All or nothing mindset is the number 1 mindset block many women have when it comes to their health and fitness success. It creates self-sabotage behaviour and holds you back from achieving your health and fitness goals. All or nothing mindset can show up at anytime and at any stage of your health and fitness journey.

In this blog post, I’ll share with you how to catch yourself in the all-or-nothing mindset and simple exercises you can do to overcome it and make better choices to move forward to your health and fitness goals.

Break Free From All Or Nothing Mindset

What is All or Nothing Mindset and Why You Need To Be Aware Of It

Have you ever experienced this? You have been working out 30 minutes every day and eating healthy for the whole week. You feel great with your increased energy, and ….then Friday comes, you catch up with some family and friends, you have an extra piece of pizza and a couple of drinks, and the following day, you feel tired, so you skip your workout routine. You feel bad about it and blame yourself for the ‘bad choices’ you made over the weekend, then you might as well give up and feel that you have ‘failed’.

If this sounds like you, my friend, I was once in your shoes too. I would blame myself for lacking self-control and discipline and got myself on this ‘starting over’ hamster wheel. Results? It never got me anywhere; instead, I fell into this vicious cycle. I didn’t lose those stubborn extra few kilos; I didn’t get stronger or more toned; I was craving all the food I ‘shouldn’t’ eat.

This is what an all-or-nothing mindset looks like in health and fitness. It is detrimental to your health and fitness goals and sets you up for failure. 

All or nothing mindset is a restrictive way of thinking in which one believes they must either do things perfectly or not do anything. 

It sets unrealistic goals and expectations for yourself. It promotes an extreme type of thinking, i,e. You are either on or off; there is nothing in between. When you inevitably miss a healthy meal or a workout session, you feel like you have failed and become discouraged. This thinking can lead to restrictive dieting, over-exercising, and an unhealthy relationship with food, exercise, and yourself. 

All or nothing mindset can show up anytime, anywhere. It shows up after you had a long day of work; when you are having fun at a birthday party; when you feel low in energy or ‘can’t be bothered’. It can creep in without you even realising it. 

All or nothing mindset creates self-sabotage behaviour.

Not changing this mindset will lead to self-sabotage behaviour such as procrastination, overindulging, skipping more workouts, keeping ‘starting over’, and negative self-talk.

5 Steps To Overcome All or Nothing Mindset

It is important to recognise and catch yourself in an all-or-nothing mindset. Here are 5 steps to become more aware of this mindset and stop your self-sabotaging behaviours.

1. Pay attention to your thoughts:

Your mindset is determined by your thoughts, which you tell yourself over and over again. Your thoughts are powerful but not always true.

Notice your thought pattern when you miss a workout or eat foods that are not on your ‘healthy food’ menu. Pay attention to what’s happening and call it out to yourself. ‘Why am I doing things that seem to be contradicting my longer-term goals?’

Once you catch those moments, the next thing you can do is simple yet very powerful: you PAUSE. You redirect your thoughts to the reality of the moment: what is the next best thing I can do right now? Choose differently.

2. Notice your negative self-talk:

What do you often say to yourself when you slip up a workout or when you don’t follow the nutrition plan? How has your self-talk affected your results? 

Ask yourself, ‘Do I need this anymore at this moment? Is there something else i could say to myself that would be more empowering?’

Once you notice and are aware that you are telling yourself these ‘stories’ that do not serve you, you can choose to think differently. You can replace those limiting self-talk with something more powerful.

3. Use empowered language:

Language matters! Do you often tell yourself, ‘I can’t eat this.’ ‘I have to go to the gym.’ ‘I need to be healthy.’? If so, then it’s time to change your language. You are in control of YOUR life, not the food, not your exercises. So use the language that puts you in the driver’s seat.

Pay close attention when you hear yourself say phrases like this:

‘I can’t….’

‘I should….’

‘I have to….’

‘I’m just/I’m only….’

Replace them by saying:

‘I choose not to /I am unwilling to’ (instead of ‘I can’t’)

‘I choose to /want to’ (instead of ‘I should/I have to’)

‘I AM’ (instead of ‘I’m just/I’m only’)

When we change the language we use, we can change our view of reality and help us take responsibility and take back that control.

4. Setting realistic goals with flexibility and Focus on your daily habits:

One of the biggest reasons I see women fail to reach their weight loss or fitness goals is lacking flexibility, i.e. they don’t have a backup plan.

As a busy, high-achieving woman, your schedule is always jam-packed with work, business, family, loved ones, kids, etc. Well, there is something called ‘Life’. It always throws unexpected things at you. 

Effective goal setting will not only help you take action, but it also needs to fit into your lifestyle and allow for flexibility to see what’s working and what needs to change. It’s a dynamic process until you get results.

Once you have the direction (your goal), you need to then focus on your daily habits, i.e those small and consistent actions you take every single day. 

5. Practice self-compassion:

When you fall short of your goals, it is so easy to blame yourself, especially when you have high expectations and high standards for yourself. And you know what? You already have done so many amazing things in your life with your career and your family. Understand that your behaviour around food, exercise and what you do with your health and fitness does not define you as a person. So be kind to yourself. 

Conclusion

All or nothing mindset is a type of restrictive thinking which leads to self-sabotage behaviour. 

Becoming self-aware is the first step to overcoming all or nothing mindset. Mindset work is long-term work. All or nothing mindset will pop up at any stage of your health and fitness journey. With more awareness and practice with the above steps, you will know how to cope with it in a powerful way, so that you catch yourself up, reframe your mindset and make a better decision to take action and keep moving forward. 

This post was all about 5 steps to break free from all or nothing mindset.

If you need support to identify what’s holding you back from achieving your weight loss, health and fitness goals, click the below link to book a Free strategy call with me and let’s have a chat!

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