Your One Thing (win a DVD!)
227 Comments June 22, 2010 / Posted in Uncategorized
What’s your “one thing?”
The one thing that’s holding you back.
Sometimes the answer doesn’t lie in a new workout or some magical supplement..
Don’t get me wrong, those things can be great…
But chances are, you have “one thing” that’s holding you back from getting the body you deserve. This is the real secret!
If you can figure out what that one thing is, nothing can stop you!
So let’s have a little fun with this… watch the video below to learn more about the one thing, then let us know what YOURS is in the comments section below… at the end of the week, I’ll choose a few to win a copy of my brand new DVD (or some Valslides if you choose!)
I leave you with what motivated me to make this video…
Curly from City Slickers! (there’s one teeny-tiny curse word in it… 
)
If you feel like a new workout would get you past your one thing, take a look at I Want My Bikini Body 3.0 or grab a pair of Valslides
My “one thing” is not scheduling my workouts. I’ve never been a morning person and so I tended to workout in the evenings, when I wasn’t “too tired” or could force myself to do it. My life has recently changed quite a bit with moving live with my husband (of 6 weeks)
and going from working in the office to working from home. Now that I’m getting up earlier and don’t have to drive to work, I actually have time in the morning to work out and start my days off right. This exercise has made me think about not just needing to schedule my workouts but changing the way I think about myself as “not being a morning person”. That’s always given me an excuse to put it off and risk not working out at all. So, after much rambling, my intention is to schedule my workouts for 7am during the work week. Thanks Val for this thought provoking exercise!
Definitely for me, my one thing is getting up and working out pretty much immediately.
If I don’t, I don’t go. I can always find a reason.
So get up and get it in, SON!
My “one thing” is consuming too many sugar calories! I think that I burn them off at the gym…but let’s face it…I don’t! Why must sugar make you feel so darn good?!
My 1 thing is snacking with my kids, like a kid (no cares, no worries) in the afternoons and evenings. I love your short video clips and I subscribe to your twitter/tweets. Thanks for the motivation!
The one thing I SHOULD be doing is using the stairs whenever possible.
My one thing is that I just love sweets… I love fraps, chocolate, ice cream, pastries, etc… and even though I shouldn’t, I feel entitled to treat myself after a good work out!
nngh….NOT ENOUGH SLEEP…. not getting to bed on time and/or being able to fall asleep means being up 5-6 hours later than should be which means not being able to resist eating something late at night (even if it’s something healthy) which means extra calories….additionally it means waking up late – STILL WITH NOT ENOUGH SLEEP, missing the AM workout, feeling “off” all day, feeling groggy, potentially having ‘carb’ cravings, and of course feeling completely disappointed…over and over….which causes a bit of anxiety / pressure to fall asleep on time which of course makes trying to get to sleep even harder – even with knowing and trying to practice good sleep hygeine. WHEW. There. I’ve said it.
Hi Valerie! My ‘one thing’ would be… eating late at night!! I have GOT to stop that! It is seriously not good, AND, I know better. It’s something I am working on and plan to have victory in SOON. Bless you. Thanks for the video!
I think mine would be lack of motivation. For some reason, I just don’t have the motivation to get up and actually do it. I don’t know, it might just be down right laziness. I just can’t get my butt off the couch and do it. I want to but I’m always so tired. I even just tell myself, I’m just going to go walk on the treadmill to get started. I know once I do that, I will feel good and it will get me going but I can’t even get that done. Why?
I don’t know what my intention would be to change it. I think if I knew then I wouldn’t have this problem.
My one thing is that I’m constantly looking for a “new” diet, a new way to eat that will be better than the plan I’m currently following, which inevitably leads me to question my eating plan and then to throw it out the window and tell myself “oh, I’ll just start a different plan tomorrow”. And then tomorrow ends up getting pushed back and pushed back until I’ve gained back all the weight that I’d lost on the first plan I was following and that was working perfectly fine before I started asking myself all those questions.
So I guess my intention would be to pick ONE plan, and just stick with it and stop questioning it!! If I’m losing fat and my clothes are fitting better, then there’s no need to change to a new plan. If it ain’t broken, don’t fix it!
Honestly, I don’t know if this is too vague but my one thing is consistency. I can do great on the water, exercise and eating for a while but i can never seem to get them all working at the same time.
If that is too vague then the most specific one thing would be eating off at dinner. I am good for breakfast and lunch but at the end of a long day when I am tired it is sometimes hard to eat the right thing even if i have a plan and its all prepared.
My one thing lately, has been letting my busy schedule overwhelm me and get in the way of scheduling my workouts, like Jennifer said above. I’m realizing that what I need to do is really schedule my workouts- so each day, I know no matter where I am or what is on the venue, that I have blocked out time and also planned what workout I’m going to do – so it will get DONE. Lately, when I wing it, I’m not happy with the consistency. And my schedule isn’t getting any less busy, only MORE so. Oy Vey.
My one thing is being an ostrich! Getting older, I don’t want to think that my metabolism is slowing down, but it is. To change this one thing, I want to create a morning ritual that supports getting my head out of the sand and getting it into the game, so that I move through each day CONSCIOUSLY knowing that each food decision I make does actually matter, and does add up into a healthy or unhealthy body.
My one thing is when I go out to eat, and that is not often, I do not choose the correct food to eat and of cours I must have asickenly sweet desert!! Then that desire to eat sweets come and I will eat sweets for at least two days straight until I get back on track!!
What a coicidence!! I just wrote about something similar in my RCR journal this morning… My “one thing” is that I need to plan my meals out a little better for the week. It’s been getting hectic in the evenings & on the weekends (that’s where I struggle the most with food).
To overcome this, the other day I bought a dry erase magnetic board that sorta looks like this: http://www.amazon.com/Board-Dudes-Magnetic-Calendar-84015UA-4/dp/B001G60IYA/ref=tag_tdp_ptcn_edpp_url. I plan to use it as a weekly food calendar, with each box standing for a meal/snack (hence 5 meals a day… the 6th meal for me will always be a protein shake, but I don’t think there will be room on the calendar for that)… With a bit more planning, this should all become second nature! My intention is to write up meals & snacks for 2-3 days in advance at LEAST! This seems realistic & easy to do.
My “one thing” is allowing my exhaustion to overcome my need to exercise. As a full time working mom of a 2 & 4 y.o., it is easy to pull the “too tired” card & collapse into bed early with a book. However, i know that when I consistently follow an exercise program, I feel better & have more energy. Also, as a “pre-diabetic” (runs in the family & had gestational diabetes), I know it is incredibly important for me to stick with a program to ensure that I can be healthy for myself & my family. This exercise has reminded me that I need to stop with the excuses and just get back on the bandwagon. When mommy feels healthy & happy, everyone in the family benefits.
Val,
My one thing is thinking I can take a bite of this and a bite of that all day while I am working and not realizing how much that stuff adds up. Oh I just had a bite of cookie, so it doesn’t count right? Well it adds up and sabotages all my hard work. I am committing today to stick to my meal plans, and not take bites of snacks or tastes of this and that and think it doesn’t count. It all adds up to extra lbs, which I do not want! Thanks for the reminder. This really helps and makes things much less complicated!
One one thing is nighttime snacking. I find while watching TV, even if I’m not hungry, I get the munchies. I really have to fix that!
My “one thing” is night time snacking. I find that I can do all the right things all day and as soon as the moon rises the “snack werewolf” comes out and it aint pretty! I consume a lot of calories this way.
Since discovering Val, I’m more aware of what I eat but I need to watch how much! I’m going to try to pre portion out night time snacks. If I can’t stop myself from eating “yet” I can at least stop it from going too far. Maybe I’ll portion out fruits and veggies and nuts into little bags and have a different one each night.
I hate the morning guilt!
Jennifer, Ryan – I think getting the workout done first thing in the am is a biggie for lots of people. Maybe you could get things ready the night before ie; workouts, clothes, water etc. Then have it be your absolute must for the day. Your one non-negotiable appt. Actually, I think I need to do this too!
Theresa, Christa – Sugar is a very slippery slope. Try swamping some of your sugar treats for fruit or nuts. It will be very hard to get the body you want if you don’t get off the sugar bandwagon.
Christy – Yeah, no more kid snacks. It’s okay to plan your own healthy grown- up snack. Our metabolism is just not the same as the kids.
What’s holding me back, I believe, is having the RIGHT workout that will be fun to do 5 or 6 times a week. I get discouraged easily, so I’m looking for a workout that doesn’t take a lot of time yet produces great results for my body.
I’m not surrounded by supportive family members and when they hurt me emotionally (which is quite often), I don’t have the motivation/reason to workout. And yes, I turn to food for comfort – sweet & salty snacks.
Then, I get more depressed about the weight.
Thanks, Val (and Cody) for this opportunity.
God bless!
My one thing is that I get going and then I do too much and end up hurting myself. Its self-sabotage. I hate it, but I get so enthusiastic, I feel like I can do anything! I sadly realize too late that I cannot and then have to take long breaks and lose my momentum….argh!
My one thing is not getting back on the horse if I’ve slipped. It generally goes something like I’m ravenous or exhausted or stressed and either eat something outside of my normal healthy menu or just too much of one of my healthy options. Once that little slip occurs it’s as if I’ve “blown the whole day” and it’s an excuse to eat whatever I want and start over tomorrow, so what may have started as an extra 200 calories can turn into an extra 1000. My intention is to first examine what causes the slips to begin with – when is it true hunger vs. when is it stress? If it’s stress, wouldn’t a walk around the block serve me better than a handful of cashews? Then if the slip does occur, my intention is to accept it and immediately put it behind me and get back to my normal routine. Thanks so much Val for the perspective.
My one thing is DIET. I need to increase the veggies in my diet as well as increase my water intake. This of course will help me feel fuller but also has more nutrients than I’m getting now.
My intention is to plan my meals better every week. This means that I need to make a large salad on Sunday and then mid-week and keep it in the fridge so I can grab it quick. I need to have on hand things like cucumbers and tomatoes so I can eat them with hummus for a snack (instead of baked pita chips).
Water – My son has baseball practice every evening (now). I usually stop drinking water an hour or so before we have to leave for practice and don’t drink anything while I’m there because all they have is nasty porta-potties at the field. I would rather be dehydrated than have to go into one of those LOL. So I need to make sure to get at least 60 oz before lunch time other wise I won’t get to 80oz by bedtime. That still gives me a break in the middle so I can continue to ban the porta-potty.
Ali- I would love you try a bedtime ritual to see if you can get to sleep earlier. It absolutely make a difference.
Stephanie and Caroline- All trainers say consistency is the key. I think it is fair to say, you do know what to do. Give the plan a chance to work. And make sure you are really committed. If you were following IWMBB eating plan but only doing it 70%, you aren’t really doing it, you know what I mean?
Erin- If you snack every night, try to plan a healthier snack. It’s not always bad to have a little something but it can’t be ice cream or leftover pizza.
Amy- Motivation tends to follow action. Make yourself do at least 20 min of exercise every day for a week and see if you start to get more motivated. Also, make a new vision board and write your intentions.
Perfect timing–I had a similar discussion with my doctor yesterday. For me, the one thing holding me back is consistent workouts. I always seem to put the wants/needs of my family first, and mine somewhere down the line. I need to become more vocal about “me time” for my daily workouts. So, starting today my workouts schedule is on the family calendar, in addition to my day planner, so they know when I am unavailable. I have my fingers crossed.
My one thing is like yours! Fooling myself that I have more calories to play with than I actually do! And overdoing it on ‘special occasions’ especially where wine is concerned – and then the ability to resist desserts I would usually easily ignore disappears!
My intention is to reduce portion sizes and the calorific ‘extras’ during the week when I am eating fully clean (just had a second helping of almonds I sooo didn’t need!) and also start managing the ‘cheat’ meals differently – and reducing the wine consumption – is it just me or is it so much harder in the hot weather, just makes me want to sip cool drinks in the sunshine!!
Think my one thing is a few, oh dear….
Think I must invest in a ValSlide too, and the new DVD, for myself and clients! Do you offer online coaching programmes, other than the products by the way? My coach, Mike Mahler, is retiring from online coaching and I am looking for a new mentor – as I have a wedding (& honeymoon even more importantly) think you are the woman for the job!
Love these videos and reminds me I need to be doing more myself…
Thanks!
Caroline
I was say my one thing is consistency. I get going and I’m focused, workouts and eating are going good then the next thing I know I’ve missed 3 days!
My one thing is probably my love for Red Wine. It always seems after a few glasses of Red Wine, the next day I eat everything in sight!!! And its usually all the bad foods that I tend to eat.
My one thing sabotaging me is my emotional overeating when stressed out, or angry. I’m working on this by food journaling, planning ahead and weighing and measuring my food to stay accountable. Also, being aware of the urge to eat when I’m not really hungry, so I call a friend, or write in my journal.
Love this post, and your dog is adorable!
