Reach your goal by strengthening your weakest link -

Q. Want to know how to get the biggest bang for your buck when trying to achieve a goal?

A. Improve your weakest link.

This is true for any goal, however I am going to relate it back to health, fitness and weight loss.

Step 1) Determine your weakest link.

What is the one biggest thing that is letting you down right now?

I have come up with 7 different categories for health, fitness and fat loss. However please feel free to choose one of your own. This exercise is all about YOU after all.

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1) Meals – are they balanced (like the portion plate)? The right size? Are you eating your meals when fairly hungry and stopping when satisfied (not full) ?

Meals – Score out of 10 =

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2) Extras – mindless snacking that you don’t need. Get specific. Does this happen at a particular time of day or place?

Extras – Score out of 10 =

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3) Drinks – yes they deserve their own category. Again, get as specific as you can

Drinks – Score out of 10 =

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4) Movement (within comfort zone) – are you getting enough steps per day in any way that you enjoy?

Movement – Score out of 10 =

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5) Exercise (structured, outside comfort zone and uses all muscle groups) – are you challenging yourself at least 3 times per week?

Huffing and puffing and using and overloading your muscle groups.

Exercise – Score out of 10 =

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6) Weekends – Another that deserves its very own category. Be specific as you can about your weekend downfalls. Or maybe you could try the tips in THIS post about weekend weight loss.

Weekends – Score out of 10 =

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7) Self talk / Self worth / Self respect / Self love – I honestly believe that you will never achieve a healthy body from a place of hating yourself. This isn’t just my opinion, there is plenty of science to back me up.

If this is your weakest link (aka – if you are hating on yourself right now), then no amount of food and exercise changes will last long term.

Self love – Score out of 10 =

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Give yourself a score out of 10 with how you think you are doing for each category.

1 = crappy. 10 = fantastic.

Pick ONE weak link to work on at a time. Give yourself at least a week or two to improve it before you try moving on to another.

Important Note –

This is NOT about being perfect. This is NOT about beating yourself up with guilt. This is NOT about me (or anyone else) telling you what you should do with YOUR body and YOUR health and fitness goals. This is about how YOU feel about your current routine and what improvements you would like to make for yourself.

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Step 2) Come up with (lot’s of) solutions for your weakest link

I want you to pull out a blank sheet of paper and write down 10 – 20 solutions to overcome your weakest link. Please come at it from a feeling of creativity, light and fun. Don’t think of it as hard rules and punishment.

Some of your solutions will be silly, some will be boring, some will be useful, some wont be. Just keep writing without pressure. No one ever has to see this sheet of paper except you.

What this does…

It puts you in a place of solution focus instead of problem focus

It is 100% specific to YOU

It encourages you to come up with creative solutions that are not immediately obvious

Making a big improvement on your weakest link will get you much closer to your goal than making a tiny improvement in an area you are already mastering

It feels different (better) to come up with creative, realistic solutions to your own problems instead of being told what to do by someone else

It empowers you to take responsibility for yourself, not put your health, body and fitness in the hands of someone or something else (like the latest fad diet for example)

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Step 3) Pick a couple (or a lot) of solutions and try them out

You could even visualise yourself performing the solution.

Take it for a test run in your mind so to speak. See how it feels for you. Does it feel realistic? Can you see yourself actually following through?

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I know its easy to read a post like this and think to yourself “I’ll do it later” or “that wouldn’t work for me”. Do me a favour and do it anyway. You just might surprise yourself.

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STOP trying to fix stuff that’s not broken.

I get a lot of fat loss clients come to me with suggestions such as swapping their breakfast for a meal replacement shake. But their current breakfast is already healthy and adequate.

Or they might want to increase their exercise from 3 x per week to 5. No major problems with this unless they are avoiding the fact that they really should be focussing on their after dinner chocolate binge instead.

Putting mental energy into fixing stuff that’s not broken leaves us less mental energy (willpower) to focus on the things that will really have the biggest impact.

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With 20 years experience, Chriss Tinslay is one of Australia’s leading Personal Trainers.
She doesn’t believe in fad diets or excessive exercise plans. Chriss believes in Progress NOT Perfection.

She now runs regular face to face and online fat loss coaching programs.

Chriss believes that fitness and fat loss should fit into your fabulous life, NOT take over it. You can connect with her on Facebook where she shares useful tips each and every day.