38- Ditch the Quick Fixes: How to Build Fitness Habits That Actually Last

Tired of fitness programs that promise the world but leave you right back where you started a few months later?
In this episode, Kat dives into why quick fixes fail and reveals the skills you need to make fitness a sustainable part of your life.

What You’ll Learn

• Break Free from Program-Hopping: Why quick-fix fitness programs fail and how to escape the cycle.
• Shift Your Mindset: Stop chasing short-term results and build lifelong strength and health.
• Create a Sustainable Routine: Learn how to adapt fitness to your life and reach your goals without burnout.

Key Takeaways

• Why Quick Fix Programs Don’t Work:
  The fitness industry sells results but doesn’t teach you the skills to maintain them. Restrictive plans and rigid schedules often lead to burnout and frustration.
• Building Sustainable Habits:
  Fitness isn’t just about following a plan—it’s about learning skills like:
  • Consistency through rituals
  • Adaptability when life changes
  • Self-compassion during setbacks
  • Patience in the process
  • Time management to prioritize what matters
  • Knowledge and education to make informed decisions
  • Finding community and support to stay motivated
• Mindset Shifts for Lasting Results:
  Redefine success by focusing on your identity as someone who prioritizes health and strength—not just quick, superficial outcomes. This mindset keeps you motivated even when progress feels slow.

Resources Mentioned

• Books:
  • "Atomic Habits" by James Clear
  • "Master of Change" by Brad Stulberg
• KatFit Strength 1:1 Coaching Program:
  Ready to break free from the quick-fix trap? Kat’s personalized coaching program helps you:
  • Set goals aligned with your values
  • Create a flexible plan that fits your life
  • Build skills for long-term success