My one thing is not getting my mind right. Once I get my mind right, everything else falls into place – the workouts, the eating, etc. With the wrong minset, I can be my own worst enemy – be it negative thoughts, lack of motivation, or talking myself out (or into) something. I need to exercise my brain!
Maria
Kelly,Melissa – Have your tried any of my SAS-E workouts? I call them the contingency plan. When you don’t have time for a full workout you do a 15-20 min Short And Sweet Exercise. They don’t take long but deliver a full workout.
Danielly- I think we all could work on our planning. That really is the only way to stay on track. I love your idea of the white board.
Michelle- Have you tried my “I Want My Bikini Body” program? It takes the thinking out of it for you. Just follow the workouts 5-6x per week. They deliver results and they are super fun.
I feel that my one thing is, staying away from sweets. I eat super clean, and work out a lot, as I teach group ex classes and love to sweat myself! I take all the right supplements, etc. however I love love love chocolate and sweets. I don’t crave ice cream chips, soda, just chocolate. UGH! I am very fit, and have not much to worry about, however my stomach is the one “loose” area as the rest of my body if very toned and defined w/ muscle. I have had two kids and I don’t even let them eat the “treats” I do. I eat them in hiding! HELP.
I actually have “two things”
Sugar in the morning (2 cookies with coffee) and salty/savory in the evening (chips) I work out every day, so I felt justified in my indulgence, but I knew these two habits were holding me back from progressing…so I made myself stop….week two and no cookies or chips…yippy!!! It`s hard, but I have managed to substitute by replacing the cookies with a small breakfast, and went back to my “no eating after dinner“ routine – just drinking water and herbal tea when I feel the urge to “chip”. Most times I find I snack/eat because when I`m not hungry, just thirsty. Seems to be working so far. Thanks Val for your inspiring videos. Always look forward to receiving your emails and tips. Keep smiling everyone 
I have no trouble doing my work outs first thing in the morning and I can the my muscles building and I love the way I feel when I am done. During the day I eat healthy and it is no problem. But my “one thing” is the evening, my husband travels a lot and I sit alone in front of the TV at night and even so I try not to I snack, sometimes some chocolate or a glass of wine. Not too much, but definitely enough to keep me from loosing those extra points I really want
My one thing is finding a time to workout. I’m usually so swamped in work that whenever I wake up early to work out I can hear a voice inside my head telling me that I should go straight to the office or I might not get all the deadlines done, so I panic.
I want to try to workout at night (the gym stays open until 22:30), but then the trick is finding the energy to do so without ingesting extra calories (before, to have the energy, and later, because I’ll be hungry).
Any suggestions?
My “One Thing” is a glass (or 2) at the end of the day, when I should only be drinking water. It totally knocks out my motivation to get up early and exercise….but I work long hours and after an hour drive home, I like the wind down.
How do I break this cycle.
My one thing is to fight for my accomplish to get healthy, get into shape, and feeling good about myself. That is my goal!!!
my one thing is consistency… or inconsistency as the case may be!! i am a professional contemporary dancer, and the nature of the work is contract based, meaning i go from project to project, often with periods of ‘downtime’ in between… i find i am an all or nothing person – when i am on contract (and therefore doing what i love every day) i am motivated, getting up early, doing my daily yoga practice, working out, eating healthy etc… but when i am in between contracts i find i easily lose motivation, i sleep in and skip yoga, i am not as disciplined with my diet, and i find more excuses not to work out. it usually begins with needing a few days rest at the end of contracts from feeling exhausted (due to intensity of work/performances) which quickly slips into a mode of laziness/lethargy – definitely a reflection of my emotional state – as i am happiest when i am working and engaged in a physical creative process every day. which of course makes it more difficult when i begin a new contract as i have to work harder to get back to where i should be…!! i need to develop strategies to stay motivated during my downtime, to avoid the physical and emotional cycles that i put myself through.
My one thing is getting my nutrition in line with the look that I desire. I am not overweight and I believe that that is a mental block for me. Because there are no “scale” rewards I get the mentality that I can eat more cheats than my body can handle.
I have to be so very strict with my diet and portion size to see any changes in my body fat and it just gets disheartening. I want to lose the jiggle. I want to be lean and toned. I want everyone around me to stop saying” I look fine” and to stop offering me the cheats. I know that isn’t about to happen so I have to get stronger and take it upon myself to say no to the treats. Easier said than done.
My one thing is my emotional attachment to food. My workouts can be spot on but the second I have stress in my life or I’m feeling upset I reach for the junk mindlessly. Recently with exams and applying to different colleges its kind of reached a high. It frustrates me because I know that you can’t out-workout junk binges but I just can’t seem to get out of the self-sabotaging. This is my biggest thing I need to work on.
ps. congrats on the new dvd – can’t wait to buy it! x
My “one thing” that always keeps me from reaching my goals, is my belief that I don’t necessarily deserve it. I have such a hard time believing in myself when it comes to weight loss, but I do well in most other aspects of my life. When you have failed at something so many times you start to wonder if this is even for you.
I intend to be consious of myself and my actions everyday and know that I deserve my best body. I intend to plan my workouts and meal plans as strategically as I plan everything else in life. I intend to make my health a priority.
Thank you, Val! You sure made me think!!!
My one thing that is keeping me from having my best body ever is MOTIVATION. I will explain….because I am young , 21 years old, and I have an ‘average’ body already sometimes it is hard to really stick with my diet. I really enjoy exercising so thats not a problem it’s mainly diet. I know I can eat pretty much whatever I want and maintain the same weight so I lose motivation very quickly. Especially late at night when I get off work I always want to eat fattening fast food. It doesn’t help that I’m in college where everyone around me eats very poorly, so it is awkward to order a salad at times. I don’t need to lose much weight probably 10 pounds maximum. But, what I really need to do is tone up and get more motivated to stick with my diet because I know if I do then I can take my body from average to HOTT!
p.s. Thank you so much for your tips val, they are so inspiring/helpful!
My one thing: weekend eating! DH and I don’t plan our meals on the weekends, which tends to lead to grazing on junk all Saturday and Sunday.
My one thing is not writing down what I eat. Because I have no awareness of what I’ve consumed, it’s easy to abuse the “eating many small meals” philosophy. I wind up eating too many small meals… Too many desserts… Too many carbs…
Hey Val,
My one thing is to not go into the gas station when i need gas, but to just use my credit card outside, that way I won’t be tempted to get a snickers, reeses, or whatever crap I can eat. This goes back to when I was a kid and riding with my parents, when they stopped for gas, we were always allowed to get a “treat”, pretty much every time we stopped. When i go on trips, I won’t even be hungry for the stuff, but everytime I go into the gas station, I catch myself buying snacky foods. Using the credit card machine outside and not having to go in to the convenient store, has really saved me a lot of calories.
My one thing is that I don’t have in my possession the new Val Slides dvd!! I think if I had that, my dvd collection would be complete and I would be able to start seeing results that I work so hard at getting but to no avail! So, I will visualize Val picking me as one of the recipients of this dvd. Because I love her workouts! And I would feel so very lucky!!
My one thing is letting the scale determine my mood, my attitude and my worth. I’m healthy, I am a personal trainer dedicated to my own workouts and healthy lifestyle, however, when I get on the scale thinking that I should be x and then I’m a heavier y, I wonder what’s the use? I love the IWMBB3 circuits and have lost inches in the first 3 weeks but the scale didn’t budge. Luckily it was cardio day and I sweated out the frustration!
My intention is to pay attention to the inches melting away and let the scale say whatever it wants, my body is just as it should be right now and let myself go with the flow of the process.
Thanks for the IWMBB3 Val, I’m really enjoying it and I’m wondering about a joint venture with you – valslide classes in my hometown.
Cute doggie!
My one thing is I do not consistently work out (especially strength training). I get tired after my long commute and, then I end up just resting and not working out. I intend to always plan and schedule when I workout- every morning at 6 a.m.- and stick to it! To help with this, I will make a new playlist and set out my clothes ahead of time, so I can grab and go.
I just started IWMBB with my goal of looking great for a work pool party (exactly 6 weeks away!), so hopefully, this will help.
MY number one “ONE THING” would be that I get OVERWHELMED by everything which results in me having a lack of motivation to be my best self! Everyday I fight between staying home and cleaning up my mountains of mess or getting out the door to get things done while the kids are still in school. I find little to NO time for myself, or should say I make little to NO time for myself. I know until I make myself a priority things will never change. So, that is my goal ~to Make ME a priority and plan my meals, move my feet and live my best life!
My one thing is finishing off what my kids don’t eat! I hate waste and when my two kids don’t eat all of their food, I usually eat what they have left behind!
My one thing is appreciation! When I make the effort to spend some time appreciating my body and what I love about it, everything fits together: I get excited to exercise and move my beautiful body and feed it nourishing foods. When I appreciate my body I naturally do what is good for it, I feel good in it, and its all easy – the struggle to exercise and eat right just disappears.
I’m working on making it a daily habit in the morning to focus and get myself into a great feeling place regarding my body. Even if I can only find one thing I like, I find it makes all the difference!
My one thing is similar to yours….I have incredible difficulty managing my calories. Especially at lunch. I either eat at the employee cafeteria, which serves delicious food but HUGE (3x) portions, or bring in a frozen meal (ie: Lean cuisine) and then snack afterwards. And of course, that all leads to fatigue and exhaustion. I still have yet to create the discipline for scheduling meals to provide the best energy source throughout the day. And I’ve been saying this for YEARS….ugh.
Fortunately, I am pretty good at exercising most mornings. Even though that seems to be more difficult than the diet regime!
My one thing is diet!! I can’t ever seem to say NO to going out to lunch or dinner with friends!! I feel like if I have a cheat meal I can just train harder in the gym and it won’t matter! But it does matter! Calories add up & I need to be much more aware of the carlories I take in!!
xo
Mandy
I just read all the responses….we are not alone!! Thanks for the intellectual exercise. Now it’s time to refill the water bottle.
My one thing is nutrition, especially the BLTs (bites,licks,tastes). I’m sure I would be horrified to learn the calorie counts of everything off my kids’ plates that end up in my mouth! Going forward, I intend to eat only those things on my day’s menu and drink extra water while preparing dinner.
Hi everyone! My one thing is staying injury free!! In particular, it is my knees! In highschool and college I ran competitively and they are very weak. I think I’ve nursed my right one back to health but my left has gotten worse… overcompensating, maybe?
Intention:
I intend to take care of my left knee with R.I.C.E. for two weeks.
I intend to do pool workouts on cardio days.
I intend to use the foam roller everyday especially on my I.T. bands.
Rest, Ice, Compression, Elevation.
Jessica- You are really funny! We are going to put the names in a hat, so you never know. Visualization is pretty powerful!
Sherry- Hide the scale! Don’t let it ruin your day. You know the body fluctuates on a daily basis.
Andy- I think we are going to have to be more real with our calories and measure our food ahead of time. When I do this, I feel so much better.
Oh Mandy! If only we could train the calories away. It would be so much easier. But unless you Michael Phelps, I think you have to watch your calories. Even Lance does and look how hard he trains.
My one thing would have to be feeling like a perfect body is unattainable regardless of diet and exercise. An emergency c-section and then a “regular” c-section two years later left my body absolutly destroyed by stretch marks, scars, loose skin, sagging everything, and cellulite. Im not overweight, which makes me feel like even if I did tone things up and get in the best shape possible, the skin would remain, the scars would remain, and i would still be too self consious to be proud of myself. I’ve never really gotten a definitive answer on whether loose skin can be fixed by exercise, and every time I’ve been “really good” and stuck to the workouts/eating healthy for months, I see a little improvement in my arms and maybe legs, but my stomach never gets better. Eventually the frusteration gets overwhelming and i slip back into thinking ill never be able to get rid of the stretch marks or the belly button that looks like a sad little wilted flower so why try anyway.
Great video – thank you ! Really got me thinking. I’ve lost 30 lbs. so far, but am only half way there. I’ve been on a plateau for a month. I always hit this spot – everyone starts complimenting me, I get to buy some new clothes, and I start to believe “I’m there”. I have a tough time getting refocused and getting back on the wagon to get it done. My “one thing” is definitely avoiding the reality of how many calories I have REALLY consumed in a day. I REALLY avoid that reality. That seems to be the thing that gets me day in and day out – I ignore the truth and wonder “why is the scale not moving ?!”. I really need to be consistent at planning out the days menu, writing it down, and checking it off. I need to be disciplined at tracking every morsel and dealing with that reality check. Again, thanks for the video – it got me thinking AND facing my “one thing” so I can get back on track !
My one thing is planning and preparing my meals. I always seem to wait until I’m starving to choose what I’m going to eat, and of course, I always seem to make bad choices. I’m so organized in other areas of my life, I don’t know why I struggle so much with organizing my meals! I’m working on it Val!
