How many Mondays have you told yourself this time I’m really going to do it. This Monday I’m eating healthy. This Monday I’m exercising every day. No more sweets, no more takeout. No more excuses. And then Wednesday happens. You miss your workout. The kids need you. You have a stressful day, suddenly you think, I already messed up. I’ll start again Monday. The problem usually isn’t that you ate the pizza. The problem isn’t that you miss Tuesday’s workout. The problem is what happens next. If you accidentally drop your phone, would you pick it up and throw it on the ground five more times? Why do we believe Monday has some magical power that Tuesday afternoon doesn’t? What if your new rule became don’t start over on Monday. I start again with my next choice. Think about how much that could change the game for you.
Hey, everyone. Welcome back to the Vanessa Cross and Fitness podcast. I’m Doctor Vanessa Carlson, physical therapist and founder of Vanessa Carlson Fitness, where we help busy women become stronger, healthier and more confident 1% every day without spending hours in the gym. Because who has time for that? All right, question for you guys. How many Mondays have you told yourself this time I’m really going to do it right?
This Monday I’m eating healthy. This Monday I’m exercising every day. No more sweets, no more takeout. No more excuses. The list goes on and on and on. And then Wednesday happens. You miss your workout. Someone brings something unhealthy to work, like donuts. To work, the kids need you. You have a stressful day, and suddenly you think, oh yeah, yeah, I well, I already messed up.
So then you tell yourself I’ll start again Monday. If you’ve been stuck in that cycle. Today’s episode is completely for you. Today’s episode could completely change the way you approach your health, because maybe you don’t need another Monday. Maybe you just need to stop starting over, right? Okay, but before we go any further. I want to ask you something.
What? Actually, the thing that knocks you off the track. Is it the weekends? Is it eating something you hadn’t planned? Is it missing a workout? Is it a stressful day? What is it eating something you hadn’t planned. Missing a workout, a stressful day. Vacation, right? Tell me in the comments below. I really want to know, because I think a lot of women are going to read those comments and realize, wow, I’m not the only one who does this.
Okay, okay, let’s dive in. Here’s what I want you to understand. The problem usually isn’t that you ate the pizza. The problem isn’t that you miss Tuesday’s workout. And the problem certainly isn’t that you enjoy dessert at your child’s birthday party. The problem is what happens next. You take one imperfect decision and turn it into permission to quit, right?
Think about this. If you accidentally drop your phone, would you pick it up and throw it on the ground five more times? Of course not. Right? You’d pick it up and keep going. But somehow, when it comes to your health, we do exactly that. I’ve worked with women who were exercising, eating healthier, you know, getting in their water, getting stronger, and then they’d have one difficult weekend.
And Monday morning they tell me, Vanessa, I blew it. They’d be all down. And then I’d ask, what did you do? And they’d say something like, I ate cookies or I ate pizza Saturday night. And then I’m thinking to myself, that’s it. You didn’t blow anything. You ain’t pizza one meal. Or you had some dessert. Doesn’t erase the weeks of healthy choices.
But believing that you fail, that you’re a loser, that they’re like all these things. And punishing yourself can turn one meal into an entire week of giving up. This is called the all or nothing, right? The all or nothing thinking either. I’m doing everything perfectly okay. I’m completely done. I’m completely off track. Why bother? But there’s an enormous amount of life between those two extremes.
And that’s where sustainable health actually happens, right? I think about what actually I think about actually what consistency really means. Think about the word consistency. Consistency doesn’t mean you never miss a workout. It doesn’t mean you never eat dessert. It doesn’t mean every day looks perfect. Consistency means you come back at. So. Things didn’t go well. Ate a little too much.
Miss the workout. Whatever happens, something unexpected happen through things off. But come back. You miss Wednesday, come back. There’s day you eat more than you planned a dinner. Make your next meal a healthy one. You go on vacation, enjoy your vacation, and return to your routine afterward. You don’t need to punish yourself for what, and you certainly don’t need to wait till this Monday.