👉 Apply Now to KatFit Strength 1:1 Coaching

Stay Connected

• Instagram: @KatFitStrength

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Transcript

Kat: 0:00

Ever felt like you're stuck on a never ending cycle of fitness programs that promise you the world, the flat abs, the toned arms, the snatched waist, the bigger booty, you know, the total transformation only to leave you right back where you started a few months later, you're not alone. In today's episode, I'm revealing the real reason why quick fix fitness fails, and more importantly, how to break free from that cycle for good. Get ready to shift your mindset from chasing fleeting results. To building lasting strength and health. Welcome to MilesFromHerView the podcast powered by KatFit strength, where busy women like you find practical solutions to fuel your fitness journey with authenticity and resilience. I'm Kat, your host, a mom of two active boys, a business owner and an ultra marathon runner, and a strength trainer in her forties with nearly two decades of experience. I'm here to help you cut through the noise of fads, hacks, and quick fixes. This is a space where we celebrate. Womanhood and motherhood all while building strength and resilience and reconnecting with you from a place of self compassion and worthiness. Whether you're lacing up your running shoes to go out for a run, driving your kids to practice or squeezing in a moment for yourself. I'm right here in the trenches with you. Let's dive in. Welcome back to MilesFromHerView. I am Kat and I am your host. I am shivering in my office right now. It is so cold here in the Northeast and I'm sure it's cold where you're listening. If not, if it's warm, oh my goodness, send us some nice warm weather. That would be great because I am finding myself wishing for those warm sunshine filled days that spring and summer. Like I said, if you're, if you're shivering, I hope you warm up. If you are in your workout and you are sweating while listening to this. I hope you're feeling great and I am cheering you on while I am talking to you about today's topic. So let's start with that elephant in that room. You know why those four to eight or 12 week programs don't stick. See, the truth is the fitness industry is so great at selling results. But it is not so great at teaching you the skills to maintain those results. Often times the program comes with a checklist, follow this meal plan, do these workouts. It just does not address the bigger picture, your habits, your mindset, and how to adapt when life inevitably gets messy. When that program ends, you Most likely saw some results when it ends, you are thrusted back into your everyday life. There's kids activities, work stress, vacations, holidays, whatever. Life happens. You are unable to maintain that routine because some of these programs have such intricate, restrictive processes that it does not teach you how to do that. Integrate it into your life with the skills needed to do so. So it leaves you feeling like you failed. But it's not you. It's the system. The system is not designed to help you build these longterm habits. It's designed to sell you something fast. And when it does not last, they're already onto the next offer to let you know that, Hey, if this failed for you, I've got something else. What is the solution? How do we break out of this cycle? And that's where building the skills come in. There are fitness programs out there that do teach these skills. However, they are not always the most loudest on any socials. They are also ones where you do have to show up to do the work before you're like, Oh, I can't handle one more thing. I want you to think about this. When I asked this question, how does it feel when you go through this four week programs or eight week programs? How many times do you want to go through those four, eight, or twelve week programs? Trying to accomplish the same thing. Now, how would it feel if you took the time to work slow? And slow does not mean you won't see results for weeks, years, and years. But if you took the time to work slow, to understand the skills, to build the long term habits, how would it make you feel if you achieved the look, the fitness, the feel that you have versus being stuck in this cyclic cycle of, Oh, I feel like I failed. Let me white knuckle through this program. Okay. I got the results. A couple of months go by. Oh, I need another program. Okay. What if you just had something that was consistent and worked and flowed with your program? What's the difference between someone who stays consistent for years versus someone who is constantly starting over? It's not willpower. It's not motivation. It is none of those things. It is steeped in the skills that we're going to go over, and when I present you with these skills, it does not mean you have to acquire all of them day one of the program at all. These are skills that are built over time, and I know we hate that, because we are in a society that is, if you didn't learn it yesterday, if you didn't achieve it yesterday, you failed. So I want to challenge you first with that notion of that is not the case. You have not failed because nobody becomes an expert overnight. Nobody accomplishes their goals overnight. It takes longer. It is a process that takes years. Again, I want to stress that does not mean you won't see results for years. Let's dive in power and rituals. Also known as consistency. You may have seen a meme or quote out there that is, you are the sum of your behaviors. You are the sum of your habits or whatever. Something along that lines of who you are is how you act or what you do is going to be the outcome. You see those fun little quotes all over. But what does that really mean? It is about the rituals. So when we are looking at or when I look at a client who comes in and they're looking to work out consistently, we establish what does that mean for them. It does not mean everybody needs to work out six days a week. I look at their schedule and see what is consistent. For now, meaning today, what do they have the capacity to handle today and how can we build on that if they are someone who really thrives on working out six days a week and for 30 minutes a day? Fantastic. We will build up to that, but we need to understand. Where they are at now. One of my clients and all of these names have been changed. The reason why I'm presenting it is because it may resonate with where you're at. Sarah will use, she's a busy mama free. She has a very demanding career, her only time to get done her workout. She needs some multitask with it. We designed a 15 minute strength workout that she can do while her kids are seated at the table and she can do her strength training workout there. Because. For her, when she came to me, she didn't have time in her day. The time that she had to get her strength workout in was either after the kids went to bed between like nine to 10 PM, which then would leave her up until 1130, 12 o'clock