You Don’t Need Perfect Days To Make Real Progress

Join the Healthy Body Challenge: https://square.link/u/G4D52EH9

Perfection sounds noble, but it quietly blocks progress. We explore how all-or-nothing thinking sneaks into fitness and food choices, then trade it for a saner, kinder approach that actually delivers results. From mini workouts that fit a crowded day to simple nutrition wins you can repeat anywhere, we walk through a practical blueprint for momentum you can feel by the end of the week.

I share a candid story from working inside a gym yet struggling to find that “ideal” 60-minute block, and the switch that changed everything: all or something. You’ll hear why perfection creates a cycle of guilt and restarts, how to zoom out and judge your health by patterns over months, and the subtle psychology of celebrating small wins so they compound. A client case brings it home—counting two workouts as success increased consistency, energy, and confidence, without chasing extremes.

We also outline flexible strategies for busy seasons and holidays: stacking short sessions, choosing balanced plates without food rules, and tracking tiny wins so the data can quiet the perfection voice. Expect clear, repeatable steps, not hacks; sustainable health comes from simple systems you can keep when life gets messy. If you’ve ever thought “I blew it, I’ll start Monday,” this conversation gives you a new script and the tools to back it up.

Ready to build progress without the pressure? Tap follow to get new episodes, share this one with a friend who needs the reminder, and leave a quick review so more listeners can find practical, compassionate coaching they can use today.

Chapters

• 0:00 Welcome And Show Focus
• 0:49 Naming All Or Nothing Thinking
• 2:02 Real-Life Traps And Gym Story
• 2:51 Why Perfection Backfires
• 4:34 Three Practical Mindset Shifts
• 6:43 Client Wins From Small Steps
• 7:22 Listener Invite And Sharing
• 8:22 Healthy Body Challenge Details
• 10:51 Subscribe, Review, And Community

