There was a point in my life when I knew almost as much about losing weight as anyone could possibly want to know.
I had dieted for decades.
I had worked with personal trainers.
I had tried intense exercise.
I knew what foods I was “supposed” to eat.
I knew I needed to move my body.
And I knew exactly what Monday morning was supposed to look like.
The problem?
By Thursday, real life had usually arrived.
That is one of the central ideas I recently discussed on The Author’s Corner while talking about my book, The Habit Hacker’s Guide to Wellness:
Most of us don’t have an information problem. We have an execution problem.
Especially women.
We’re working.
Raising children.
Caring for parents.
Managing households.
Building careers.
Running businesses.
Navigating relationships.
And somewhere in the middle of all of that, we’re supposed to meal prep, exercise, sleep eight hours, drink enough water and manage our stress.
The question becomes less about what to do and more about:
How do I make this work in my life?
My Transformation Didn’t Start With a Big Transformation
During the interview, I shared a story that still makes me laugh.
Like a lot of people during COVID, I bought a Peloton.
And then that very expensive Peloton sat there.
For more than a year.
I didn’t start my transformation with the Peloton.
I started with free beginner Pilates videos on YouTube.
At the time, I was waking up around 4 a.m. because I was pumping for my daughter.
I knew that season was ending, and I had a choice.
I could reclaim that time as sleep—or I could use a small part of it to begin taking care of myself.
I chose ten minutes.
Not an hour.
Not a 90-day challenge.
Ten minutes.
And something interesting happened.
I started feeling better.
My knees felt better.
My back felt better.
My hips felt better.
So eventually I wondered:
What if I do 15 minutes?
Then 20?
That is how habit change began for me—not by completely redesigning my life, but by attaching a small new behavior to something I was already doing.
Motivation Wasn’t Enough
I had been motivated plenty of times before.
I wanted to lose weight.
I wanted my clothes to fit.
I wanted to look better.
But motivation is incredibly unreliable.
Motivation disappears when your child gets sick.
When work blows up.
When you’re exhausted.
When you’ve had a terrible day.
That’s why one of the concepts I teach is finding your deeper WHY.
For me, that why ultimately became my daughter.
After nine miscarriages, I finally became a mother at 46.
And one day, after realizing how much my health was limiting me, I had to ask myself:
I fought incredibly hard to have this child. What was I willing to do to be healthy and present for her?
That was different from wanting to wear a smaller dress.
That was my North Star.
Stop Calling Everything Failure
Another lesson I discussed on the podcast is one I use constantly in coaching:
Failure is data.
Maybe you planned to exercise four days this week and only exercised twice.
Why?
Maybe you planned meals but ended up ordering takeout three nights.
What happened?
Instead of immediately deciding:
I have no discipline.
I always mess up.
Here I go again.
Get curious.
What was happening before the behavior?
What made your plan difficult to follow?
What could you change next time?
That’s data.
And data allows you to build a better strategy.
Your Next Decision Matters More Than Monday
You went out Saturday night.
You had dinner.
You had dessert.
You had a cocktail.
Okay.
Enjoy it.
Your next healthy decision does not need to wait until Monday.
It can happen Sunday morning.
Or at your next meal.
One indulgent meal doesn’t undo your progress.
What often creates the bigger problem is the thinking that follows it:
Well, I already messed up. I’ll start again Monday.
I don’t want women constantly starting over.
I want you to learn how to keep going.
Especially If You’re Over 40
If you’re in your 40s, 50s or beyond, you may already be discovering that your body doesn’t respond exactly the way it did at 25.
That doesn’t mean you’re incapable of changing it.
But I believe this stage of life calls for a much more thoughtful approach than simply eating less and exercising harder.
That’s a big part of the work I do today at Atlanta Wellness Clinic: helping women bring together nutrition, behavior change, metabolic health and realistic wellness strategies that fit the lives they’re actually living.
Because I still believe this:
You probably already know a lot about what to do.
Now we need to figure out how to help you do it consistently.
You can watch my full conversation on The Author’s Corner here:
And if this sounds like the journey you’re on, explore Atlanta Wellness Clinic at www.atlwellnessclinic.com.