because of just getting the workout in. And then, you know, I know how it is. You've got to put this away, do this. Power down from the whole day and get to bed or wake up early around 5 a. m. to get her workout in. Oftentimes, we just, by the ages of her kids, a child would wake up early and she wouldn't get her workout in that left her feeling frustrated. So the season of life that she's in for her to have that consistency is to have a 15 minute strength routine while she's helping her kids. It's not about perfection, but it's making it part of her routine. Is this her permanent state of where her workout will be? Absolutely not. But it is how the movement is integrated into the routine. So it feels natural, not forced at all. Her routine can change and we work with that. So I want you to think about your own routine, your own rituals that you can incorporate in. So you may have read James Clear, Atomic Habits. It's a great book. And in there it talks about the importance of building small habits, small consistent habits. It's not about doing everything all at once, but it's about showing up for the process. It also talks about coupling an action with a behavior. So it can be, you already have a time where you're doing something consistently. So in the case of Sarah, homework is done daily. Most of the time. She needs to be there to answer questions. So normally she would fill that time with just doing random things around the house or scrolling on her phone, but we took that current ritual and found a way she could be there, present for her kids, fulfilling their capacity for their homework, as well as pouring back into her cup to do her workouts. So look at your routines and your rituals and see where you can find that. Pair an activity with another activity. Another great concept I want you to think about, and we're going to talk about this one a little bit more as the podcast progresses, is this concept of rugged flexibility. So this concept comes from a really great book. It's called Master of Change by Brad Stolberg, and it's creating rituals that grounds you, but can adapt when life changes. So in the case of Sarah, right now, she's in the season where she's She needs to be available for her kids to do her homework. Her workout does not fit in the AM or in the PM routine. It's more disruptive to her sleep than it is to getting the workout in. It's just not beneficial. I'd rather have her sleep and get that quality of sleep and works with the time that our kids are doing her homework. So right now. She's being flexible that yeah, her workouts are a little bit distracted, but she's still getting them in knowing that when life changes. She will probably have 15 minutes or more to herself without her kids present. All right, moving on to number two, align goals with values. So goal setting. All right. We all hear goal setting, make goals, et cetera. Goals are great, but I want you to focus on goals that aren't fixated with outcomes. We're often taught. If we start a plan, we need an outcome. Outcomes are great. I will not dispute that. You want to lose 10 pounds. You want to see definition in your arms. You want to grow your booty. I don't know, like whatever those outcomes are, are great, but we want to establish goals that align with your values because the outcomes may require work that does not align with your values. You may not enjoy it. To be quite honest. It may not be something, again, that is conducive for your, you know, lifestyle or season at the time. When you establish a goal, I want you to think what truly matters. Building the steps that are manageable for you. So for instance, if you're like, I want to have a six pack abs and be a size two. I'm pulling out random things here right now. Just really arbitrary. That is going to require you to be in the gym for an hour, to be on a really restrictive diet, to go into a caloric deficit that depletes you of energy. And you are just feeling exhausted all the time and missing out on life events for these results. and you're miserable, does that really align with your values and where you want to go? Is that a sustainable goal? I'm not saying that may never happen. The speed and the goal and the intensity there, like it has to align with your values so that you are feeling fulfilled. One of my clients, we'll use the name Jen, wanted to feel strong enough to hike with her family, but she came in being like, well, I want to lose all this weight and I want to do this and that's how I'll feel good and have that stamina. Okay. Surely, yes, that could happen. But she was hyper focusing on losing the 15 pounds. She's like, but I'm not losing any weight. She was focused on the scale and not focused on the actual stamina that she was getting. So I had to help coach her through that mindset shift of we're setting the goal to focus on stamina and the strength for the outdoor activities. We set up a step by step plan that allowed her to get the cardio, the movement piece, the strength and the balance and coordination to feel more in control on the trails. And focusing on that, the weight loss did come. Now, I'm not going to go into the intricate numbers for that because personally, again, her results, yes, they do relate into Potentially you, maybe you're like, I really want to lose 15 pounds and I'd love to feel more confident and going for hikes and having that stamina to go up hills. So what her numbers are, aren't directly going to apply. Her timeline isn't going to apply to you because her lifestyle isn't the same 24 hours that your lifestyle is. However, I want you to take away that it had to align with her values. She didn't want to necessarily only eat and I'm using extreme example here, but she didn't want to only eat vegetables. She wanted to be able to feel confident to be able to have carbs and feel unencumbered. She wanted to have that confidence with her food. Confidence with her workouts, because in the past she had come in eating like a queen. Knowing the way for me to lose weight meant to cut out all carbs and all sugars because they were demonized. But at the end of the day, that caused her when she did that, when she achieved the weight loss goals to go right back to eating those foods, to then gain the weight back within a few months. Cardio was another way that she built up that stamina. And so she would hop on a cardio piece at her gym and be there for 45 minutes to an hour, just brutalizing herself in that. And she hated it. She hated it. That's the thing. She was just like, this is what works. And she hated those things. And I said, there's a better way. My goodness. There are so many ways to build stamina that you don't have to be on a piece of cardio for hours. There's so many ways to lose weight where you don't have to cut out carbs and sugar and all of these things. So you're white knuckling it through. So we focused on the values that are important to her and how to create That outcome she wanted. I want you to think about that. If