Transcript

SPEAKER_00: 0:00

Hello and welcome to the Spandex and Wine Podcast. I'm your host, Robin Hackney, and I'm so happy that you're here. This podcast is a place for conversations about balancing a healthy lifestyle and being happy. More specifically, happy hour. Together we'll explore all things wellness and wine. I hope you learn a little, laugh a lot, and along the way, know you're not alone on this balanced wellness journey. Ready to jump in? Pour something in your glass that makes you happy because it's time for Spandex and Wine. Hey friends, welcome back to the Spandex and Wine Podcast. So today I want to talk about something I see come up over and over again in my clients, in classes, and I guess if I'm being honest, even in my own head. And it's the idea of all or nothing thinking. So you've probably heard that phase before. I just want to break it down a little bit. So all or nothing thinking is that mindset that says, if I can't do it perfectly, I might as well not do it at all. Or even like I already screwed up, so I may as well give up. It's the belief that missing one workout ruins your whole week, or eating one cookie means your whole diet is blown. So I'm sure that sounds familiar. And if it's you, you are not alone. Today I'm going to explain why this mindset doesn't serve us, and more importantly, how we can shift away from it so we can actually feel good about our progress. So all or nothing thinking sneaks into our daily lives in lots of ways. So maybe you've said to yourself, if I don't have a full hour to exercise, it's not worth doing. Or I already had a dessert today, so I might as well eat whatever I went the rest today. Or I missed a workout this week, I'll just restart on Monday. And what happens with this kind of thinking is that it creates this black and white world where we're either perfect or we're we're a failure. And that is simply not true. I've had to really, you know, take note of this in my workouts recently. And I know it sounds silly. I shared this in my newsletter yesterday that I work at a gym and it's hard for me to get my workouts in. And I was just feeling that like I was a failure, um, even though, you know, I was teaching teaching classes here and there, and I show clients exercises, and every now and then I would do some things. Um, but it wasn't that 45 to 75 minute workout that I was really hoping to get. And what I decided was that I have to break it up. I just gave myself one to two, maybe more muscle groups a day, and then I just go and do five, 10, 15 minutes where I can. And so I do many workouts throughout the entire day. So that's one way that I've gotten around that one. But the all-or-nothing mindset really does two harmful things. First, it sets the bar impossibly high. Nobody is perfect all the time. Not me, not you, not your favorite influencer. And when we expect perfection, we end up in a constant cycle of guilt and disappointment. I have been there. I have just really beat myself up before. I'm sure that a lot of you have as well. And second, it completely ignores the power of small, consistent actions. Health and fitness are built on hundreds of little choices over time, not one flawless day. We shouldn't focus on just that. One skipped workout or one slice of pizza doesn't define your progress. But being consistent and choosing movement most days, fueling your body with balanced meals, drinking your water, that all adds up to real sustainable results. And, you know, I actually had this conversation with a client here the other day, and we were talking about where his son is with his band and what he wants to continue doing and where he wants to go from here and continuing to look ahead. And they kind of lost sight of where they've come from and that little place that they started playing, and now they're at these big venues, even though they want it to be bigger, you know, they lost sight of the little things. So don't let that all or nothing thinking um get you to ignore the small, consistent actions that you have done. And a better approach, what we can do instead. Here are three shifts that I recommend. Um, so first of all, number one, the the think all or something instead of all or nothing. So maybe you don't have 60 minutes for the gym, like I was explaining before with me, but can you fit in a 10-minute walk or 15 minutes of stretching? Um, or like I've been doing just many workouts throughout the day. Something is always better than nothing. Moving your body anyway for any length of time is going to be better than doing nothing at all. So keep that in mind when you are scheduling your workouts. Even if you just have a small window, get it done, get it in, and be proud of yourself for doing what you could do that day. Number two, zoom out and see the big picture. So one meal, one day, or even one week doesn't make or break your health. What matters is the pattern of what you do over months and years. And I hear so many people say that they have a hard time with consistency, but it might be because you are focusing on, oh, I made this mistake. I'm so inconsistent. When that was just one thing, what have you done overall? Like look at a month or a year. Have you made strides in that year? I guarantee you've had setbacks, but if you are further along today than you were 365 days ago, that is amazing. And then the third thing that I would say to do, and you've heard this before, is to celebrate the small wins. So start noticing and celebrating the little things that you're doing, like drinking an extra glass of water, taking the stairs, um, parking farther away in the parking lot, adding vegetables to your plate, maybe taking just half of the dessert. So those wins matter and they build confidence. So the more you can do things like that and be proud of yourself, then those are huge wins, even though they look like they're just small actions and they they build up on each other. And like it's I said, they're going to help build your confidence just to keep moving and going. I had a client who used to say that if she missed one workout, the whole week was ruined. And so if instead of doing two workouts, she ended up doing none. So once she changed her mindset to something is better than nothing, everything shifted. She started celebrating those two workouts instead of beating herself up for the three she missed. And guess what? Over time, those workouts stacked up and she saw results physically, mentally, emotionally. And that's the power of shifting out of that all or nothing thinking. So I guess I would say the takeaway that I want you to remember is that you don't have to be perfect to make progress. Health isn't about extremes, it's about consistency. Something is always better than nothing. And you guys, you know, I would love to hear from you. I'd love to know where all or nothing thinking has shown up in your life. You can send me a message, you can send me an email, info at spandexnwine.com. I would love to chat with you about that. You can also direct message me on social media. I forgot to, I forget to say that. I always give out my text line and my email, but I forget to say that just send me a direct message on social media and um share something about this episode or another episode in the past or just what's going on in your life right now. And if this episode gave you a little bit of aw, yeah, moment, then share it with a friend who might need to hear that reminder too. So thanks for joining me today. Keep making those small, consistent choices, and I will see you next time. Bye, friends. Oh, wait, before you go, I have to talk about the Healthy Body Challenge. It's a challenge I do every year. You guys have heard me talk about this before. This will be the 12th year, and you guys are gonna get tired of hearing me say this every single year. But supposedly the average person gains eight pounds from Halloween to New Year's. We set out years ago, um, some clients and I just holding each other accountable, eating healthy. I would give just a focus for every week to keep us on track, and we ended up losing weight instead of gaining weight. Um, and it just turned into something that we wanted to do every year. I've really enjoy it. It's a great group of people. I love having new people that are in every year as well. This year we're going to start it off by focusing on meals individually instead of maybe just going with three vegetables the first week, whatever it might be, or whatever I've done in the past. Um, so I'm excited about that. More recipes, and there is a space for you if you need accountability. I can assign you a buddy, or if you're someone that you like to just do it on your own, that's great too. It's not going to be a challenge in that you are competing against anyone else. This is just a challenge for you. It is eight weeks long. We start on Monday, October 20th, and we are going to take it until December 19th. I was going to cut it short because the past the next the last couple weeks always get really hectic and busy, but I thought, no, that's the time that we needed the most. So I'm going to do it for the full eight weeks. If you have done the challenge in the past, um, you get an alumni discount, you can reach out to me. Otherwise, I will put a link in the show notes and you can get signed up that way. Actually, I'll put both in there. And uh, let's see, what else can I tell you about it? Um, yeah, it's just each week we have a focus and we'll build on each week. So we'll have it stack as we go. So, what you do the first week, you're going to do the second week plus that week's focus. The third week, you'll do week one, week two, and week three. And it's nothing to be that you should feel overwhelmed about. It is just simple steps that we can all do as long as we just stay on track and focused. And that's exactly what this is designed to help you do. So please reach out to me if you have questions. And um, yeah, I am just super excited to get started. So thank you so much, and I'll see you guys next time. Thank you for listening. If you're enjoying this podcast, be sure to follow Spandex and Wine so you don't miss an episode. To do this, just go to the podcast and click subscribe or follow wherever you are listening. Look for the plus sign or follow button. This is one of the best things that you can do for the podcast. If you'd also be willing to give a five-star review, that would be amazing and much appreciated. Lastly, please share an episode with a friend or five to keep the love going. And join the Spandex and Wine community in our private Facebook group by searching Spandex and Wine. Feel free to reach out to me at any time by emailing info at spandexandwine.com or text me at 913 392 2877. I appreciate you. Thank you.