Hey Val, my one thing is I live in Scotland and we are currently having the best summer for years. Absolutely gorgeous sunshine (we always have rain normally) so my one thing is everybody is sitting outside after work eating ice cream, chocolate etc. I do my IWBB workout after in the AM but by late PM I find it hard to resist the temptations! I’ve already lost 8 pounds so don’t want to mess it up.
I intend to avoid fatty, sugary snacks.
I intend to keep motivated with my healthy eating and be more prepared with my meals.
Thanks for the video Val. Begining to loose motivation today but feel better now!
My one thing is not being consistent with my workouts. As much as I find your workouts are great, if I dont get to bed early enough to wake up early, my whole day ends up being about when I will schedule in the workout that I missed in the morning.
I have a problem with motivation. I used to workout my my friend but she moved away so i have slacked off. My new intention is to set the alarm on my phone, like it is my friend calling to go work out, and get moving!!!
Hi Val,
My one thing is overindulging with my significant other. We both enjoy food, and thats okay, but he can eat a bit more than I can and get away with it! I believe I am the guilty party here, however, because he usually leaves the dinner choices up to me. I know that we would both eat better if I was more proactive in planning meals and if on the weekends I didn’t get lazy and order a pizza! I will admit, I saw this horrible pattern in myself about a month ago, and we talked about it, and we have been doing better, but it could definitely improve! So there it is, my one thing is being lazy-in love and not caring what I eat when I am around him and just enjoying his company. I need to make health a priority for us both and stop using our meals together as a free pass to make poor food choices.
Great idea, Val! We all have our weak points, but we don’t always take time to identify them and figure out a plan to fix them! Thanks for making us stop and think
My ‘one thing’ is making sure i have a decent meal for lunch so that i dont get hungry or tempted by mid pm ‘munchies’ or snacking with the kids when they come home from school. I’ll achieve this by planning my lunches for the week at the weekend and stocking my pantry and refrigerator with the neccesary foods so that i have the right combination of protien, complex carbs and veg to keep me full and i’ll schedule my mid pm snack for just before the kids get home so i’ll be feeling satisfied and have no need to eat what i truely dont want to be eating
i think my one thing is busy schedule. Sometimes I am so busy with everything else that I am feeling so weak and tired. but i try my hardest to workout everyday!
My one thing is similar to yours. I don’t always have the best portion control, especially around sweet stuff. I am used to only making food only for myself so one batch of something is alot and before I know it I have eaten a bigger portion than I should have. My intention is to have a better eating plan and try to portion out things when I make them by sticking them into containers and putting in the fridge or freezer. That way I won’t see a big pan of whatever sitting there and can pile it on my plate. It will already be separated out into the right sizes.
My One thing is portion control, we eat vegan so we are eating healthy. But, it is hard when “everyone” gets a 2nd helping not to do so also. I do know what appropriate portions are so that is not an issue, we even use small plates and bowls to avoid over indulging.
My new intention is to drink a glass of water before dinner (while cooking) and then have a 2nd with dinner, I leave the food on the stove and fill the plates at the stove and as soon as I am finished with “my” meal get up and put my plate in the dishwasher. If I want to really take care of the situation for “everyone” I could put the left overs in the fridge as soon as I serve dinner.
My ‘one thing’ is negative self-talk. I tend to only look at the things that I don’t like about my body instead of how many other positive changes I’m making. It doesn’t allow me to enjoy my successes like I should. Thanks to Val’s program, there’s lots of them!
Valerie- Let’s be real! There isn’t just one thing. I have a list of things that keep me from accomplishing my fitness/weight loss goal. But I ‘m going to say the ONE thing for me is INSANITY. When I know what I should be doing but don’t, that’s insanity. When I eat what I shouldn’t, that’s insanity. When I skip a workout or don’t give my all during a workout, that’s insanity. I’m gr8 for a few weeks and I see results from my efforts and then I relax and I fall back into insanity mode. My challenge for myself moving 4ward is to remain focused and consistent so I can cross that finish line that’s up ahead.
There is many things that sabotage my weight loss and training but the most important one is perfectionism mixed with procrastination. I write extensive workout plans and food calendar but I can’t put them in practice. I stop only after one or two days or don’t even start. It’s like these plans are too large and I get discourage that i won’t ever be able to do them correctly and completely. I think I have to scale down my plans and go one step at the time and be proud to have accomplish that step.
My ‘one’ thing is, and has always been ever since I was a kid, getting MORE veggies in the diet daily! I’m now understanding the true benefits of them and how by eating more of them they can affect so much more than weight…they affect how you feel and how you physically look!!
I’m doing better than I have in my entire life these days working more veggies in but they are still not something that comes automatic. I still work on this!
Great post Valerie!!
xx Mary Bess
Hi
My ‘one thing’ that I feel lets me down is my love of carbs!!!
As a family, we do have a lot of rice and curry as that is our main food (originally from Indian subcontinent). I tend to eat bigger portion that what I need – usually becuase I am hungry after I come from work and tend to over eat!
I think the way to overcome is to educate myself and practice good eating habits – eat slowly, put spoon down, chew food slowly. I also think I cab reduce my rice intake if I feel my plate with lots of greens and vegetables that I enjoy eating like carrots and peppers!!!
Hey ladies! So, I would have to say my one thing that really hinders my workouts and overall health, is my motivation. That is to say that I have a really hard time getting started, but a really easy time making all sorts of excuses to actually get started. I am going through a divorce right now, and know that one of the best things to do would be to get physical, so to speak, and turn negative energy into good. Yet I have hoards of excuses as to why I can get started later. The really irritating thing is that I am fully aware of this one thing, and yet I fall into it’s trap again and again!!!
my one thing is not logging my workouts consistently. As a runner, my garmin always kept track of how far, fast and where I’d run. With strength training, there is no gps, and if I don’t right things down, I do not progress towards attainable goals,or even have goals outlined. So, if I gotta do one thing, it’s document, document, document so I can monitor my progress and set goals. Heck, if I can do that for my clients, why don’t I do it for myself?
My one thing above all the laziness and what nots is lack of water i can work out forever and eat well but for some reason water seems like my worst enemy and any other liquid seems like heaven…so i know when i dehyrated i should just stick to water but it just seems so hard
My one thing is that I HATE to waste food. And I have two picky eater three-year-olds who don’t always (i.e., rarely) finish the food I make for them. So I finish everything which means I eat wayyyy more grains (whole grain, but still) and cheese and calories in general than I should have or even want. I’d take any helpful tips because I can’t get this one figured out
.
But I think the practical intentions to have around this are to: (1) make less of the carb-heavy food I make for my kids, (2) work with them to encourage their interest in eating more of the vegetables, fruit and fish that I like to eat so that even if they don’t finish their food, I don’t mind finishing it, and (3) make a deal with myself that if a food wouldn’t be healthy for me to eat then, and no one else wants it, it’s okay to compost.
i know! i know!! must be more careful with calories!! *note to self*
My one thing is actually two things lol…first its diet, eating clean has always been a problem for me and then actually putting the time in to do some serious workouts
After watching the tape I really started to think and it didn’t take long to come up with my one thing. I have a really hard time taking time for myself. I love to workout but it seems I always let something else get in my way. Family, friends, housework, etc. At that point I can find a thousand reasons why I should take care of everyone elses needs before my own. Then I am to tired to do something for myself. It is amazing how fast we forget about ourselves as women. I really want to take that one thing and turn it around and take time for me.
Hi Val,
I believe the one thing that hinders me is total commitment. I will be 60 in July and have always been comitted year round to health. The last 2 years I have not had total commitment. I have variety in my exercises so that I don’t get bored. I eat nutritious food but probably too much of the good stuff. I work the 7P- 7A shift so on those days I do eat during the night. Usually fruit with dip or a salad. Since menopause my shape is different, but I know that if I can get my mojo back I can win this battle. I always had a flat stomach and no love handles but during this period of my life I now am battling tummy bulge ans love handles. I have started your exercise program again and my booty sure hurts today.
Your dog is adorable!!!!
CHOCOLATE, very dark, that’s my one thing times 10…can’t out train my bad habits!
My one thing is the fact that I don’t handle unexpected changes well. If a project is due earlier than expected or if a friend calls to get drinks because we haven’t seen each other in a while and they finally have time, then all of my planned meals and exercise regimes go out the window to accommodate the unforseen events. I wish I could cope better without derailing all of my good intentions that I’ve set for earlier that week.
It’s winter here in Australia so the colder, darker mornings make it really hard to want to get out of bed in the morning, which is not normally a problem during the warmer seasons. I need to stop saying to myself, “Just five more minutes in this lovely warm bed.” and start saying, “This is my day, come on, let’s make the most of it!”
For me it is STRESS. Meaning I will plan my meals ( I keep a journal), I chop all the vege’s and fruit before but I keep “picking, nibbling”. I need to control or change how I manage/deal with stress. It is so funny I got this video today, because I made a promise to myself that I will not be doing this anymore, I don’t like the way it makes me feel. And no amount of cardio will burn it off. So thank you for this Valerie, now I am even more determined to stick to my plan. Thank you.
I’ll be 50 in September and, within the last 9 months, have become a grandfather twice. Christian Scott, my eldest grandson was born last September and Conner Nicolaus was born in January.
I want to live long enough, and healthfully enough, to be able to play with them and be an inspiration to them well into my later years.
That’s why I eat well, train often and encourage others to do the same.
As a fitness professional I tell people my sole purpose in life to help people to die very young, very late in life. And what better way than to do that myself.
Thanks Val.
SP
My one thing is my ability to rationalize eating things I know I shouldn’t. I know I should stick to my eating plan, not have that cookie, don’t eat too late, don’t have wine tonight, etc… but I can talk myself into doing it – I’ve already blown my diet for today so why not, I haven’t blown my diet today so why not, it’s only a small piece, but I like to bake, because I want it that’s why, this is quality time with my daughter and it includes snacking, I’m never going to lose all this weigh anyway, I can come up with some reason to give into my desire even though I know it is holding me back. How to stop it? If I knew that I wouldn’t be doing it anymore. Being a confirmed pessimist makes it hard to mentally slap myself into behaving. Suggestions are welcome.
the one thing that’s holding me back is viewing exercise as a chore, I should find a workout program that’s as enjoyable as it is effective because what i’m doing now
(exercise bike, lifting weights) is bulking me up and making me hate exercise when I know I should enjoy it.
My one thing I would have to say has to do with my diet. I do understand food very well some may think I am extreme but because of this I don’t plan I just think I can make it up as I go along but it doesn’t work because I do sabotage it by having to many calories, having foods I shouldn’t because I haven’t planned and my portion sizes are way to big. For me the best thing I need to do is clean up my diet and plan plan plan stick to the menu do my weekly shop instead of daily and stop leaving everything up to chance.
Well my intention which I have already put into play is to stick to a meal plan. I am using one that is written by one of Australia’a top personal trainers and Val you would so love her food. She is a Nazi with portion control just like you also. But the best part is I love healthy food I always have and it brings me great joy I can’t wait till I get to try all the recipes.(I ate kangaroo for the very first time last night- it wasn’t bad) I feel confident and comfortable as all the thinking and the work involved in the meal plan is done all I need to do is follow it. Which I am! Accompanied by Val’s workout and I am expecting to get back into fighting form.
I need to stop eating in front of the computer. I have gotten into the habit of having food and a drink while I read emails or search the web. In the morning I have coffee and a healthy breakfast. When I return from work I have wine or beer with cheese or a salty snack. Then I don’t feel like cooking. It,s a pattern that has become habitual. I need to find a beverage choice that will satisfy me and not be calorie intensive. Anyone have any suggestions?
Jenny
My “one thing” that sabotages me from achieving my best body is relying on the fact that I am in already pretty good shape, compared to the average person. So I will skip workouts and not eat the best choices because I feel it’s not that big of a deal, or wont have that big of an affect. But the truth is it’s holding me in a plateau! It’s a hard habit to break, but it will be broken! No more settling, and one more set of backwards lunges!
My one thing is the same as you Val. I always think I can eat more than I can. I am really good about the quality of the food I eat, it’s the volume sometimes. I am a runner and when I am getting in as much running as I would like to I need to eat a lot more. Then I get super busy with work and stuff and my runs are shorter or less frequent and next thing you know….clothes mysteriously shrink a bit. Sometimes things just get so busy and you think your next run will be longer and then you find yourself two weeks later still only able to get in the minimum yet still eating the way you do when you are a running machine. I am also really good about not skipping my strength circuit training. Thank God! LOL
Hey Val,
My ‘one thing’ would have to be eating when no one else is around and pretending to myself that it doesn’t count. If no one saw me do it, it couldn’t possibly have happened!
I intend to start an honest food diary. This way I can get an idea of how many calories I am consuming per day and hopefully get that beach body!
Thanks for another great vid!
Love from England x
Discipline! That is my one thing!
After busy periods come quieter ones 
I have a very demanding job (event management) with lots of overtime. And I feel it is hard to stay disciplined and cnsistent when having worked for 12 hours and then come home, and work out.
