5 words to STOP saying right now

These 5 words are so common in our culture, that you’ve probably not even paused to question them before.

STOP SAYING “FELL OFF THE WAGON”

Eating the foods that make you feel good is not all-or-nothing.

As a personal trainer, I don’t care that you can eat perfectly and white-knuckle for a week if one “slip up” send you “off-track” and “falling off the wagon” because you’ve subscribed to this impossible dynamic.

No, I care what you can do reasonably well for a long period of time because that is what brings results and makes you feel less crazy.

Is time for some real talk, here. Stop setting yourself up for failure by creating this kind of dynamic.
Eating “well” is:
 Not pass/fail
 Not all or nothing
 Not a test
 Not proof of how good of a person you are
 Not 100% all in or 100% totally out.

Instead of trying to do it 100% perfectly, then spectacularly giving up when life happens (because it will)…

…. What if you tried to do 10%, 20%, even 50% better than you are now and do it consistently?

WORDS MATTER

Stop using this language of “I fell off the wagon.” It’s disempowering and keeps you stuck in a loop The words you think and the things you tell yourself – when you act on them – become your reality and further reinforce your limited self-beliefs and narratives.

What to do instead:

1. change the words, change the outcome -thoughts drive feelings and feelings drive behaviours
2. build a wordiness and interrupt yourself when you use these words -catch yourself using these words than….
3. Reframe the situation -instead of “I fell off the wagon,” try something more neutral like, “I’m grateful that I have the food to eat even if it wasn’t my first choice.”
4. Ask a loved one or friend to help you – building awareness of the words you use is challenging. Ask someone to help you. When you say something like, “I fell off the wagon,” asked them to pointit out and then you can reframe.
5. Continue on as usual at the next meal – one meal doesn’t ”ruin” anything. This kind of black-and-white thinking is not helpful or productive.

You have not committed a moral violation. You are not “bad.”

You are not going to gain fat or weight from one meal.

What you consistently (not perfectly) do overtime has the most impact. See how backward the logic of “I fell off the wagon so I might as well wait until August 1 to begin again,” is?

If you wait until August 1 to get back on the wagon then you’ll spend the next two weeks eating foods that probably don’t make you feel great simply as self-punishment.

You can start changing the words you tell yourself and how you react. If this resonated, reply and let me know.

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