Do You "Self Sabotage"?

Are you a victim? Do you have the best of intentions, but the second you get close to meeting a goal, you sabotage it because it's easier to give up rather than fail? It's called "self sabotage" and it's one of the main reasons most of us fail to meet our fitness and weight loss goals. Sounds familiar? Keep reading!

Although those pesky "toxic" friends and family may be making it hard for you to stick with your diet and your normal fitness routine, it's ultimately you who needs to take responsibility. Learn to recognize your own "self sabotaging" behaviors. Fight the fight against yourself! after all, you are the only tangible being that can make YOUR dreams come true!

Common Self Sabotage Behaviors

1. Blaming others for your shortcomings. You didn't have time to prep food on Sunday night? Chances are, it wasn't your best friend that kept you out of the kitchen for an hour when they stopped by to chat - it was that hour or two of recorded TV shows on your DVR!

2. Self doubt. Have one of those pesky voices in your head that tries to tell you that you can't do something every time you start to daydream that you can?  Squash it! You don't have to listen to it - after all, you control your thoughts!

3. Setting unrealistic expectations and/or goals. Do you have a tendency to overextend yourself? Work best under pressure? With things like health and fitness goals that take time to perfect and reach, you set yourself up for failure before you even start if your expectations are unrealistic. Do yourself a favor and set realistic goals with realistic time frames.

4. Giving up before you get started (or before anyone notices). I can tell you right now - I do this! It's hard to live like this - just DON'T! Search your heart and learn what is important to you and don't give up. If you do fail and someone notices, it's just a learning experience. Everyone fails - you have to give yourself the right to fail.

Ways to Combat Self Sabotaging Behaviors

1. Tell your goals to a friend you trust. Your friend may not share your desires and you may not be working toward a common goal; however, you can still be of use to them and they to you. Tell them how you need help and offer to reciprocate by holding them accountable for reaching a goal in their life. REMEMBER - Don't judge their goal!

2. Write it down. Do you like to journal? Are you a list keeper? Keep a list every day of the tasks you need to accomplish. You can even prioritize them! I keep mine on my phone and just delete them as I mark them off. Not only is it therapeutic, but when you start the day with 20 tasks and you have 2 to complete by the time you start getting tired, you really learn that you can do much more than you ever expected. Confidence boost right there!

3. Give yourself positive affirmations. When is the last time you looked at yourself in the mirror? Do you know WHO you are? Are you the kind of person that rushes out the door in the morning? It may sound corny, but give yourself just one minute each morning to say something positive to yourself and you will be amazed on your outlook for the entire day.

4. Don't be afraid to fail. This may be easier said than done, but it can be accomplished! Do your best each day - that means accomplishing as much as you can on the "to do" list, starting with the most high-priority and easiest. Tell yourself that you are working toward something and that if you don't succeed the first time, it's not the end of the world. There is always tomorrow. Think about what went wrong and fix it!

6 Simple Steps to Reach Your Fitness Goals

I'll be the first to tell you that setting a fitness goal is easy - it's actually following through and seeing the goal to completion that is the hardest thing. However, it can be done (and it can be done by YOU)! Here are 6 simple steps to reach your fitness goals.

6 Simple Steps to Reach Your Fitness Goals

1. Think 6 months down the road and set a goal (we consider this long term!). Where do you want to be? Is it a nutritional fitness goal, related to endurance, muscle mass goal, etc? Narrow it down to 2-3 goals and write them down.

Example: I want to lose 10 pounds of body fat, gain 5 pounds of muscle and improve my mile run by 2 minutes.

2. Break your 6 month goal into 2 month goals. While you will likely be monitoring your progress much more closely in the first few weeks, checking in every 2 months will definitely provide you with an opportunity to be proud of the accomplishments and progress you have made! Going off the previous example in #1, here is an example: Lose 3 pounds of body fat, gain 1.5 pounds of muscle and improve my mile run by 45 seconds.

3. Break those 2 month goals into 1 month goals. Wow! The progress that you will make in a month will astound you! Make sure these goals coincide with your 2 and 6 month goals, but are also attainable. You should set them high enough that you have to work at it and are a bit of a challenge, but remember - it's only 1 month! Make it attainable! Only YOU can be honest with yourself there!

4. Set a weekly goal that isn't tied to each of the longer-term goals. If you don't associate the weekly goals with the longer-term 1 month or 2 month goals, this will help you to focus on something new each week. Obviously, they need to correlate with helping you reach your ultimate goal. Example: I will work out 5 days this week. OR I will try 2 new aerobics classes I have never taken this week and finish them!

5. Tell a friend! Or 20 friends! Have a goal that you know would be better kept if you are held accountable by your family and friends? Don't be afraid to tell them! You may get some skeptics, but a good friend will ask you how it's going and try to help you stay on course.

6. Reward yourself! Don't reward yourself with food, but start setting aside $10 or $15 each week that you reach your weekly goal. When you reach your monthly goal, spend half of it on something nice for yourself - a new workout top, shoes, a massage, etc. When you reach your 2 month goal, take half of the weekly monies you have saved and get another reward. Save the other half toward your 6 month goal and I hope you plan something fabulous to spend that money on as a reward!

What are your goals?

Let us be your personal trainers with our detailed 4, 6 and 12 week She Sweats Workout plans! We guide your workout each day, telling you exactly what to do and what intensity to work at. We have everything you need! Find out more!

Clean Eat Education :: 5 Tips to Make Morning Workouts Easier

If you are a morning person like me, you may find it easier to get your workout in during the morning hours, preferable before you start your day. If you are not perky and a pleasure to be around in the morning, but mornings work better for your schedule, here are a few tips you can use to make your transition to morning workouts easier!

5 Tips to Make Morning Workouts Easier

1. Plan your workouts for the week and know which body part and/or exercises you will be doing the night before. Let's face it - you don't need the added stress of having to think about your workout in the morning. Just get up and get it done!

2.  Pack your gym bag the night before! Don't have time to come home and shower? The night before, choose two or three outfits you would want to wear the next day (or one if you are good at that - I need options!) and have them hanging, ready to go with everything you need for the outfit. Pack all of your toiletries, makeup, towels, flip flops and undergarments in your bag the night before. Set it by the outfits, so you can make an easy choice and grab the hanging clothes and your gym bag in the morning.

3. Pack your food for the day the night before! You HAVE to eat something before you workout, so set up a water bottle and some dry oatmeal on your counter the night before. Add some hot water to the oatmeal and take it with you in the car. Grab the rest of the food you packed for the night before and you will be on your way to a good day with no excuses about food!

4. Find a support system for morning workouts! Make a friend at the gym, make a pact with one of your friends to go together or join a class where you KNOW you will be missed if you won't be there. This will help to hold you accountable and you will be less likely to flake on your workout.

5. Make morning wake up time less traumatic! Set your alarm for 15 minutes before you need to get up! This will give you a little time to toss and turn and make you feel like you can hit snooze one more time and may make you feel less "slighted" on sleep! Find a tune on your phone's alarm or your alarm clock that doesn't jolt you out of bed, but that eases you out so you aren't inclined to be cranky!

And...here's one more tip! Sleep in your workout clothes! It's easier when you just have to put on shoes, grab all of your packed bags and off you go! NO EXCUSES!

Do you have any tips for making your morning workout easier?

P.S. Here are our tips for evening workouts!