Most of the time I am cranky, tired and hungry when I come home, because it is late in the evening and I had a (healthy) snack, but no real dinner yet. I have difficulties working out before dinner, as I am just too hungry, but after dinner: I would need to wait two hours, and then it is already bed-time…
Getting up earlier to start the day with a workout, I sometimes do whn I am in my over-the top phases, but frankly, I need my sleep… So I try to do at least three days a week your programme, but then I seem to squeeze in only 1 day of (interval) jogging.
I know 3 to 4 days a week working out is fine, but I would love to be able to work out according to your programmes (6 days a week).
I have been making and following a workout schedule, which worked wonders when I was in quiter times with work, but I am already skipping workouts again now that it gets busier again… Well… positive thinking!
My “one thing” is eating my twins left overs!!! No matter how healthy it spells Over Eating!!!! I’ve gained 4 pounds. That may not sound like allot but when you’re petite, it seems like 50. In any event, I have started implementing 3-4 times of card in addition to my other workouts. I’ll let you know howxit all goes. And then some more WALKING LUNGES.
A
First off…really awesome video Val! Also love how you ended it with a “City Slickers” scene~very cool way to wrap it all up.
For me, getting a fit and healthy body all starts with your mind set. My “one thing” that plays the biggest role in achieving a successful transformation simply comes down to accepting myself for where I am at this very moment in time. It is the realization that if I am in a place of unhappiness with my body, I cannot and will not be able to move forward with any progress until I take responsibility for the place I am currently in and just accept it for what it is. When you take responsibility for the state of your physical condition and some of the poor choices you have made, you can then “step up” and get serious with yourself. No excuses, no one else to blame. Just honesty with yourself. Once you’ve reached that place of acceptance, you will begin to make positive changes, because the negative ones no longer serve you. You then begin to believe that you are worthy enough to achieve any goal you set for yourself. Your better choices and decisions also become easier. And, over time, all just seems to fall into place. It all starts with the mind~accept yourself right now, make that choice to change, follow through and succeed. No pill, powder or infomercial can ever give you that. Only you have that power. It’s where is all starts and ends.
My”One Thing” is having a cocktail or 2 when I get home from work. I really think it’s out of boredom. My youngest daughter who is the only one living home now, is never home so I am always alone. I think what I need to do is try to go back to the gym directly after work and do more cardio. I am at the gym every morning at 5:30 am before work and I work out hard! But I think if I force myself to go back to the gym, I won’t feel like having cocktails afterward.
My “one thing” has to be my diet; although it is very much related to stress management as well. Like others have mentioned above, I also have a stressful job. Stress really just robs you of the motivation and discipline to eat well. When I am overwhelmed and stressed, I find it incredibly difficult to say no to
“comfort food” that is not necessarily the most healthy food either. I am really working on doing more meditation and deep breathing to manage my stress and I am hopeful it will have a positive effect on my food choices/diet as well.
My one thing is procrastination. I am always putting things off, acting as if “I’ll start eating better . . . tomorrow” or “I’ll work out . . . later” is actually going to happen, when it doesn’t. I am always putting off until tomorrow what I can do today, what i can maybe do RIGHT NOW! I have to choose to just do it, as the old slogan used to go.I have to choose what is right over what is easy, one step at a time, one meal at a time, one day at a time, not unlike someone in a 12-step program. Because at the end of the week, month, year, where do I want to be? In the same place I started? No. And it’s up to only me–only I can make that difference in to my own routines.
My one thing will be looking forward to a tub of ben & jerry’s every evening after dinner as I feel that is my treat for being healthy during the day. I guess I need to set my mind on healthier treats & not be thinking of Ben & jerry’s ice cream as a treat. Maybe I could have a fruit smoothie instead? I guess that could be a possible solution to my one thing.
My one thing is staying up too late. I need to make myself go to bed earlier as otherwise I wake up and keep hitting the snooze button on work days, or slob around waiting to feel more awake at the weekend. This means that I keep putting off my exercise sessions.
My one thing is not tracking what I eat. I’ve lost 25 pounds while keeping a food journal. I have 10-15 pounds still to go and am at a plateau. What did I stop doing? Keeping the food journal! I think I know how much I am eating but it is harder to convince yourself you were “good” that day and deserve a little treat when you are over on your calories per the journal.
My intention is to get back to tracking what I put in my mouth.
I guess I have two things combined that hold me back: Dedication and self destruction. I will dive full force into a workout and diet routine for a few weeks, but burn out really quickly. I make excuses for myself that I need a break. This does not help me since I have hit a plateau. I start to feel guilty and will eat and be lazy and convince myself that I’ll be back at it the next day. Then I start thinking that I have gained tons of weight and wonder how others view me. This then gives me motivation to start my cycle all over again.
My one thing is thinking it’s ok to eat not so clean when I’m tired or stressed or over-worked. I have a new baby and she’s been pretty challenging, and I’m also working full-time from home. Sometimes it’s just easier and so nice to have some less-than-healthy food delivered or to have a delicious sweet baked thing (brownie, pastry, etc.). Exercise is not my issue, but eating sure can be!
My “one thing” is “rewarding myself” with food. I’ve been doing really good about getting up early in the morning to workout, increasing veggies, drinking more water,and eating healthy meals. So at the end of the day or week, I’ll say to myself: ” you did really well this week – you deserve some wine, or a brownie, or some ice cream.” The same goes for when I go out to eat, which isn’t very often. So I’ll say :” You hardly go out, you deserve to be treated ‘every once in awhile’ “. So I order wine AND dessert AND have some bread.
I’ve literally just had an “AH-HA” moment!! I need to stop rewarding myself with food!!!!!
I INTEND and COMMIT to stop rewarding myself with food!!!! Instead, when I feel deserving; I will get a massage, or pedicure, or some other reward that does not contain calories!!!!
My one thing is that I play roller derby and once every month I travel out of town to play. The problem is several things, I feel like I need to “carb-up” the day before, I’m at the mercy of where the group goes to eat, I feel like I NEED gatorade to make it through the game and then I drink at the after party which leads to crappy eating the following day. It seems like that one weekend a month is keeping me stuck at my current weight.
My intention is to make the following changes (I’ll have the opportunity to try them out this weekend!) I’ve been experimenting with using sweet potato as my carb before games and it is working well, I’m going to go to a grocery store when we get there so I can stock up on good food choices (I’m bringing a soft-sided cooler in my bag). I’ve found a brand of unsweetened coconut water that I can drink in place of gatorade. I’m going to drink more water at the after party so I can stick to my eating plan the next day!
Thanks Val for all your inspiration and motivation!
My one thing is portion control. Last week, I bought smaller dinner plates for my husband and I to use. I am also going to really pay attention to the food I’m eating and how and when I feel full.
My one thing is allowing the number on the scale to derail me because the results of my efforts do not necessarily show up on my chosen day to weigh myself. I will journal, drink water, do cardio (which I hate), strength train (which I love) and when the scale doesn’t move on Saturday, my designated weigh in, I go eat Twizzler’s or MacDonald’s. I need to recognize that if I am doing the right things, the results will come; my clothes will fit better, I will feel better. My body doesn’t know that Saturday is the day to produce the “prize;” but the rewards will come if I continue to do what I have been doing.
My one thing is …
I get too comfortable for too long. There really is no such thing as maintenance, being healthy and eating right is a way of life and every little thing DOES count!
My one thing is planning and executing my weekends differently. I need to work on my total calories consumed over the weekend. My week days are usually super clean, weekends are my challenge. I am going to start planning this weekend!
My one thing is waiting too long to eat so when I sit down to eat I over eat because I allowed myself to be too hungry for too long.
My one thing is that I have a 15 year old daughter that is special needs. I have to schedule my workouts around what works best for her. She’s suffered for over a year with panic attacks and depression on top of her special needs. During this period I stopped working out and added stress eating. Lately she’s been recovering and has even joined me in some workouts including using the ValSlides.
My one thing I do which prevents me from having the body I want is having a bite or two of say cake or chocolate here and there. I follow a meal plan but then I have a bite or two of something I shouldn’t every so often and then I think to myself that my meal plan isn’t working!
My one thing is treating the weekend differently than the week especially food. During the week I can rock out my intentions and eat really clean and consistently but I just lose it on the weekends. And I have to admit, even though I’ve been doing Val’s programs for a while I’ve never planned out my meals on the weekends. I always plan them during the week or at least have lots of healthy meals prepped that I can pull together to take to work. I’ve never done this for the weekend and I’m just realizing this! Agh! What have I been thinking!? Definitely need to start planning weekend meals and especially planning what meals will be my cheats
My one thing, is my lack of focus on me. I am really good at allowing the demands of a stressful job to creep up and distract me from focussing on managing a good work/life balance, When my stress increases the next thing I know I’m making excuses for having no time for exercise, no control over my meal portions, and no acknowledgement of what I’m putting into my mouth. Overindulgence at its best. I know I’m doing it, but when I’m in the ‘excuse zone’ its so easy for me to blame stress. To break out from the ‘excuse zone’ (which is getting harder each time), I take a mini-break away from the office and refocus on things important to me – reset the mind and focus on the important things in my life and ME.
Hi Val, I recently retired (5 months ago) and although I am happy about being retired making the adjustment from regiment to volition has been very challenging for me. I didn’t expect the transition to feel like it’s been feeling (which is not bad, but not good). All my young to middle age life I’ve been active, very athletic and most of this time exhibited good shape/fitness as well as very good health. I am divorced have three grown children (43,42,37). I’ve been dating the same man for 10 years and I have decent support from friends and have a moderate social life. Menopause for me brought weight gain and hopelessness initially, but I was very surprised to realize that many of my so called friends instead of supporting and helping me (as I did them) find better solutions for what life changes can present, everybody seemed to just be ashamed of what was happening to me and hoping they wouldn’t catch “IT”. Folks went on Jenny Craige, NutriSystem and the Master Cleanse. Everybody has gained and lost over and over again. Long story short Val, I know now that yes I would like to have a fitness friend or friends, unfortunately my associates are very competitive or controlling. It’ tough when nobody loves nobody. Well the other day I experienced a symptom of the lack of excersize and it dawned on me I was on the wrong track going nowhere. Well I wrote myself a letter about what I must do inorder to enjoy the rest of my life successfully . It’s the most important revelation I’ve discovered since entering my sixties. I got the Valslides and as soon as I get re-acclimated they will be an important tool to my better lower body strengthening. I also believe and know I will share with other new people I meet on my road to impoving my health and fitness in the very near future. Thank you so much Val for being a caring and dedicated human being.Your dog is so shiny and just beautiful. Love Raja
Cody is the man!!! we want more Cody!
and Val
I am bipolar II and I’m grapple sometimes with staying focused on a target.
The two times I lost weight I had a strong motivation which overrode my self sabotage
Not planning my workouts around the things I have planned during the week nights. I do my workouts at night after work (I am NOT a morning person). but I make plans and I know that that night I have a workout to do and I find myself sliding the workouts around and even missing some…even though I know and have proof that the workouts are actually working and very important to me…I have a hard time between want and need…(Don’t we all) but I am working on it…its just my new body has given me a new confidence and I find I am wanting to socialize more now that I am not afraid to be seen.
Val, (from Japan to everyone in the U.S. and beyond) Though I’ve been following you for almost a year and a proud owner of 14 pairs of slides (I’m an instructor/trainer and don’t have that many legs) this is my first comment. We have communicated privately once. I still owe you a video of my bootcamps in Tokyo. Yes, I use the slides outside on concrete. Sliding is so great that I am willing to sacrifice them, but they are holding up well. I should get 18-24 months out of my outdoor set. Here is my comment: the one area that affects everyone is confusing tomorrow with today. You can call it time management if you will. Who doesn’t say I’m too tired today so I’ll work out harder tomorrow, or I’ll have that piece of cake tonight and I will eat less tomorrow. A day lost is just lost. You can’t get it back. There are no do overs. Turn it around and add something positive today, right now. Is it taking a noontime walk, cutting out some white carbs at dinner, drinking no-cal beverages all day. Reverse your psychology to grow everyday. It isn’t hard, but it takes focus. It starts with the most unused muscle of the body, your brain. As they say, use it or lose it. Your brain leads and your body will follow. It has no choice!!! A great book to read that Alwyn Cosgrove recommened, Flip It by Michael Heppell. This book is fantastic to improve our life day at a time. Everyone, use the 24 hours positively.
Good luck everyone. Lunging in Tokyo. Steve
My major 1 thing is definitely not getting enough sleep. My minor 1 thing is being too hard on myself. They go hand in hand most often. Sometimes I feel like I should work harder when in reality I should relax more. I’m aware of it and working on it…slowly:)
Autopilot: ON. At 5:00am, I am not to be trusted making decisions. I’m quite sure this is a Libra thing.