Or to the idea of the day or time when everything’s going to be perfect, right? You’ll be waiting forever. I remember doing one of my one on one consultations and meeting someone for the first time, and they kept telling me in the conversation in various ways how they kept putting off starting their routine or journey because it was timing.
The timing wasn’t right. But here’s the thing. And mind you, time is still passing right passenger by. We’re always going to have that graduation party, birthday party, anniversary vacation.
Or someone getting sick. Unfortunate things like losses or unpredicted changes in a schedule, work, business, etc. so when things don’t go perfectly guys, we got to just keep going. But don’t wait for the perfect time. It doesn’t exist, right? Monday is not the perfect time. I mean, if Monday’s after Sunday, then yes it is. You got to keep going.
So let me ask you something. Why Monday? Seriously? Why do we believe Monday has some magical power that Tuesday afternoon doesn’t have? If you make an unhealthy choice at lunch on Thursday. Why wait for days to make another healthy one? Why not start again at dinner? What if your new rule became I don’t start over on Monday. I start again with my next choice.
Or sometimes people say I’ll start when school is done, or I’ll start when school starts or so. They have this like seasoned. Maybe it’s not Monday to season. How about with the next choice? Right? Think about how much that could change the game for you. I remember working with one woman who had spent years starting over with a new way of eating a new diet, new workout programs, new goals.
And every time she had a bad day, she’d quit. She gets so hard on herself or so down on herself. She was very hard on herself. So we changed her goal. Her goal was to never mess up. Right. Her goal became come back quickly. The sooner, the better. Come back quickly. That’s it. If she missed a workout, she did the next one.
If she had an unhealthy meal. She made a better choice at the next meal. No guilt, no punishment. There’s no time for that. That’s just going to make you. That’s just going to delay your start, right? It’s going to delay, delay, delay. And it’s heavy and something incredible happen. She stopped quitting. She just kept going and started getting results.
Can I encourage you? You don’t have to earn the right to begin again. You don’t need a new week, a new month, a new year, or the perfect circumstances. You can make another healthy choice right now. Right now. Here’s another reason people keep starting over. I think their plan is simply to extreme right. Seven workouts a week, especially if you haven’t really built that routine yet.
Could be a bit much. No sugar and no bread. No eating out, no desserts. I think what else? Everything changes overnight. That might work for a week, maybe a month. But ask yourself, can I actually live like this? Because if the answer is no. The problem might not be your discipline, right? The plan may simply be unrealistic. I remember when I decided to really transform my body and and improve my strength, and I made a goal to participate in my first physique show.
I was working as a full time physical therapist. I was sharing all the things with a coworker, with a colleague who not only was she a physical therapist, but this particular colleague who was not only a physical therapist, she was also a professional natural bodybuilder. And she gave me the best advice that I use for myself now. I used for myself then and now, and I also use for others, especially when they’re sharing something similar.
She suggested that I tackle one area or goal first. For example, I was making thinking of making all these changes to my workouts, meals, different habits, etc. and she suggested that to just up my workout. So at that time I was working out 2 to 3 times a week, and she suggested let’s work on making it more daily 5 to 6.
Makes sense right? 5 to 6. And when that becomes easier and enjoyable, then tackle whether the meals, portions, things like that.
My point? I’d rather see you exercise three days a week for the next five years, then exercise seven days a week for three weeks. I’d rather see you eat well most of the time and enjoy pizza with your family. Then follow a perfect die diet that makes you miserable, right? And eventually causes you to quit. Your health isn’t built by perfect weeks.
It’s built by what you repeatedly do. Trying to get what? I’m not trying. We’re getting 1% better each day. Progress over perfection. So it’s by what you repeatedly do over days, months, years. That’s why your ability to come back, maybe more important than your ability to never mess up. I’m excited when people mess up. Okay, great. Got it out.