your goals don't align with your values, if you're doing things that you are just not. It's not wanting to do. It's not going to stick. Number three, embrace change. Don't fight it. Okay. This is all about being adaptable. I get it. I hate change. I'm like, you want me to do what? And change up my routine. It is scary. I'm asking clients when they come to me, it is an intimate, vulnerable space. And I really want to highlight that. Your goals, your, what you're looking for is intimate. And I'm asking you to step into the unknown, to trust me with a plan to step into the unknown. I mean, change is inevitable. Change is going to happen regardless if you want it to or not. Our bodies change and that's a complete sense. Like bodies change. That's it. So I want you to think about change as opportunities. These challenges that come with change are opportunities for growth. The reality is life is going to get messy, work, kids, vacation. You need a plan that can handle that. So the way I have come up with, like I'm a mom, I deal with a lot of changes as well. And what I learned when I became a mom the first time and I was not in the personal training industry proper, I was a college track and field coach, I struggled. My mind as an athlete was. It's very, I show up, I do said workout. I was always coached. What I didn't realize on the back end, and oddly I did not apply this principle to myself when I coached athletes and what my coaches did was adapt the plan to be able to get the best out of that athlete that day to set them up for success for that competition the following weekend. So when I. Resumed my workouts after having my first child. I had it in my brain. If I didn't complete the full workout I failed. I did not get a good workout if I was not sweating in a workout Did I even show up to a workout if I wasn't and you can insert any Any concrete statement there, but I quickly learned that was causing so much frustration and guilt and inevitably stopping me from even wanting to show up to a workout. So what I needed to do was embrace this idea of adaptability. Because life is always going to be lifing and your seasons in life are going to change from prenatal workouts to postpartum workouts to adjusting and adapting to perimenopause to menopause to life's busy seasons where you are juggling a lot. And maybe the 45 minute workout that you had in your routine is not possible, but we're doing 10 minute workouts. This is the path. to embracing that challenge, embracing that change and looking at it as an opportunity for growth. So the way the program, I write my programs for my clients is so that they can always adapt it to meet them where they're at. The fact is I'm not always with my clients 24 seven, whether I see a client in person, I am not with them the other six or five days a week. I'm only with them for that one hour, or two hours a week that I see them for online clients. Some clients I don't even physically see in a live zoom call. Some it's all communication through app. Some it's for a 30 minute period out of a seven day cycle. Now in those moments, I do understand they're not going to be able to message me and be like, Hey, this is what's come up. How do I adapt this? So it's built in so that they have the autonomy to change it and understand that It's okay to adapt in the moment. You're still going to see progress because this is a sign of strength, not failure. All right. Number four, redefine what it means. Okay, discipline. Discipline gets a bad rep as being like, I must show up and I gotta be a robot. No, it does not mean rigidity. It means that you're not gonna be perfect every day. Discipline is about showing up consistently, even when things aren't perfect. That intrinsic motivation of knowing that I'm going to show up, finding enjoyment in the process is what keeps you going. So that goes back to if it does not align with your values, if you are like, I can't stand hopping on a cardio piece being at the gym. It is just unpleasant to me. You're not going to show up. You're going to resist that. You're going to fight it. So if we look. For the understanding that I'm going to show up and I'm going to do it, even if things aren't perfect. That's about being disciplined. So one of my clients, again, name change, Melissa, used to dread her workouts. She absolutely used to dread them. She didn't. She just didn't like getting into the workouts. Didn't like any of that. Well, some of it was how the workout was arranged. It wasn't, it just didn't work for her, but now she looks forward to them because she feels energized after it. She understands that she can. show up to the workout, and it doesn't have to go as perfectly. She knows how to challenge herself in the workout because there is that adaptability that is created within it. The workout is aligned with her values and there is that rigid flexibility that is applied so that she can show up consistently. Now, number five is a big one because everything that I've talked about before, this one is a huge one. And if you, and I'm going to say you, because I can coach through this, but I can't create that change. This is part of the work that I can't do for my clients. Number five, self compassion. You're either going to choose your inner coach versus your inner critic. It can be hard. So think about this. You have a 45 minute workout planned, but let's say a kid gets sick. You get the call from the school nurse. Your child is sick. You You want to do something, but your workout says 45 minutes and it has all the equipment that you don't have because you're planning on utilizing your company's gym. So now you don't do a workout. That inner critic fires up. Oh, well, if only I had, if only you could have, if only, you know, the shoulds, the woulds, the couldas, the all that. But deep down, there's a little tiny quiet voice, your inner coach. And this is where a plan that is adaptable and designed for your lifestyle is going to have that there. Because deep down, My clients know that maybe there is a workout, not maybe there, oftentimes there is a workout that they can adapt it to their home routine because I understand things change. And in the case of, you know, my client Sarah, who does her workouts with her kids doing her homework, sometimes she has equipment there. Sometimes she doesn't pull it into the room, but it is adaptable for that situation. So maybe there is an adaptable workout in the app waiting for them, but I teach my clients to recognize. Their wins, big and small, and treat themselves with kindness. Because when life is getting tough, do you want that inner critic to fire up to tell you how you didn't show up, to show you that, oh, yeah, of course, this is why we can't, or do you want the inner coach to tell you, hey, you know what, this situation does suck, we can acknowledge not every situation is super fun, I don't want to get a call from the school nurse telling me that my child might be vomiting or has a fever, because