If I allow myself to be driven by mood swings as far as what form of exercise I’ll do on what day (yoga, weights, cardio), I’ll surely end up doing nothing. So, I’ve learned to plan my mood swings in advance, then if I skip a day, I just pick up where I left off. Twice a week, however, I do allow myself to be abducted and quite literally driven. I leave work, walk to my car, and 15min later find myself changing clothes at the gym with no recollection of driving there. Apparently, my car is also in on the autopilot conspiracy, but that’s okay, because it’s helped me lose that annoying 10lbs and improve my lung capacity!
MY ONE THING IS…..The “I’ll start working out or eating healthy tomorrow” syndrome. And the really weird thing is: “tomorrow” never seems to come!
Hey Val, I live a very stressful life, so sugars and carbohidrates make me feel happy (at least for a while), I workout 30 min a day for 3 to 4 days a week, but my eating habits don´t aloud me to loose any weight, plus I really need to work on my “planning ahead meals”. I just feel I need more energy and commitment to make it work. I´m working on it, and your videos and comments are really useful. Thanks!
My one thing, is that I am a night owl. I end up staying up much later than I should be, so that the next day I am super tired and all the more hungry. I end up eating more and more of the wrong things, because I am craving the sugar to keep me awake.
My one thing is my 4:00 snack-habit. I eat like a spartan the rest of the day, but around 4:00, even if I’m away from the office, I look forward to some sinfully delicious snack, like ho ho’s, or ice cream. What I need to do is switch out my cake-time for a big, juicy apple, but it’s been tough!
My “one thing” Is letting Life distract me too quickly. I get myself all pumped up and decided that THIS time I’m really going to do it…and then life’s busyness and conveniences get in the way and steal my time.One thing I am getting better at is changing my thinking- for example, instead of feeling like I’ve earned time to sit in front of the TV after a long work day,I reward myself that time by doing some sort of work out session first. It seems to be helping. Mind over Matter!
Hi Val, thanks for the “1 thing” discussion…it really helped me pinpoint what my issue is. After much contemplation, I realized that my biggest sabotaging action is not making myself (or my health) a priority. Being a stay-at-home mother usually means taking care of everyone else’s needs first…your child(ren), your spouse, etc. It seemed selfish of me to take time away from them just so that I could work out. But, now I realize that it’s extremely important and necessary to keep myself healthy (not only for myself but for my family). What could be a better gift than a long, healthy life together, right? So my intention is two-fold: 1.) to re-prioritize my day so that I can focus on my well-being and 2.) to NOT feel guilty about it because it truly benefits the entire family.
I have such good commitment to my workouts. I have exercised well all my adult life. I’m now 41. I’m awesome at motivating myself and I love the buzz exercise gives to me. I would say I’m addicted to exercise although I don’t go overboard with it, I do a good balance of chi kung, yoga, classical ballet, light weights, valslide, bellydance, hypoxi to name a few. I like to mix it up to keep my body guessing. I find I hit plateaus doing the same thing all the time if I don’t mix it up. Variety is the spice of life they say. I also get massages once a week I do dry skin brushing daily for my skin tone. I love it. My diet is very good. As I do a variety of workouts, its fun designing the perfect meal plans for each day. Everyday is different so I get quite scientific with my exercise / diet regime. Saying all that, I do have 1 thing that holds me back. I have my perfect body apart from some cellulite on the back of my legs that is soooooo hard to get rid of ( which is slowly going….sloooowly). I’ve dedicated this year to stay focused and on track with my workouts/diet plan and have got such great results but the one thing that I think is making it hard for me to get fight my cellutlite is Alcohol. Tequila to be exact and maybe some wine. Don’t get me wrong I don’t drink everyday, although I used to drink so much more years ago, the young and party days, but this last year, I have cut back to maybe one drink a week or even less. But recently for some reason I seem to be catching up with friends alot more and the tequila has been a great winter warmer. I love the warm, charged feeling I get from it, especially when I’ve had long, hard, cold days at work and then the weekend is upon us. I’ll have one shot to unwind, without thinking I do a few more shots by then end of the night. It seems hard for me to resist if its around when I’m catching up with friends on a weekend. It’s a great social drink for us. We even have a saying if someone asks what time is it… We’ll say “Shot o’clock!” and do a round of shots. It’s a silly ritual, but then tequila is a silly drink. So right now after watching your vid, I know this is my one thing, and its one thing that I have to cut. Alcohol is detrimental to my health, and goals I want to achieve. I don’t have more than 4 shots in the one session, a session maybe once a week or once a fortnight, sometimes less, but I feel the poison the next day. Even if I haven’t had alcohol for weeks and have a wine with dinner on the odd occasion, I still feel it. So my one thing is alcohol, and my intention is to stop the “shot o’clock times” and be stronger in my will to refuse alcoholic drinks when socializing, and I will have to pack alternative substitutes like green tea, more filtered water, maybe even low calorie warm soup, something healthy when I go visit friends and family.
Well, honestly there are at least 40 things!
The main one would be trying to heal the bad habit I’ve had since I was a child of not eating until all day and then eating 10 things at once. I used to never eat breakfast, throw away my lunch and then come home after school and just EAT! Eating 3 times a day is hard enough and 5 times a day seems like a full time job. But this is 1 of my 40 things
Hey there Val,
Thanks for your video. I am definitely an evening workout person. I work from 8am to anywhere between 17 and 18:30. (and although I love working out, any workout before 8am is just torture for me) So it gets tough to go home and get motivated immediately to workout. I am pregnant at the moment, and am trying to continue staying fit and eating right. But I find that I am always hungry when I get home, so my ‘one thing’ would be to resist those Nachos and salsa (who have become my oh so fantastic friends) and eat right and small meals, and then once I rest a bit, get back on track and do a light (good for pregnant woman) exercises. It is just so tough to organise the right foods to eat in the evening, when the body is just calling out ‘nachos – nachos- nachos’ smile. But I will get better! I have too! What is good for me is also good for the baby! I know!
My one thing is binge eating when I get home from work. I eat a variety of things even if I have already had a snack an hour before. It is like I walk through the door and there is a trigger making me go straight to the kitchen. I eat well at work, it is something about coming home from work because I do not do this on the weekends. This one thing keeps me from reaching my goal of my best body ever.
My one thing is A GLASS OF WINE. I will have eaten clean all day, done my exercise, worked a full workday at the office, got in all of my motherhood chores, housecleaning chores and being-somebody’s-wife chores and then I sit down at 8:00 p.m. with what is supposed to be ONE glass of wine. The problem is that the ONE glass of wine lowers my resistance and then I have a second glass. Then I head to the pantry to look for salty snacks to have with my wine. Alcohol really weakens one’s commitment…you know how at parties people start drinking and as the alcohol hits them, they begin flirting (or worse!) behind their partners’ backs? For me, when the alcohol hits me I go for what I really want (not flirting with some sucker) but….SALTY, FATTY SNACKS.
WHAT I PLAN TO DO TO REPLACE MY “ONE”GLASS OF WINE: take a bubble bath.
My one thing sabotaging my bikini body is that i don’t have a set routine with predetermined rotations.
My thing would be putting me FIRST, believing that everything else can wait, and that my workouts are more important than house work or other chores.
I work Mon-Friday, 8 to 5. You know the song by Loverboy..”Everybodys working for the weekend”, well come 5 o’clock on Friday, (here’s my one thing) I somehow change my way of thinking, and I feel like it’s Friday, it’s time to treat myself for all the hard work I’ve done all week. I eat and exercise about 99.9% spot on all week long, and on the weekends I have the hardes time. I guess it’s because my weekends aren’t structured like my weekdays. Also, I like to treat myself to a couple of cold beers and relax and that fuels my appetite for snacking, and I KNOW that’s another one of my “one things”.
Thanks to Kelly O for suggesting your blog, and thanks to you for this discussion. It’s really made me think!
Wow – what a great turn out!! So for me – realizing there is really no such thing as maintenance – I mean I do know this – but I keep trying to figure out how to make it work – I do keep up with my workouts- they are just part of my day now, but food wise – wine sneaks in, PB cup ice cream sneaks in more than once a week, going out to eat more than once a week happens – and I do feel I make good choices, but there is bread, there is wine, there may be some sweet potato fries… daily trips to the vending machine sneak back in – I mean I’m getting my workouts in – I should be able to have a treat here and there right… WRONG… it adds up – so with all that I’m up 8 lbs and 6 inches in 7 short weeks – time to get back to the RCR way of living – and yes it is a life style change.. I’m starting to realize that maintenance is part of a fantasy world that we don’t live in… Thanks Val for all your continued support – and constant reminders on how to keep it real xoxo!
My ‘one thing’ is that I never seem prepared for dinner. I eat well all day, and suddenly it is dinner and I am stumped.
My plan is to plan out my weekly menu ahead of time and then create a grocery list based on my plan. No excuses.
This way, I can eat my leftovers for lunch the next day and know that I am getting a well rounded, nutritious meal.
Thanks for the reminder Val.
My one thing that will either keep me on track derail me instantly is the getting the workout done before I get sucked into ANYTHING else. My daughter joins me after her breakfast and we either run around the livingroom or go outside…or both. If I get this workout done in the morning, the rest of the day unfolds in a much healthier way.
This week I made the intention to do 3 workouts in the morning — and start them before 8am. So far so good!
My one thing would be my mind…. Let me explain, I can have a vision in my mind of what I want my body to look like and I understand what that takes, eating clean and working out. What I tend to do is become consumed with all those thoughts and then my mind starts to go in a negative direction than I feel discouraged as if I cannot get where I would like to be with eating clean and working out. In a sense I give up thinking that it truly is not possible for me to look and feel the way I desire! I must say the valslides looks like it would feel like I am having fun more than working out. There’s a concept I should try focusing on the fun rather than the workout
. Val your great! Thank you for the tips and info you provide and the encouragment! XOXO
I’m not a slim girl. Ever since running my first couple miles in 7th grade, I feel like I have always had overly muscular quads and thighs, so I always avoid strength training because I think that will help me look slimmer. Avoiding any sort of weights and strength exercise has always been my ONE THING. It’s just a mental block of mine that if I do it, it will give me more of the body I do not want. However, ever since following all of the diet rules with Val, I am slimmed down on my pant size, I feel great, and now realizing that Val may be onto something (sarcasm!), I will set a goal to attend the Body Shop class at my gym at work. The class focuses on using freeweights, a body bar, and your own body weight to build strength and I think that will be a good start for me.
I don’t like the idea of strengh training but I do like the idea of working musecles without having to lift weights which is why I love my Valslides.
My “one thing” is definately consistency. It is something i have always struggled with. In relation to working out, i find i am very determined to workout consistently but due to illness or family illness i am always stopping and starting which i know even a week makes a difference. So my intention to stop this is to vow to workout at least 3 times a week for the rest of this year. In relation to food, i can be eating very clean for a few months or even weeks and then cave when i see the temptation of desserts at work and find myself nibbling and craving take aways along with fries and bread. Even though at first i feel bad eating the junk, i seem to be unable to stop myself from caving at dinner time. So my intention for this is to remember the “sick” feeling i get when i eat these foods and instead find something else to put in its place that might not even be food, for example riding my horse, walking my dogs etc. I think if i can conquer my inability to be consistent and make eating right and working out part of my daily routine, like having a shower and brushing my teeth, I will be more healthy meaning that i won’t be catching so many bugs from my work place and i will be a happier being. Life has to be enjoyed and i know that i enjoy life more when i am strong inside and out. My wedding is now 9 weeks away (from last saturday) and i have already started out my intentions here and have got my 3 IWMBB 3.0 workouts in since saturday and i feel great. It has been tough jumping back in but i feel so much happier already. Thanks Val for all you have done for me!!!! Anna
My one thing is that I don’t cook and I’m not a food driven person…which means that when I get hungry, it’s all about refueling more than it’s about satisfying a particular craving. This means I’ll often reach for what’s available or easiest as far as food instead of taking the time to prepare what’s healthiest for me. I work out for a living and since I’m constantly burning calories, I get hungry pretty easily. I end up snacking a lot and probably ruining a few good calorie burns which these high caloric snacks. My intention is to plan ahead for hunger bursts and keep better tabs on what I’ve eaten throughout the day so that I can make sure to get the right amounts of proteins, carbs and veggies. I’d like to take some basic cooking classes to become more familiar with food preparation. If I can quickly whip up healthy dishes I’ll be a lot less likely to fall into the habit of grap&go snacking which I tend to regret later.
My one thing is that I don’t have the energy I always feel so tired and I don’t now why it is most likely because I am over weight.I really want that beach body but, a lot of times I am eating the wrong foods I don’t eat junk food but, I am still taking in a lot of calories that I don’t need.I really need to put in a game plan for my self and stick with it.I just don’t now what is the right foods that I should be eating.I have been over weight for quiet some time now and I really need to change that for my over all well being.I ordered your red carpet ready kit and I have good feelings about it I just need to get motivated so I can start working out.the one thing that will do it for me is my health I do not want any health problems.