Your system. We mess up, we keep going. Right? Keep going. And I think there’s a lesson here that goes far beyond fitness. It’s funny. My husband and I were having a conversation. Were just in the season with, you know, our kids homeschooling and business and growing and different things. And we were we were just kind of sharing how we messed up here, mess up there.
And we saw on someone’s license plate the word mercy. And then at the same time, the song that was playing was about mercy. So I want to share with you that the lesson, I believe, goes far beyond fitness. God’s mercies are new every morning. We aren’t called to live our lives trapped by yesterday’s mistakes, right? We have to forgive ourselves.
The quicker we can forgive ourselves or forgive others, we can keep moving forward and live in freedom. We learn, we grow, and we keep moving forward. I had a client today, actually, who was ready to just throw in the towel because she missed a session here, and then things got crazy. Missed another session and it’s back to school.
It’s a birthday. It’s changes at her work. She just got back from vacation and she just felt like she was failing. And I let her talk, let her share her heart. And I just reminded her of her. Why? Right. Why are we doing this? And to take the pressure off and just enjoy this week of the birthday. You know, coming back from vacation, getting ready, getting her kiddo ready for school, spending time with her family and we’ll pick back up in a few days.
Boom. Too easy. No need to punish yourself and feel like you’re a terrible person and a loser and all the things, right? Maybe you didn’t make the choices you wanted to make yesterday. That’s okay. Today you get another opportunity. We get new mercies. It’s a new opportunity to choose differently. So I’m going to ask you one final question.
What would happen if you stopped starting over? Right. What if for the next year? What if for the next year you simply just kept going and just came back quicker? Right? Not perfectly. Not without setbacks, but consistently? Where could you be one year from today? Stronger, more energetic, healthier, more confident? And what’s one thing you’re going to keep doing even when you have an imperfect day?
If you’re comfortable sharing, put it in the comments. I would love to hear it. Here’s your challenge this week. We don’t want to just listen to this and not make any changes, right? The next time something doesn’t go according to plan, don’t say, oh, I’ll start Monday or dang it, you know, I knew I should have started after Easter or after New Year’s or after Christmas or whatever.
Instead, say my next choice can be a healthy one and say what? That healthy choice is going to be missed your workout. Do the next one right, how to dessert, enjoy it and move on. How to stressful day. Tomorrow is another opportunity. Don’t punish yourself. Don’t quit. Just come back. A setback is just setting you up for your comeback, because the woman who succeeds isn’t necessarily the woman who never fails or I should not say, fails, but the one who never falls off track, or who is never the woman who’s making mistakes.
Right? It’s the woman who gets really good at getting back on learning, growing Washburn’s repeat and keeps moving forward and doesn’t just give up. Right. I truly believe some of you watching this don’t need another die diet. You don’t need another challenge of, of pressure for yourself. You don’t need another fresh start. You need to recognize how much progress you’ve already made.
Think about it. How much progress have you already made? Take a moment and think about that and the fact that you do want to keep going, because you’re listening to this and you’re already thinking of ways to make changes and keep going, or get your workout in today. Right. One bad day doesn’t erase your progress. One difficult week doesn’t erase your progress.
Keep moving forward, guys. If today’s episode encourage you, share it with someone who’s always saying, I’ll start again, band. Or next week, or after a holiday or the next season. Maybe she needs to hear that she doesn’t have to wait. And if you’re tired of constantly starting over and you like help building a plan that actually fits your life.
I’d love to walk alongside you. You can visit us at Vanessa Carlson or reach out at (207) 467-5509. To learn more about our one on one personal training, coaching, live virtual sessions and live virtual training and our supportive community. Thank you, thank you, thank you so much for spending time with me today in these episodes are encouraging you and helping you become healthier.
I’d love for you to join us! Consider subscribing. Go ahead and like this. Share it so you don’t miss future conversations. We release new episodes every weekday, and I’d love to continue this journey with you. All right. Until next time, keep moving, keep smiling, keep showing up. And remember, you don’t need another Monday. You just need your next healthy choice.