yes, it is a disruption to my day, and I already admitted, I don't like change, We don't like a sick kiddo, so it's okay. We can adapt to this. It may suck right now, but we're just going to bump that workout to tomorrow because it's okay and I'm going to be present with my child and do some mobility. Or maybe it's, I need to rest because I was up all night with a sick kiddo. Or a work project was dumped into my lap. You insert whatever curveball that can be thrown your way and Know that you want to pour into that inner coach. These are something that my clients do rely on me, that we work on those mindset shifts. Number six, patience, trust the process. This is hard because it's not tangible. It is an abstract skill that is there that it's like, but I want to see results. We are in that fast paced society that is like, if results didn't come yesterday, then am I even doing anything? But patient isn't easy. It is necessary. So one of my clients, name change, Sarah, has been with me for a year and has learned to trust the process, even when results aren't immediate. Because results aren't going to be immediate with this. It doesn't come like that. Oftentimes the results come. From years compounding on each other to see these results, all those flashy bodies that you see on Instagram. It's not that one exercise. It's not that one workout. It is a compound effect of hundreds of workouts, hundreds of reps, over and over. Again, that does not mean if you have stopped and started, you have set yourself back because the body is so brilliantly adaptable that you can still see results. But you have to have patience with yourself. That's why I celebrate progress, not perfection, because every step forward is a victory, no matter how small. Number seven, knowledge and education. So we want to, I empower through understanding. Okay. I educate my clients that movement, nutrition, breathing and recovery is huge, but I empower them to make those decisions about their fitness journey. They have full autonomy. I'm here to help support them and understanding the why behind each decision. So you feel more confident and committed to it. They have to meet me halfway. I can, anyone can have the best program, but if you're not going to be open to that change, to understand that, hey, this all works together, it's not an overnight process. That's where you get stuck in those quick fixes because you're only looking at that outcome and that I'm gonna say that quick dopamine hit I've like, oh I got this and then let it slip So that kind of segues into the mindset shift focus on identity not just goals So your behavior should reflect your identity that kind of goes back to what we started with is in the rituals Yes goals are great. I love goals But instead of I just want to lose weight, think of I am someone who prioritizes my own health. Because even when you hit that weight loss goal, you need to keep your health prioritized because fitness results expire. How many programs have you been on that you saw results, love the results, And then they drifted away because you didn't continue with the routine. I help my clients see that they are athletes for life. They are strong. They're capable and deserving of time for themselves. Fitness is no longer a chore. And it's that cliche, it's a lifestyle, but it's an identity that they see with themselves. They see how it all fits together, how it is. them. It isn't this, Oh, one day I will get there. It is. I am someone who prioritizes my health today. Even if I haven't seen those outcome goals happen yet, I am someone who prioritizes my health. You have to have that shift. If that shift is not there and you're focused on that outcome, to be honest, there's going to be a lot of frustration that comes your way. So shift that mindset that you are someone who is prioritizing your health. You are someone who Is that person you want to step into? Because if you don't see that and you don't act that, it will not be all right. Number nine, time management, prioritize what matters the most. All right, this one, you're probably like, Oh my goodness, enough with the time management. Like my life is already busy enough. I guarantee you, I am guilty as charged with this. There are things you can cut out. There are areas where you are wasting time. There are areas where, and I get it, find myself scrolling, watching reels. Plan your workouts when you feel most energized. If it's in the morning, plan them then. If it's in the evening, plan them then. If it's during homework time, plan them then. Look at your time schedule. This may take some time to move it around. Maybe you're like, yep, I think I can do 6 a. m. workouts. Plan it. Then know that that time can, can fluctuate because not every week you're going to feel like if you were an AM workout or not every, every week you're going to feel that way. So again, that's where that adaptability comes in. So for me, when I coach clients, I really help them look at their schedules and see what is realistic, whether it's 20 minutes before the kids wake up during a lunch break. It's the consistency that beats perfection every time. And the final one, community and support. Connection fuels success. It is huge. Accountability does not have to be rigid. It can be simply a sharing your progress with a friend. Do you need a coach? I don't know. Maybe that's, that's something for you to decide. Yes, I am a coach. Yes, I've talked about my programs, but not every person needs a coach to thrive. Sometimes it is following and implementing these skills that helps unlock the consistency with the routine. Sometimes it's hiring a coach that is going to help provide you with an awesome program that is going to you. Help you implement these skills to get it done. You know, if any of this resonated with you and you were just so tired of feeling stuck in that cycle and program hopping, and you're just like, I'm ready. I'm like, I cannot keep this up. And you want those sustainable things right now. I have four more spots in my cafe strength. One on one program to claim one of these spots. Jump into the show notes, click the link there, and let's book a call to chat more about your goals. Until next time, keep moving forward one rep, one step at a time. I'm here cheering you on the whole way. Thank you for tuning in to MilesFromHerView, powered by KatFit Strength. If this podcast inspires you, don't keep it for yourself. Hit follow or subscribe to stay updated on the new episodes and leave us a review to help more women and moms discover this space. Your feedback fuels this podcast, and I'd love to hear what's working for you or what topics you want to dive into next. You can connect with me on Instagram at KatFit Strength or share this episode with a friend who is ready to embrace her strength. Remember, fitness isn't about perfection. It's about showing up for yourself and finding strength in every step of your journey until next time, keep moving forward one mile at a time.