My one thing is balance. Well that’s actually a multi-facted thing encapsulated under one umbrella term. When I’m overtired, overworked and overstressed everything seems to fall apart despite all of the knowledge I’ve attained as a result of my fitness and nutrition fixation over the last few years. If Val and the RCR program have taught me anything it’s that I have to shoot for a balance mode that works for specifically for me and my lifestyle and to customize my nutrition and exercise accordingly. I’ve now learned to do whatever it takes to keep me glued to my own version of the program even if what I need to do is not “by the book” so to speak. Whether it’s cutting my workouts down to 15-20 min. when times are hectic or I’m sleep deprived or eating some fruit or healthy carbs at night to stave off a binge, as long as I stick to my personal version of our RCR program, I’ll be in relatively good shape and strutting the skinny jeans. I’m doing this for life and I’m determined to get it right for the long haul.
Val and the RCR programed have transformed my life in a major way for which I will be forever grateful. xoxo
My one thing is my “manana syndrome.” I have a constellation of beliefs that all add up to the wrong conviction that today doesn’t really count and that I can’t really go for it right now. I tell myself that my weight is ok, no need for emergency action. I tell myself that I am too busy or too much going on right now or on vacation and that I don’t need to bother with clean food today. I tell myself that I am still right on the edge with my age, and so I don’t have to be concerned with the diabetes or cardiovascular problems that seem to be prevelant in my family. So my intention is to wake up with the belief that today counts; it is the only thing I have; and positive self regard requires that I put all my effort into living fully today!
My one thing is getting overwhelmed by EVERYHTING! The dinners out, then weighing myself in the morning, staying up too late, learning how to count calories, skipping a work out, late night ice cream, too much wine and eating the next day, not being able to resist the snacks at work….and so on and on and on.
The answer: Chill out. I am turning 50 next month and am finally starting to count calories. I am a spin instructor and just completed my first marathon (NYC) last November. Physically I am very healthy and feel great! I am working on a plan and realizing that the plan cannot be partitioned but needs to be a whole working plan. If I fail in one part then I need to pull from the other parts to stay on track. I know it sounds deep but psychologically this is what keeps me on track. If I have a plan to say for instance that I will have wine with dinner, I will have the salad and small appetizer to balance. If I am not able to make my 2 work outs that day I will have a healthy snack of carrot sticks and apples with low fat cheese at dinner time. Also, one very important thing is for me to realize that I am positively motivated. Negitivity demotivates me so I do not beat myself up if I miss something or overindulge in something. I remind myself of all the things I do during the day that I am not counting such as, walking my dogs (not included in my work out), drinking a poland springs rasberry sparkling water (no calories) instead of a soft drink or having the arugala salad instead of the fried appetizer because I like it better. It is all about balance in your life which includes the physical part. I fall of the wagon sometimes and my one thing which is everything IS something that can be overcome with the right mindset. It’s like I tell my spin students….you body will do what your mind tells it to!
Val–thank you for the inspiration. I live in the NY area and heard you as a guest on WPLJ’s Scott and Todd’s morning show. I have quoted you often! I just started getting your emails and love them! I would love to try the Valslides ; )
Great video, Val! My one thing is definitely consistency. I have an all or nothing attitude~if I am not 100% in my diet or exercise, then I decide that I might as well completely give in regarding my diet and I decide that it is not even worth exercising for that day. I don’t always maintain clean eating and regular exercise consistently. I need to change my standards a bit, not expecting 100% perfection in clean eating and exercise, and follow it more consistency. Establishing and maintaining a great body is a lifestyle, not something that is either completely off track or completely on. I need to realize that a 15 minutes workout is better then none at all and that one small treat doesn’t mean I need to completely give into eating everything bad that I can find because I have already not been perfect. I am continuing to work on a lifestyle that allows me to reach my goals but is something that I can consistently follow.
My intention is that I will develop a plan that is reasonable…4 workouts per week (not my ideal of 6) and if I decide to eat a small treat, I will enjoy it and quickly get back on track. I will lose the mentality that if I am not perfect, I may as well quit for the day or week and start again on Monday. Consistency!!
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My ONE THING is not consistently eating healthy meals and snacks throughout the day.
My job is very demanding and I am always on the go, and wind up either going for hours without any nutrient intake or hitting a drive through for a coffee and bagel. By the time dinner time arrives I am so tired and do not even feel like eating, and I know by body is now hanging on to whatever I eat because of the lack of consistency
My long term plan is to make my snacks and luches the night before and make them simple and practicle enough that if I have to eat while in my car I can, and know that I am getting the proper diet that I need to obtain the body that I want….
One thing, Val?? I have MORE than one thing! However, I will pick the one that stands out the most. I am going to have to choose SELF DOUBT. Doubting that I can get the body that I most want, on my own. Doubting that I deserve to reach that goal. Doubt is a dangerous thing. It sabotages my good works and brings me back to square one.
The truth is, I know I’m deserving of health and a body I feel great about. I believe that is the way my maker intended it. So thanks for helping me take a look at one of my “one things”
so that I could remind myself I AM DESERVING!
My one thing is inconsistency with my workout schedule…I enjoy my workouts but I can be distracted with my work, children, housecleaning, etc. and then the time goes by…I intend to overcome this “one thing” by checking my calendar and schedule weekly and daily and actually writing the time in so it is already planned for.
My one thing is rationalization! I’m a nurse, and work nights, and it is so easy when 3 am rolls around to run downstairs and grab a soft drink. I just tell myself, “I’m tired, I’ve worked hard tonight, I can have one soft drink tonight”…which turns into every night. I schedule my workouts, but when it comes time to wake up 45 minutes earlier to get that workout in before work, I just think to myself “I’ll be walking for 12 hours tonight…that’ll be my workout today”. Not to mention there seems to be cookies or sweets in the break room 80% of the time, which is very hard to resist during that 3 am slump. I know I’m not doing myself any favors by rationalizing behaviors that aren’t good for me…but I’m just so darn convincing!
Wow – great question. There are so many things that I can do better! Writing down everything that I eat, working out more consistently etc. I also watched Rehan’s video and it clicked. The one thing that I can instantly do is eliminate carbs at night time. Between cooking for my daughter (who loves carbs) and my husband bringing home wine (he works at a Napa winery) – evenings can be carb filled.
My intention? Tell my husband to stop bringing home wine!
and plan my meals to focus on salads and veggies.
Thanks Val!
My “one thing” is stress snacking. What I stress snack on changes as I get rid of the craving for one thing like trail mix or chips it changes. Now it’s dark chocolate and ice cream. I’ve tried eating more protein–didn’t work, now I’ve been trying to snack on fruit, but after all the fruit I still want the chocolate! This snacking thing is only a problem during the daytime and afternoon–I’m disciplined at night. My new strategy is going to be to reduce stress with a short bout of yoga, pilates, tai chi or some other gentle calming movement. I really think it’s a chicken and egg thing and I’ve been trying “eating” strategies to curb the mindless stress eating and after having two really BAD days of junk me thinks it’s time to get to the heart of the matter which is the stress.
Wow! So many of you are getting to the root of the issue. Awareness is the first step in the right direction.
I am going to talk about healthy snacking tomorrow. I will be getting to motivation, the tomorrow syndrome, not making it a priority and so much more in the next few weeks so stay tuned.
Write your intention for overcoming your “one thing” on a piece of paper and post it somewhere where you can easily look at it every day. If it is possible to ask your partner or family for support, please do so now.
My “one thing” is what I shouldn’t do. I tend to crave sweets after dinner and have to battle my will just to avoid giving in to temptation. Normally, I don’t ming induging in my sweet tooth once-twice a week, but lately it has been every night. I know that if I can remain disciplined and squelch my cravings that I will be where I want to be health-wise. Sugar is my down-fall, so I have been replacing sugar with fruit and it has been workig for my sugar cravings. Plus, if I do give in, I do some squats, sit ups and some exercises on my awesome Valslides to make up for it.
My one thing is prioritising and not putting myself first – there is always something for the family/house/work i must do so I need to prioritise my workouts and put my health first!
My “one” thing is allowing myself to take a bit of something, anything, when I’m not physically hungry but instead feeling tired, stressed, or anxious. Most of the time once I’ve already had one hand-to-mouth experience, I realize what I’m doing isn’t helping me to achieve my goals, and I stop. Then there are other days when all of my training and techniques go out the window, and it feels out of control, resulting in a few “too many” bites before I’m feeling guilty and ashamed.
I have the luxury of being retired [home every day] and working on a new career [at home]. Of course this brings with it several hazards: like sleeping till 7:30 or 8:00, then exercising around 9:30 which means I won’t have breakfast till 10:30 or 11:00. This turns out to be the domino effect as they come crashing down most days – argh! What to do!?!
I find that when you are tired— rest don’t eat because eating will not make you less tired or give you more energy
This post was really thought provoking, Val. My one thing is similar to what you shared in the video – allowing too many calories. Even at my lowest weight, when my pants fit totally loose and I have defined abs, I’m guessing I’m still about 10 pounds from the weight I’d like to be (stubborn lower body fat — ugh). But the loose pants and defined upper body make me feel all successful and virtuous, and then it’s easy to find all kinds of reasons why I deserve MORE FOOD. So I rationalize my way out of my deficit and never manage to get those last few pounds off.
I can’t do much about my defined upper body, but my intention is to stop wearing the loose pants that make me feel like I deserve to treat myself, and switch to tighter pants that constantly remind me that I have a way to go. I did this yesterday and already felt like it will be a good way to stay on track!
my one thing is the nightime i’m so good all day active working out eatin right and then the night tv relaxing and snacking badly. i have to really watch it.
one more thing after losing almost 60 pounds i can’t be happy for myself people notice and compliment me and i always say but i need to lose so much more i would like to be at a place where i could just say thank you. simple aye!
Hey Val – my one thing is Laziness – yup. I have 2 little boys under 3 & when I get that moment of quiet (which is rare) – I jump online, watch tv, eat…anything but get my butt in gear. I had to physically bring my slides upstairs to put in front of the tv so that I would see them at night & get off my tush to try to lose some of this mommy sagginess I have going before its time to actually put on a bathing suit! I think because I’ve lost all the weight I think I’m ok – then reality hits when I see that none of me is toned & I realize I should be doing something about it! Laziness I tell ya…gotta fix that!
Hi Val; I initially thought my one thing was that I constantly tell myself that I can do it tomorrow (and then never do because something else comes up, I have to work, I’m tired etc.). Therefore, digging down a bit deeper I realize that my one thing is not making my health a priority.
DOING IT!
DOING IT
My One Thing is believing that I am worth it. I deserve to invest in myself enough to plan my meals, to get to bed at a decent time and to get up and work out in the mornings. My job is not going to be there when I am old and unhealthy. My kids are not going to want a mom that is out of shape and unhealthy and a burden to them later in my life. And yet I let my commitment to those things keep me from taking care of myself in the here and now. The very things that I am putting first (ahead of my physical fitness) are the very things that will be gone for me and not there if I am not healthy. Wow..that is heavy.
The one thing that is holding me back from achieving my fitness goals is lack of time management. I’m a full time home care nurse and mother of 2 boys, ages 4 and 6. I walk around visiting patients in their homes all day and by the time I get home I’m so exhausted I just want to sit back and watch tv …which doesn’t happen because then I start on dinner, spend some time with the fam and start getting ready for the next day. I’m the last to get to bed at night, so just the thought of waking up early makes me physically sick….uugghhh! I’ve been consistent with eating balanced meals, cutting down on sugar, empty calories and drinking plenty of water…
I plan to overcome my time management issues by scheduling my workouts just as I would my patients and dr’s appointments etc. I have to schedule “me time.”
Thanks Val for this thought provoking question!!!!
My one thing is evening snacking and making myself believe that because its a piece of my homemade healthy wholegrain spelt bread with peanut butter that its ‘ok’
my intention would be to drink more water and perhaps increase my green vegetable intake or perhaps eat slightly later to counteract this.
Ps Val your dog is adorable
My one thing is consistency. I will do really good working out and eating healthy for a month or two then I slack off for a few weeks or a month with my workouts and do more emotional eating. I think it comes from self sabotage, I can see that I am starting to loss weight and get more definition and even though thats what I want I get scared because once I hit my goal I can’t hide behind excuses like oh I will do that once I loss the weight
I love reading everyone’s posts. Its nice to know I am not the only one that has problems with snacking, motivation, putting off working out
The “one thing” holding me back right now is not have a “personal” goal I’m trying to achieve. Just saying I want to be healthier isn’t enough of a reason to get me to give 110% in the gym. I need to want something on a “personal” level. Like say I’m going to an event and I want to look better than my friend I haven’t seen in years. I know that sounds awful and very superficial, but whenever I have an event/occasion looming, my workouts are hardcore and very focused. I need to figure out a way to stay that focused year round.