God bless you and I’ll see you in the next episode where we talk about the truth about metabolism after 40, is it really slowing down? All right, y’all. Ciao for now.
Vanessa Carlson, and I am the owner of Vanessa Carlson Fitness. I am Raider Carlson and I am the general manager. At VC fitness our first goal is our fun first approach with all of our clients. Working out should not feel like a punishment at all, and we strive to make it the highlight of their day. The workouts are tailored.
I love using my background as a doctor, physical therapy to make sure that we’re meeting our clients where they’re at, to help them to get to where they want to be. And I think the third thing is the accountability and communication. So not only do we have one on one sessions with our clients in person and via zoom, but with the app, we are communicating with our clients almost on a daily basis so that they feel confident.
Those companies don’t have a doctor of physical therapy on staff. And so obviously Vanessa is a doctor of physical therapy and highly sought out around the country. And that brings me to my next point that we are the highest rated, the most reviewed personal training company in Portland, Maine, where our headquarters are located. However, we train virtually nationwide through zoom, through live zoom sessions, and so it doesn’t matter where you live.
You can work with Vanessa. And then the third thing is our very first session with Vanessa is only a dollar. We call it the region rise assessments, where basically it’s a meet and greet where she looks at your body using her Doctor of physical therapy skills to make sure that you’re getting the most out of your session and make sure that it’s a good fit for you.
I mean, obviously, we know that we can work with anybody, but obviously it’s got to be a good fit for you. So when I was a child, my grandmother had breast cancer and I was very close with her and was with her for a lot of her appointments with chemo, radiation, all the things and kind of seeing how that affected her.
And I just knew early on I wanted to do something to help people with their health. I didn’t really know what that was going to look like. Fast forward as a child, I remember getting my first Barbie workout video working out with Dance Barbie, and that just was a core memory for me. It closed the door, worked out, felt great, and then fast forward some more.
I knew that I wanted to do something in the health and medical field, and had really great mentors and teachers that helped direct me where I knew I wanted to have a gym one day. I didn’t know how I was going to look, and we had our opportunity. As I was a physical therapist to open our first gym, I just went for it and just really wanted to help people learn how to take care of their bodies.
I just knew that fitness was my passion. And just over the years, it just all worked out together. And here we are. The rest is history. So here’s the thing you don’t have to figure this on your own. And I totally understand how exercise can be overwhelming. We all know that we need to eat healthy and exercise and work out on carve time for it, and don’t feel like you have to know it all.
Do it all by yourself. And even if you’re feeling unmotivated, know that you’re not alone. So my my message to you is surround yourself with someone who is motivated. For someone that is passionate about exercise and eating well and building a positive habits, good healthy habits. I don’t know how to paint, but if I want to make a canvas painting, I’m going to go to a place that the person is a great teacher and passionate about it.
And I’m going to come out with a beautiful painting. Same thing with this. Take the shame. Take the pressure off of your shoulders. You’re not alone in this. Many people I work with all the time don’t know where to start, and I am honored to come alongside and help you figure it out. And just start building that momentum and get in your stride.
And I promise you, you won’t regret it. So anything that we’re saying resonates with you. Don’t wait. Just call the number. Or you can put your information on our website and someone will get. Get back in touch with you very, very quickly. I mean, you got to do it so fast and you don’t know what you’re doing because your mind, which I get in the.
So don’t let them get in the way. Only it’s only $1 to try, Vanessa. And it might be the most impactful hour in 15 minutes of your life. Here at VC fitness for your first consultation, it’s only $1. The assessment is going to just go over some things that are on your heart. Give me a good idea of your body awareness, your mechanics and see if we are a good fit and it only costs $1.
So you can find us at BC fitness. Or you can call the number (207) 467-5509. Again, that is (207) 467-5509. And you can look at us and VC Fitness dot live. And one more time you can call (207) 467-5509. And we are waiting for your call.