Lauren Saint-Louis is a fitness and nutrition coach and founder of LSL Fitness. She specializes in helping today’s high-performing professionals build fitness-forward lifestyles and sustainable habits and overcome the “all-or-nothing mentality” when it comes to behavior change.
The all-or-nothing fitness mindset is the idea that if you can’t give 100%, you might as well give nothing at all. This mentality can present a significant barrier to building a sustainable healthy lifestyle, especially for busy professionals.
I’m sure you’ve experienced this scenario before. You miss your morning boot camp session or eat pizza for lunch, and you think the whole day is ruined. You decide to start fresh tomorrow.
The problem is that tomorrow often becomes next week, next month, or even next year.
I’m passionate about helping people understand how to overcome this mindset while navigating their careers and lives. I’ll walk you through some strategies to help you shift from an all-or-nothing mentality to a more balanced and sustainable approach to fitness.
Why do we have the all-or-nothing fitness mindset?
The all-or-nothing fitness mindset is often rooted in perfectionism. For high-performing professionals, the drive for excellence can extend beyond the office and into personal goals, such as wanting to build muscle or train for a race.
Perfectionism can lead you to set ambitious and unrealistic targets, such as working out five days a week, eating a flawless diet, and getting eight hours of sleep each night. But, hey, life happens. Work deadlines, travel, family obligations, illness, or just sheer exhaustion can get in the way. Suddenly, your perfect plan unravels.
We can become discouraged when our “perfect streak” develops what we deem a “flaw.” So we turn to the “why bother” narrative and give up. The all-or-nothing mentality convinces you that anything less than perfect is worthless. But in reality, perfectionism, especially when it comes to health – can be the very thing that sabotages your long-term success.
How to overcome the all-or-nothing fitness mentality
You can build sustainable fitness habits by following these five tips.
1. Turn the dial rather than flipping a switch
The key to breaking free from the all-or-nothing mindset is to think of your fitness journey as a dial rather than an on-off switch. Instead of being either fully committed or completely disengaged, understand that you can adjust the intensity based on what’s realistic for you at any given time.
For example, if your week is packed with meetings and travel, maybe you dial down your workouts to 20-minute sessions instead of an hour. I often reinforce to clients that something is always better than nothing and you can always be moving forward by making one decision. By adjusting the dial, you maintain momentum without the pressure of having to be perfect.
You can apply the dial concept to nutrition too. Different habits can be turned up or down depending on your environment.
2. Do less to do more
Counterintuitive, as this may seem, doing less, can often lead to doing more over time. Can’t make it to the gym? Try a quick home workout, take a brisk walk, or stretch. By reducing the barrier to entry, you’re more likely to stay consistent, which is the real key to success.
Remember, fitness isn’t about going hard every single day. It’s about building a habit of regular movement. The most successful people in business have gotten to where they’re at by consistently performing the basics and being resilient to setbacks. Fitness is no different.
Shorter, more manageable workouts are not just acceptable; they’re smart.
3. Develop sustainable habits
Consistency beats intensity every time. The all-or-nothing mentality thrives on the belief that more is better, but the reality is that sustainability is the ultimate goal. Develop habits that fit seamlessly into your reality, regardless of how busy or chaotic life gets.
Start small. At first, you might just take a 10-minute walk on most mornings or stretch for five minutes most nights before bed. Once these small actions become part of your routine, you can gradually build on them. Avoid comparing your path to someone else’s. Every client I work with has similar needs, but we apply the habits in different ways. The “right” way is the one that leads to consistency, not necessarily daily.
4. Look at the day in quarters
If a day doesn’t go as planned, you may be tempted to write off the entire day and promise to start fresh tomorrow. But the all-or-nothing mindset traps you in this way.
Instead of thinking of the day as a whole, break your day into quarters: morning, midday, afternoon, and evening. If one quarter goes off track, the entire day isn’t ruined. Neither is the quarter, for that matter.
Just reset and refocus your efforts on the next quarter. By compartmentalizing your day, you give yourself more opportunities to make positive choices rather than letting one slip-up derail your entire plan.
5. Remember, you’re one decision away
At any moment, you’re just one decision away from getting back on track. Did you miss your morning workout? You can still go for a walk at midday or do some stretching in the evening. You mindlessly snacked for lunch? Get a salad at your next meal. The power lies in the next decision you make, not the one you just made. By shifting your focus to the present and what you can do right now, you free yourself from the guilt and frustration that come with an all-or-nothing mindset.
A sustainable path forward
Your success isn’t determined by a single workout or meal. It’s built over time through consistent effort and a mindset that values progress over perfection. By shifting your perspective and embracing flexibility, you can maintain consistency without negative self-talk.
If you’re a busy professional looking to overcome the all-or-nothing mentality and establish a sustainable healthy lifestyle, do what you can, when you can, and let that be enough. Progress isn’t about being perfect; it’s about making better choices more often than not.
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Read more from Lauren Saint-Louis
Lauren Saint-Louis, Fitness & Nutrition Coach
Lauren Saint-Louis is an Exercise Physiologist and fitness & nutrition coach based in NYC. She specializes in behavior and lifestyle change, habit development and is passionate about helping clients overcome the “all or nothing mentality”. She founded LSL Fitness to help today’s high-performing professionals elevate the version of themself that they bring to their career and life.