Hi Val! The one big thing with which I struggle the most is believing that I can achieve my goals. There is a part of me that doesn’t think I will ever get to where I want to be, so I think “why bother?” and then slack off on my diet or exercise. Getting to the place mentally where I believe in myself is the hardest part for me.
My “one thing” is I need to be more consistent with my cardio! I am not a big fan of cardio, I’d rather do my weights, so unless I get it done first thing in the morning, I sometimes skip it. It’s a bad habit.
Having just retired and trying to promote my PT business has meant personal training needs to be organised, so my ‘one thing’ is definately preparation of food and activity
Colin
The ‘one thing’ I have always struggled with is eating and drinking way too fast. At home and at restaurants both my family and I eat our food to consume rather than enjoy.
My intention to change this ‘one thing’ is to try and savor each mouth full…which I always have good intentions of doing but somehow forget about when the food is in front of me. I think I need to focus a little more on each forkful and try that chewing concept of 10 chews and place the fork down
My one thing is that I am full of intentions but then I lose my consistency. I need to plan my workout and plan to outsmart my weaknesses by thinking ahead of what I want to accomplish not how hard I think something could be. In another words, I want to be able to look back a month from now and see that I have scheduled and completed a workout most days of the week. On July 24th I want to see results from my taking care of myself.
my mind. i often appreciate what I dont have instead of focussing on what I got and living in the moment. I need to focus and do whatever plan I am on at the moment and not mess with it or think I know better.
I believe my one thing is not eating enough or I should say being afraid to eat enough. I excercise enough but I am a recovering bulemic/anorexic and it scares me some days to eat enough. I know what to do I have been through therapy and seen a nutritionist. I know that to excercise and remain healthy comes from a good clean diet. But, when you have this disease it is so easy to play the bad tapes in my head and tell me food will make me gain weight. So my one thing is to get up everyday, and make a conscious choice to eat properly. When I don’t, I set myself up for eating junk and then justifying “purging” because it was a bad food. So everyday, like most people, I have to say this is a new day, I am alive and I want to be healthy. I make time everyday for my workouts so I need to make time everyday to feed my body what it needs to continue working out and being healthy and a last note to remember that the scale should not ever rule how my day should go, I have learned not to let the number sabotage my day. Thanks for listening and thanks for all you do, Val.
Hey Val
Love your video very much, and I have to say that until viewing your video I had never really thought of it like that at all. So I am glad that you asked. After giving it much thought I have to say my one thing is fear.
I just have to admit that it’s truely just fear. I see these infomercials, and ads for weightloss pills, diet do’s and don’ts, or better yet the multitude of diet plans in general. when and how to use supplements, and then there’s scheduling, and choosing a workout plan amongst the various routines that are out there. I went to my doctor to discuss some of these questions and he just didn’t seem knowledge in these specific topics other than to say that I should meet with a personal trainer and an nutrionist, which I will admit is a strange, confusing, and extremely overwhelming experience.
O’ Val please don’t think that I don’t want to work hard I just don’t know where to start. I have gone to a few gyms and tried the free trial thing and done the whole “consulatation” thing which sounds great but it is so very expensive and it almost seems as though places like that only give you so much, well for as long as you pay for it, but not enough for you to gain the knowledge and confidence so you can do this on your own. It always seems like everytime I would ask a question I was told “we will go over that in your next session”
With 2 kids you know life is a constant juggle of time too,I will try some of the strategies you have mentioned. I am excited to do this!!
Thank You very much Val
Carbs! I love bread! If I have a bad day at work, there’s nothing like my favourite pizza place to pick me up!
My plan of attack: I work an on-call schedule that is very very unpredictable. I have to plan out and pre-pack lunches and snacks so I can grab them at a moments notice. I pack a protein and veggies for lunch . . . I try to have just a few pretzles if I have to instead of a big chunk of bread (YES, with butter of course). On bad days, I try to focus on how much worse I will feel and look if I down that 1/2 a pizza and it seems to help me avoid it (at least until I lose these mysterious 20 pounds that I have re-accumulated!). If I absolutely have to eat out, I order a burger (say from In-N-Out) “protein style” and voila! – No Bread.
Thank You Val
My one thing is that I sometimes use food for purposes other than to fuel my body. I don’t do much emotional eating anymore, although that used to be a big problem. Now it’s more that I get tired – physically tired & kind of ‘dragging’ – and I eat something thinking that will perk me up and get me through. And I have to admit, what I eat is usually something sweet.
My one thing is pure exhaustion.I’m always tired. My job requires a lot and so does my family.I get up at 5 a.m.Bedtime is around 11/12.Sometimes I make up for lack of sleep on the weekends.I just can’t possibly do any more.One of these days I think I’ll just stop functioning.I only really workout like following a rotation, etc.when I’m on vacation.For the next few wks. I’ll be doing great.How can I just not be so tired all the time when I get back to work?
My one thing is a certain time of day – after dinner when we are just relaxing watching tv. Don’t get me wrong, i certainly suffer from the munchies, but i find myself just wanting something in my hands and in my mouth to crunch. Most of the time i’m not even hungry or have a ‘munchy’. It’s just a habit now that when we sit in the living room watching tv, we pick at something. We even have jars of salted peanuts, chocs and lollies (candy), and bikkies (cookies) that are permanently on the living room table!!! So bad.
Anyway, the snacks now live in the cupboard, and i have started to have a hot chocolate or tea instead – something in my hands that i can sip for a long time.
Thanks for the encouragement and support.
One thing???? How about 10 things? I guess my biggest “one thing” would have to be my comfy couch. When I get home from work or grad school, all I want to do is sit on that couch and relax! I’m exhausted! The last thing I want to do is exercise….
My intention (besides burning the comfy couch) is to do something (anything) physical once a day. I’ve been alternating the Bikini body workouts with cardio and we’ll see how it goes…..
I know exactly where things are going wrong – alcohol! A couple of years ago my husband and I developed this after work habit of having a couple of mixed drinks and now I just can’t shake the habit – I have a really stressful job and when he suggests a drink I am so torn between disappointing him by not joining in and resisting the taste of his yummy margaritas and knowing that I just can’t keep doing this and ever hope to get back my pre-baby body. I honestly don’t even like the way I feel after a drink or two but I just can’t seem to break free – I can go for a little while replacing it with red wine but that’s just a stop gap and is only slightly better than the drink. It’s the heart of all my body problems!
My “one thing” is prioritization! Sometimes I do things before working out, which ends up taking up all my time and end up not having time to workout.
p.s. thanks for the awesome video!
Well, Val is right…only one thing that sabotage my plan is “no portion control and have too much calories on my diet” Okay, start from now…9pm(Central time), till the next 30 days, I will try to control my crave not too consume too much calories, especially nuts (almonds and walnuts), and sugar-free chocolates!!!!
My one thing is snacking after 7pm. I am very disciplined with my portion control, my morning exercise regiment and eating 5-6 small meals throughout the day. I work during the day and get home after 7pm, but as soon as I get home I feel that I need something sweet to eat, so I’ll eat some nuts and raisins or a cookie or some sorbet. So my plan is to have a cup of green tea instead of the sweet snack.
My “one thing” is not being realistic about my calorie intake. I make excuses about why I can eat this or that and then feel horrible afterwards. My intention is to take responsibility for what I put into my mouth. No more excuses! I will plan my meals and snacks at the beginning of the week so I have no excuse to eat poorly. Thanks Valerie, for getting me back on track!
My one thing is I get bored after the kids go to bed and I snack!!! Then I think oh, who cares so I snack some more….aaaarrrggghhh
My one thing – the thing that has kept me from being the lovely beautiful kind-hearted person that I am (who should not be 40 pounds overweight) is in jail as of two hours ago. The man who ridiculed my body, who told me I was ugly, that I was fat, the man who would fix a gigantic fattening meal and make me eat every bite that he put on my plate…. that man threw 2 pounds of raw meatloaf on me as I was trying to fix a supper he would enjoy while I was not working a 12 hour shift tonight. A meal that maybe we could enjoy together, then go for a walk. He decided that I was not conforming to his needs and his control so he assaulted me once again, only this time it wasn’t his fist. Now that he is where he should have been a long time ago – after all of the tears and the bruises and black eyes and insults – I am going to get ME back. The ME who exercised every day, who didn’t overeat because I felt so horrible about myself. The one thing that was holding me back, that abusive man, is no longer in control and I am gonna be KIM again!!!
My one thing is the SCALE! If I get on the scale and the number isn’t what I want to see I feel defeated and it sets the tone for the whole day. For some reason when the scale registers higher I eat more that day and when it registers lower I eat less which logically makes zero sense but I think part of me says “I am working so hard and nothing is happening so what’s the point”. I need to learn to let go of the “number” and be thankful that I am strong and healthy and that I consistently choose to be healthy on a daily basis. The scale has defined my self-esteem for so long that I actually think its what has impeded my progress and helped me keep these last 10 pounds on!!
That’s it! I am throwing out the scale as soon as I can convince my fiancee to tell me where he hid it! (LeeAnne made me promise to not get on the scale so I begged him to hide it for me).
I have a whole group of “one things!”
BUT the one thing that I could do, starting tomorrow, that would make a HUGE difference is to eliminate my morning stop at the local Tim Horton’s for a large coffee, double cream, and a cinnamon raisin bagel toasted with butter.
My one thing is not working out when it gets hot. I have always worked out in the afternoon after walking my dog; during most of the year this suits me fine, but as soon as summer hits I get back from my walk and struggle to get the motivation to do anything else. I live in the UK, so we aren’t too used to the hot weather over here! The side effect of this is that it tends to throw my eating habits a bit off; generally my diet is pretty good, but when I haven’t worked out for a few days I become a bit too obsessed with the scales and what I am eating.
My one thing… I’ve been giving this some thought over the past few days, trying to come up with any other answer than the the truth. The one thing I have a problem with (and now I’ve given it a lot of thought it sits in a couple of areas of my life at the moment) is I don’t think I’m enough, I don’t think I deserve an action hero babe body.
That’s quite a sabotaging thought that I need to get rid of.
I think I can relate to the “one thing” that everyone has posted so far! But I think my “one thing” really is I’ve been deluding myself into thinking that it’s been OK for me to eat the way I have over the years and not do a lot in the way of exercise to burn it off.
In my teens I had a fantastic figure and could eat what I wanted and never put on weight. The only exercise I got was walking everywhere and doing dance classes for fun. I had to give up the dancing in the end though due to knee problems, which has led to osteoarthritis in both knees. My weight went rapidly down hill in my 20’s and I’ve yo-yoed up and down ever since. I think I’ve tried so many diets over the years all I’ve done is make things worse and given myself issues with food and a complex over my appearance. Inside I still feel like an older version of the slim girl I used to be until I look in the mirror and glance down and I don’t recognise the person standing there. I seriously don’t do photos anymore, because I hate seeing what I’ve done to myself.
I know I can’t eat the way I used to and I’m not so bad with junk food, I have the occasional take out and burgers here and there and I’ve got my portion sizes under control now too, but my biggest weakness is, and always has been anything sweet, you name it, if it’s got sugar in it I’m all over it like a rash! I think I’ve been deluding myself over the years by saying I’m treating myself, but my “treats” have spiralled out of control and have become a really bad habit, which I know I need to break sooner rather than later.
I’m now 3 years away from 40 and seriously not happy with the fact that my health is rapidly starting to go south along with the figure I once had and I only have myself to blame. I’m back to walking everywhere and l’ve been loitering on Valerie’s site now for a few months, wondering if I should go for it or not, but I’m finally giving myself a kick up the proverbial behind and like Emily posted earlier dragging my head out of the sand and actually going to do something about it!
One question though, I’m finding it hard to get an exercise routine that I can do that’s not going to put me in agony for weeks at a time with my knees. I’m intending to get the Bikini Body plan next week, but want to know if the Valslides will put pressure on my knees doing the leg exercises?
Rebekah I’ve just read your comment. It too took me ages to think of what my “one thing” really is and I missed seeing your comment until after I’d finally finished and posted mine, but I just wanted to say I can seriously relate to what you put and I can understand how you must feel and what led you to realise what your “one thing” is, but I just wanted to say you ARE enough and you do deserve an action hero babe body ;o)
My one thing is patience. I am so use to doing things for myself so when I need something done, its done. When it comes to exercise and eating right, it’s a process that leads to a lifestyle change. It is not something that will happen over night. I started working out about 4 months ago when I received your AHB workout. It was the first time in years I had stuck to a workout. Seeing how hard I was working, I started eating right. Now 4 months later I have a completely different mentality about working out and eating right. I have also purchased the “I want my Bikini Body” program as well as joined other fitness classes. I can now relate to those around me who say ” I crave exercise!” It took me not loosing my patience and letting the process happen to get to where I am today.
