new diet, a new plan, a total overhaul. But what if the problem isn’t your plan? What if it’s just the part where it gets hard? In this post, I’m sharing the simple mindset trick I use to stay focused when distractions pop up, and how the same approach can help you stop starting over in your health and fitness goals.
You don’t have to wait for life to calm down to take care of your health. The people who stay consistent aren’t relying on perfect conditions. They build habits they can lean on when things get hectic. It’s not about finding more time, it’s about using the time you do have, five or ten minutes at a time, to stay connected to movement. That’s what keeps the momentum alive.
Discover the 5 stages of fitness progression—from building the habit to optimizing your routine. Learn how to stay consistent, make progress at your own pace, and create a sustainable fitness lifestyle without the pressure of perfection.
Are you someone who feels the tension between what you should do and what you want to do and hopes to make better choices and decisions to enhance your long-term health? I will cover some tangible ways to revise your thinking, environment, situation, and habits for the best chances of success. People with greater self-control are more likely to achieve their goals
What happened when I gave up alcohol for 1000 days? Spoiler alert: Everything got better.
Do you have reasons for missing workouts? Or are you making excuses? Do you know how to tell the difference? In this post, I will help you discern between excuses and reasons so that you can move forward in your training despite obstacles, fears, and setbacks.
If you’ve been tempted by a quick fix in health and fitness, we all have been there. It’s easy to think that if you could achieve results quickly, you’d be happier, but the real transformation happens during the journey. Learn to love the process and a healthy lifestyle will follow.
It’s not too late to salvage this year and get on track to achieve your 2020 goals in the last 100 days of the year. Sept 23 is the first day of the last 100 days of 2020. In this post, I share the framework to achieve your end of year goals.
Welcome to the latest edition of 52 Healthy habits when each week we tackle a new habit to improve our lives. I like to work on developing and cultivating habits because they are the building blocks of a healthy lifestyle. It's the not-so-secret secret that the industry doesn't talk much about, because it sounds boring compared "abs in 30 days or "lose 30 pounds in six weeks". Those promises are marketing messages designed to sell you something. Even when they do deliver on their promised result, it is usually not sustainable because it offers a short term fix rather than a long term solution. You have to change your behaviors (aka habits) over the long term to see lasting results.
I learned the hard way that it is better to go slow and take your time for sustainable results.
When you begin to make healthier decisions on auto-pilot (aka habits) everything changes. It is no longer about having motivation or willpower. You don't have to suffer and feel deprived, but it takes work. It seems bad habits are super easy to develop (amiright?) but healthy habits take a little time and dedication. But that hard work pays off.
If you focus on one new habit for several weeks, you begin to rewire your brain to accept it as normal behavior. Over time it becomes as natural as brushing your teeth or taking a shower. It's not easy but it's a simple concept. Once you master a habit, add another and another. It's a much more effective strategy than trying to change everything all at once. It takes longer, but it lasts longer. Any new habit you try to adopt should pass the sustainability test. "Will I be able to do this new habit over the long term?" If yes, it is worth developing. In other words don't bother trying to give up carbs unless you think you can do it forever. Don't bother going on three week soup or juice diet. Anything temporary will have temporary results.
You can follow along with my healthy habits each week, go back through the archives to find one you want to work on or make up your own. The most important thing is that it is something that you are ready, willing and able to change.
The way you approach your healthy lifestyle mentally is just as important as the things you do. Your thoughts are habits too. You may have the habit of thinking negative thoughts or complaining. I know I do sometimes. You can break bad mental habits, just as you can learn to break bad physical habits. It's not just what you do, it is also what you think.
I talk a lot in this blog about overcoming the all-or-nothing mindset because it is something I deal with a lot. All-or-nothing thinking is a bad habit. It is my natural tendency to think this way, so I have to be hyper-aware of my thoughts and behaviors to make sure I am not swinging the pendulum too far in either direction. I am just as likely to get obsessed with healthy food and exercise as I am with Ben & Jerry's and Netflix marathons. But now that I know my tendencies, I am more aware of them and am able to spot my mistakes and make corrections before I fall too deep into a hole.
An ongoing challenge is overcoming the "I'll start Monday" mentality. It's a rationalization that gives you false permission to make bad decisions. When you are trying to live a healthy lifestyle and make better choices, it is always about what you can do today, not about being perfect in some fake future scenario. The perfect Monday is never coming.
"It's a new week or a new month or a new year and this time, I'll learn to be perfect and do everything right."
That's the problem right there. It is never about being perfect and doing everything right. Don't even try. Don't waste your energy.
A healthy lifestyle is doing the best you can with what you have in any given moment. The "I'll start Monday" mentality gives you permission to binge over the weekend, but that isn't bringing you any closer to your goals. A better idea to decide on what treats you want to enjoy (indulgences are absolutely ok and encouraged) over the weekend and eat them in proper portions and frequency. Maybe you decide to eat healthy meals, but enjoy the ice cream as dessert. Or have an indulgence meal but eat slowly and stop eating when you feel 80% full. Or eat the hamburger but skip the fries (or just steal three from hubby's plate). Or eat a healthier version of the treat you crave. The most important thing is you are paying attention and making an effort to make healthier decisions, even in the smallest way. Even the smallest healthy decisions add up over time.
There's no pause button on a healthy lifestyle. That doesn't mean you have to live perfectly all the time, no matter what is going on. Of course not. That would be impossible. It's just doing the best you can in any situation. You're not on or off the proverbial wagon. There is no wagon, you just keep moving forward, no matter what. That's a healthy lifestyle.
