There are 3 common mindset mistakes women make when setting off on their journey to starting a healthy lifestyle.

First let me preface this by saying, I don’t advocate for any one specific dietary framework. If you want to try a certain diet protocol to see how it works for you, go for it!

But a lot of women get so hung up on their diet that they forget to focus on the most important thing: their mindset!

Yup, I said…What’s even more important than your meal plan, are the thoughts and feelings fueling you to change.

You can spend weeks researching the perfect diet, hours grocery shopping and meal prepping, but if your mindset isn’t right you’ll fall off the wagon, feel like a failure, and quit before you ever get to your goal. 

Ain’t nobody got time for that!

So today I’m not talking eliminating sugar, reducing carbs, intermittent fasting, or how much protein to eat…

Instead, I’m here to warn you about three very sneaky mindset mistakes you might make when starting your healthy lifestyle.

Keep reading to find out if you’re falling into one of these three mistakes on your health journey…

3 Common Mindset Mistakes When Starting a Healthy Lifestyle

Mistake #1 – Seeking out the fastest path for weight loss.

I get it, it’s tempting when you see your friend over there just lost 30 pounds doing Keto…

Or you’re cousin who dropped all her baby weight doing an hour on her Peloton every day…

But hear me out – isn’t working towards health goals (especially weight loss) challenging enough in the first place? Why would you set yourself up to keep needing to repeat the process?

Restrictive dieting and loads of cardio exercise might provide quick weight loss results. The problem with that approach is that when you eventually loosen up on your diet or cut back on the cardio, you’ll see the scale go right back up.

When you lose weight through methods you don’t maintain long-term, you set yourself up to re-gain the weight later. Instead, plan to lose it how you’ll live it!

This means:

• Figuring out why you eat when you’re not hungry and solving for that.
• Learning how to cook and eat healthy foods you really enjoy.
• Learning how to follow through on the plans that you make for yourself.
• Figuring out how to stop quitting and giving up when things aren’t perfect.

When you do that, you’ll get the results AND the confidence to know you can maintain those results forever.

Read more:

https://weeknightwellness.com/top-4-myths-about-losing-weight/

https://weeknightwellness.com/changing-your-eating-habits-for-weight-loss/

https://weeknightwellness.com/fat-loss-without-counting-calories/

Mistake #2 – Thinking things will be better over there. 

This happens so subtly that we often don’t notice it. If you’ve thought something like…

…Once I figure out how to stop craving sweets, then eating healthy will be a breeze.

…If I could just tone up in this one area, then I’d finally feel confident in a bikini.

…I just need to lose the last 10 pounds, then I can start going out with friends again.

These if/then thoughts will seriously stall your progress and usually, lead to burning out and giving up.

It’s true that some things will be better when you’ve lost the weight, created the habit, reached the goal, etc. But with every goal achieved, you’ll inevitably be presented with some new opportunity for growth.

 I think we’ve all experienced this in some way or another…

You’re excited about how flat your stomach is, until you start wishing you had a nicer butt.

You’re proud of yourself for doing 30 minutes of exercise, until you start thinking how much healthier you could eat.

You’re happy about losing 5 pounds, until you start wishing you could lose just 5 more.

When you fall into the trap of believing you’ll feel better when you reach the goal, you’re constantly putting off your own happiness.

Our brains are wired to seek instant gratification. So, when we deny ourselves the enjoyment in the moment, we’re much more likely to burnout and quit.

Of course, not every effort will feel “enjoyable”. Going to bed early so you can get up and work out doesn’t feel comfortable in the moment. However, you can learn to generate feelings of satisfaction and accomplishment from the doing hard things.

All feelings are created by thoughts in your brain. So, think thoughts that create those positive emotions and repeat them over and over. The better you get at generating these feelings the more you’ll start to naturally enjoy the process.

Don’t fall for the lie that it’ll be easier and you’ll feel better when you reach the goal. Start figuring out how to make the process easier and more enjoyable NOW. When you do, you’ll reach your goal so much faster.

Read more:

https://unfuckyourbrain.com/generating-positive-emotion-2/

Mistake #3 – Going too big, too fast. 

Most women tell me that the hardest part about starting a healthier lifestyle is that they don’t have enough motivation.

The idea that healthy people have more willpower and motivation than others is a total misconception.

Ok, maybe some do…but I can say for sure that is not my story! I started changing my lifestyle by just making one small commitment to myself.

The commitment was that I would no longer buy anything from the grocery store if couldn’t understand the ingredient list.

I didn’t try to go full on Paleo, reduce carbs, cut out sugar, or even bother eating healthier at restaraunts.

Making this change to the way I grocery shopped didn’t feel hard or overwhelming. I didn’t need to use will power or motivation to make it happen.

Eventually, checking ingredients became an unconscious habit and I was ready to try doing just a little more. As I built up more momentum, I started feeling more and more motivation to keep going.

That’s how you make a change that sticks. Not by going all-out for a few weeks and burning out.

If you need to rely on will power and motivation to follow through on the changes you are trying to make then here’s your sign: You are going too big, too fast!

I know it’s hard to narrow it down when you’re starting out and your wanting to see changes ASAP. If you can choose just 1-2 small, doable changes to start with, you’ll be much better off for the long-run.

This way, you’ll break the habit of rely on motivation (which comes and goes like the wind!) and you’ll build sustainable healthy habits that you can maintain for good!

Read more:

https://jamesclear.com/habit-guide

One last note…

I know you’re probably type-A, super driven, and so you want to see your results FAST. You might be thinking that the process I’m laying out seems way too slow.

That is just your perfectionism creeping in to try and sabotage you.

Getting your mindset right and avoiding these mindset mistakes when starting your healthy lifestyle is the quickest way to the results you’re seeking.

When you make changes that are sustainable, you focus on enjoying the process, and you don’t try to change everything all at once, you’ll never have to fear “falling off the wagon” again. 

It takes a different kind of effort to change your identify and transform into the new, healthier version of yourself.

That’s why so many women continue bouncing from one quick-fix to the next without ever making a long-term change.

If you’re tired of going on and off diets and you’re ready to finally do this thing for the last time, I’d like to invite you to schedule a (totally free) consultation call with me.

When you do, I’ll give you personalized coaching on whatever is holding you back and help you craft a plan to bust through those barriers to finally reach your goal weight (for good!).

Click here to read more about my health coaching program and find out how I can help you reach your goals.