I have many ‘one thing’ s that are sabatoging me to get the body I want. I could be better at all the advice given in the video…planning meals, moving my workout to a different time, planning my snacks… However, there is just ‘one thing’ right now in my life that seems to be preventing me from even getting to changing those other one things. That ‘one thing’ is my thesis. I am a graduate student and my thesis is the thing standing in the way of my life. I feel it looming over like a dark storm cloud. I feel that my workouts interfere with me getting my thesis done. I see my workouts as a time consumer, not a health nessesity. Thus, I skip the workouts and go for the thesis. I know this is not good or right. I work all day and when I get home I just want to sit on the couch and write on the computer. I feel that once the thesis is done, I can then focus on my life and health. I know deep down, this is not the case. I guess it comes down to balence. I think that I will need to do, and what I can do, is 2 mini workouts during the day instead of one big one; one in the morning and one at night. It will motivate me and keep me healthy, while at the same time not making me feel as if I am wasting my time. I can more eaily give two 30 to 35 minute workouts then one 1 hour workout. So I guess my ‘one thing’ is needing more balence between my thesis and my life. Thank you for listening and thanks for all the wonderful videos.
My one good thing that I do is when I have no motivation I remember that I can physically do it. I have had two foot surgeries and both times could not walk for three months! There are so many people who wish they could physically do things and they just can’t do it, because of handicaps or injuries. I can do it, I can and some cannot. I remember the feeling of not being able to move and walk and that makes me get my butt up and move. Also, I remember the feeling after a workout, the “I’m amazing, I did it!” feeling.
The one thing I need to work on is food. I love to snack and eat foods I shouldn’t. I need to look at food as fuel and not just for plesure. I need to look at what I put into my body and recgonize what it is doing for me. Candy, doing nothing for my body. Nuts instead, good fat, good fuel, good protein. Nuts will not make me feel bad about myself, it will not give me an instant high and then a sugar sluggish low after, nuts will get me to my next meal and keep me energized and my matoblism at a steady pace. Wow, sorry so long! There are always ways to improve andd better youself, just keep your head in the game!
Hmm my one thing… can it be more than just one? Well, I guess I will zero in on the one that is hampering my progress in the most profound way, so here goes…
My one thing is being afraid to take fitness risks. I am in a rut of just doing cardio I have strength trained in the past and am well aware of the way it can change my body, yet I still can’t seem to find the motivation to do it. I have reflected on why I am self sabotaging and I still can’t seem to come up with why I can bring myself to incorporate strength training into my regimen. My intention is to plan/schedule days at the gym so I can mentally prepare myself for the weight circuit ahead. I know physically I can accomplish the workouts, it’s all mental for me. I believe that so much of getting in shape is mental and training your mind to believe that you can make these changes stick!Ohh and there is also the issue of the snacking on carbs, but it’s only one thing at time right
My one thing is to not get down on myself when I look in the mirror and see the dimples of cellilute on my thighs and butt. It seems no matter how good I am at working out and eating, I can’t reach happiness with my body. Despite me losing over 40 pounds, I am still not happy. I was an overweight kid and in college decided to lose the weight. I am in my mid twenties and continue to hate my body and struggle with getting confidence.
My one thing… not valueing the hard work I do in my daily exercise to eat healthy foods in the right portions. I push my body so intensely and demand from (my body) the strength to alwyas do more, be better – 1 year ago I couldn’t do any “mens” pushups – now I can crank out about 35! Why do I allow myself – the driven, competitive person I am to fumble daily in the eating department? I am not supporting my hard workouts by eating too much and crappy (albeit yummy) foods.
I need to decide what I want and go after it with all the gusto I can muster – and then some!!!! I work hard enough for it and I deserve it
My “One Thing” is my tendency to turn a cheat meal into a cheat weekend!
I want to change my thinking towards “cheating” so that it stops being an instant reward and remember the long term rewards to be gained from keeping up with clean, healthy eating.
Thanks for such a helpful blog post, it really made me think about my habits.
Laura
My one thing is my husband lol. He is in the Military so when he gets to come visit for leave (about every 3 months) everything falls apart. I haven’t worked out at all this week, and there has been a lot of “get together dinners”. I do fine at work I have my healthy breakfast,snacks, lunch and then I get home and the in-laws want to go out or friends. I’m trying to pick the smart items – like last night was dinner out at Mellow Mushroom with friends so DH and I split the personal mega veggie pizza (only cheese is a light sprinkle of feta) and split a caesar salad that has lots of extra veggies and mushrooms. Then we have to get our son to bed and I fall asleep too, so no workouts.
I think I need to have a game plan set up – minimize our dinners out and try to get more people to come here for dinner so I have more control and get a better idea of who wants to do what and when and ink in my workouts.
My one thing is …….
I am failing to plan! I don’t plan my meals so I end up eating whatever is convenient and quick without putting any effort into my diet. I blamed this on not having enough “motivation” or “drive” but it was actually just me not planning a healthy meal plan. I am a stay at home mother of three girls under 7 and I am mentally and physically exhausted with caring for everyone and everything else but myself! I need to take more time for myself and plan my meals and stick to them even if incoveniences my family a little. I can’t care for them like I need to unless I first take care of myself! Hopefully by realizing why I am failing I can get my diet back on track…..Thanks Val for all you do!!!
Oh dear – my one thing is definitely the wine. I really enjoy my wine, but my problem is what comes with the wine. Firstly one glass is never enough, and then as we all know with the wine along comes the munchies….. never of course for carrot sticks or cherry tomatoes – but starch. So yes, I need to stop the wine… I do of course realise that in order to stopthe wine I need to get busy, keep myself occupied. So to try to overcome this – I have signed up for an indoor netball league starting in July – hopefully there will be a few paramedics on standby…
My one thing…. is success or better stated fear of success. I work hard at planning my meals, eating balanced, healthy foods and incorporating exercise almost daily. When I reach about 90% of my final goal, I stop. I revert to old bad habits of eating poorly and not exercising. I know I want to meet my goal and feel the victory of success but the fear of meeting the goal and thereby opening the chance for failing by making mistakes in eating or exercising. How do you overcome the fear of success? I think setting a post success goal, finding a fitness goal or dietary goal that keeps you striving forward. This to me is a journey and looking at this as a journey it could have no end, this actually might be a good way to start thinking and acting.
Hi Val,
Thank you SO much for all your helpful tips, facebook posts and videos. I love your ‘one thing’ question as it made me really think about a life-long issue with weight ups and downs and having the bathing suit body I’ve always wanted. Since at first glance it didn’t seem to be just one thing with me, I dug deeper. So…my one thing is believing that no matter what I’ve done or havn’t done in the past that with determination and consistency I will have my best bathing suit body ever. Believing it creates better and consistent habits. I guess that was my one thing and my intention rolled into one. Thank you for helping me clarify my ‘one thing’! Enjoy infinite Blessings! Cheryl
This video couldn’t have come at a better time. I recently reached my goal weight and was maintaining it for 17 weeks. Ever since Memorial Day and now with Summer here and all the social events that occur, my one thing has been that I have been overeating when I’m at these events despite my best intentions of not going hungry, eating healthy before I go, and working out the morning. This one thing has triggered old habits that I thought were gone and I’m have been slowly gaining weight. I really don’t want to continue this trend and gain the 40 lbs I lost. So my intention for the next event (4th of July) is to eat clean and exercise during the week, workout the morning of, eat some protein before going, and limit myself to one or two foods that I normally don’t eat and not go overboard and write out my planned meals and exercise for the next day and follow through.
My one thing would have to be learning to eat more often, to trick my body into not storing fat. All my life I have never ate more than 2 meals a day and growing up my Mom would try her best to get my sister and I to eat breakfast, but I was always in a hurry to get ready and go to school, and on days off I just wanted to sleep in until noon, but until I turned 50 my metabolism was high and I never gained a lb. So I am trying to learn to eat breakfast now, it is hard to break old habits, but now I am learning to eat whether I am hungry or not and watching the calories is easy.
I have always put everyone else first, but now that my four children are all grown I am working on putting myself first.
So I think to get past my one thing I have to put myself first and I know I can do this but it won’t be easy to break old habits, it takes determination and I am determined,
COMFORT! My one thing is comfort. When I haven’t had enough sleep, life feels a little bit out of control or I’m generally needing a pick me up I comfort myself– AND It’s ALWAYS in an opposite way to health. The thing is when I do your work outs and follow the diet tips (I’m doing AHB) I feel FANTASTIC and the “problems” I was facing don’t seem as hard.
So my intention is, when life gets hard not to always seek comfort but turn first to foods and exercise that are going to energize me and give back to me… not just a quick pick me up, like chocolate or escaping by laying on the lounge with a book. I want to find comfort in knowing I achieved my goals!! I’ll have you to thank for it Val xx
What if you have 5 things that are holding you back?? Ugh, so to pick one, I guess it would be sugar. It’s embarrassing for me to admit to people that I’m a vegetarian, but still don’t have the body to show for it. Like that muffin top, although way smaller than it used to be, is still hanging around. Sugar is the devil! And the more I eat, the more I crave. SO! I intend to avoid the Starbucks and Coffee Bean on the way to work, not order that cookie to go along with my salad at lunch and start a new happy hour doing my bikini body workouts instead of bellying up to the bar!! Good luck to all of you in your quest for rockin bods! And Thank You Val for all of your awesome workouts, reality checks and sincere motivation!
I started a 1 year misson in Jan. with a support group, we meet every week at my home. I have lost 35 lbs. with diet and exercise. I have been through a 5 week raw foods bootcamp that jumped my energy level sky high at the sametime took the 31 day green smoothie challenge and take my 80 friend to YMCA classes 4 times a week and do extra classes for myself. My “one thing” was setting a one year goal to see who I am on Dec. 31 2010. with planning and support I have had a great time and am looking foreard to droppong an other 45 lbs to be at my target. I loe our site and you have been a great help to keep me motivated Thanks XOXO Pat
My “one thing” is I have difficulty getting up in the morning to do my workout DVDs. I work out or walk every weekend and I know I need to get in more days of workouts. I know in my mind what I have to do, I just need the motivation to do it. I have lost around 40 pounds by changing the way I eat and I want to keep up my progress and I know I need to get in more of those workouts.
My one thing is not making my workouts a priority. I work about 45 hours a week and I always opt to skip the gym and spend time with my 5 year old twin girls, who miss their mom.
I don’t know how to fix my one thing.
My most undermining issue is the belief that I’m not that bad, and some things I like better now than when I was skinny as a rail.
I used to be one of those annoying, eat anything, skinny kids. Now I have curves and love some of them (not the love handles & thighs, but I like my hips & filling out a bra.) So my motivation has to be to get healthier, not to necessarily get as skinny as I was. So when the going gets tough, my brain says “you don’t look bad – just stand up straight” or if I’m feeling great and energetic from the workouts and life starts getting in the way, I think “you are stronger now and have more endurance than you had in your 20′s, it’s okay to just enjoy the day and skip the workout” These things aren’t a problem if they are occasional, the problem is when they derail me for 3-4 weeks (or more) at a time.
Then I have to re-motivate, re-goal and find the energy to start back up because the feeling good from working out fades. Luckily, I generally don’t eat too bad and rarely eat out of control, so my weight stays fairly steady when I’m “off.”
So I know from a practical standpoint that I am healthier when I work out & I’m more emotionally stable and less lazy. I know I will start seeing some physical improvements that I really like & some of my clothes will fit better. But what gets me is that “I’m not that bad” and I’m not the kind of person that responds to negative drill sergeant type thoughts. If anything, it makes me more stubborn. And my husband loves how I look, so he’s good for my self esteem whether I’m 112 pounds (skinniest as an adult) or 138 (at my heaviest) at 5’2″ – even my doctor was like, you could lose five pounds, but it’s more important not to keep gaining over the years, and my overall health is fine. So how do I stay motivated, when there’s not a compelling reason other than I want to, except when I don’t?
My “one thing” is, for sure, sugar! I can’t seem to have just one treat or a small portion. I can go for a long time without having any but it is that one treat that I decide I can just have one of that gets me! After I have it I have terrible cravings and find myself going beck to old patterns of unhealthy eating. I know there are people who can have just one but for me it’s all or nothing. Maybe someday I’ll be able to do it.
your one thing part two just hit me hard….!
I feel like val just opend up into my personal bank of exuses….. I just think it dosen`t matter about the calories think this won`t effect me but thats the reson why i cant make my scale point down.
My one thing is not eating breakfast. I just usually have coffee because I can’t eat when I am not hungry. I know it’s the worst thing I do.
[...] When I read Val’s Blog post today, it got me into this line of thinking. What is MY one thing that is impeding my progress?? CLICK HERE TO READ HER BLOG. [...]
[...] Today’s video is a response to my post the other day about your “one thing.” [...]
[...] I want to thank you all for participating in the “Your One Thing” blog post. The winners have been chosen and contacted for their prizes. Here’s a list [...]
[...] http://valeriewaters.com/2010/06/22/your-one-thing-win-a-dvd/ [...]
[...] couple weeks ago I asked you to share your “one thing” that you are either doing or not doing that might be sabotaging your fitness results – [...]