Life gets busy. Life gets stressful. People get married. People go on vacation. People hurt their shoulder (slowly raises hand with injured shoulder). The beauty of habits is that when you take the time and energy to build them, it makes it easier to make good decisions during stressful times because habits are on autopilot. It's just what you do. The goal is to never feel like you need to pause your healthy lifestyle.
Once I finish school, I'll hire a coach.
Once this deadline has passed at work, I'll get on a consistent workout schedule.
After my kids get older, I'll have time to meal plan.
After I get back from vacation, I'll eat healthier.
This is the difference between a diet and exercise program and a healthy lifestyle. Diet and exercise programs have start and end dates. Your healthy lifestyle is something that you do day-in and day-out forever.
I'm not suggesting you shouldn't enjoy yourself on vacation or eat convenient meals during busy or high-stress times, it's just that making slightly healthier choices is something that you can practice in every situation. Don't try to make perfect choices, just a little bit better. It's a mindset.
What I've learned is that it is more about learning to fit healthy behaviors into your current lifestyle than about changing your lifestyle to conform to healthy behaviors. In other words if you went off to a healthy-living retreat with a personal trainer, personal chef, mindset guru, with no job, family or kid responsibilities, surrounded by people doing the exact same thing it would be pretty easy to make healthy changes. Your lifestyle would be all about healthy living. But when you got home, things would change. You wouldn't have time to exercise three hours a day, your friends would start calling for happy hour and there probably isn't a personal chef at home to cook for you. It's the reason most of the Biggest Loser contestants gain the weight back (and sometimes more) once the show is over. That is not real life. In an artificial environment healthy living is easy. So the key is learn how to make healthy living work in the real world, in your crazy busy life.
How do you do that? You plan ahead the best you can. Then you have a plan B for when plan A is so far out of sight you can't even see it anymore. Then maybe a plan C because life's a bitch sometimes. (Plan C might just be self compassion, forgiveness and a willingness to try to do better at the next opportunity)
None of the above scenarios are perfect, but they are all better than nothing. 'Better than nothing' builds consistency. Consistency builds success. It's not perfect, but it's still forward progress. If you skipped every day when something went wrong, you would never get anywhere, but if you do the best you can in every scenario, you're already so far ahead of most people when it comes to healthy living.
It's expecting that life won't be perfect, because in my 42 3/4 years on this planet, it hasn't been perfect yet. Make the best choices you can in the moment. Expect things won't go as planned. Think "How can I make this just a little bit better or healthier?" or "What's my plan B" and act accordingly.
I love writing about this topic because it helps me be more mindful and make better decisions. When hubby comes home with a carton (or three) of ice cream, I remember this post and think about how can I make the best decision possible while still enjoying my life and time with hubs. I'm not perfect. I don't always make the perfect choices, but I do the best I can in the moment and that is enough.
Progress not perfection.
Do you like how this sounds but not sure where to start? Check out my online nutrition program built by experts to develop healthy habits from the ground up over the long term.
Like this post? It helps me when you share with your friends and followers.
In 2017, while working a corporate job I wrote a blog post dated five years into the future. I described my dream life in vivid detail, right down to the breakfast I'd eat and the way my business would feel. Then, I let it sit in my drafts for nearly a decade.
Reading it now in 2026 is surreal. While the timeline took longer than I imagined, the feeling of my life today is identical to that vision. I am sharing the unedited 2017 draft today as a lesson in the power of knowing your "why" and daring to write it down.
When progress feels slow or uncomfortable, it’s tempting to chase something shiny: a new diet, a new plan, a total overhaul. But what if the problem isn’t your plan? What if it’s just the part where it gets hard? In this post, I’m sharing the simple mindset trick I use to stay focused when distractions pop up, and how the same approach can help you stop starting over in your health and fitness goals.
You don’t have to wait for life to calm down to take care of your health. The people who stay consistent aren’t relying on perfect conditions. They build habits they can lean on when things get hectic. It’s not about finding more time, it’s about using the time you do have, five or ten minutes at a time, to stay connected to movement. That’s what keeps the momentum alive.
Discover the 5 stages of fitness progression—from building the habit to optimizing your routine. Learn how to stay consistent, make progress at your own pace, and create a sustainable fitness lifestyle without the pressure of perfection.
Are you someone who feels the tension between what you should do and what you want to do and hopes to make better choices and decisions to enhance your long-term health? I will cover some tangible ways to revise your thinking, environment, situation, and habits for the best chances of success. People with greater self-control are more likely to achieve their goals
What happened when I gave up alcohol for 1000 days? Spoiler alert: Everything got better.
Do you have reasons for missing workouts? Or are you making excuses? Do you know how to tell the difference? In this post, I will help you discern between excuses and reasons so that you can move forward in your training despite obstacles, fears, and setbacks.
If you’ve been tempted by a quick fix in health and fitness, we all have been there. It’s easy to think that if you could achieve results quickly, you’d be happier, but the real transformation happens during the journey. Learn to love the process and a healthy lifestyle will follow.
It’s not too late to salvage this year and get on track to achieve your 2020 goals in the last 100 days of the year. Sept 23 is the first day of the last 100 days of 2020. In this post, I share the framework to achieve your end of year goals.
In 2017, while working a corporate job I wrote a blog post dated five years into the future. I described my dream life in vivid detail, right down to the breakfast I'd eat and the way my business would feel. Then, I let it sit in my drafts for nearly a decade.
Reading it now in 2026 is surreal. While the timeline took longer than I imagined, the feeling of my life today is identical to that vision. I am sharing the unedited 2017 draft today as a lesson in the power of knowing your "why" and daring to write it down.