nikki (00:10.35)
If you're like me, I bet you have a list of things that you keep saying that you want to do. You want to get stronger, eat a little better, finish that project, get more organized, figure out what you actually like wearing.
And somewhere on that list, you also like to stop being surprised that everyone needs dinner again. And you want to do these things, but then you look at everything you already have going on and you're like, okay, but where am I supposed to start? And I know that feeling. And today I want us to take one thing on that very long list and figure out a place to start that actually makes sense for your life. Because I need to get my life together is a lot to put in the middle of the week.
nikki (00:59.072)
If you've been listening to Real Food, Real Energy, Real Life, welcome back. You are in the right place. And if this is your episode, and if this is your first episode, I'm really glad you're here. I want to tell you a little bit about why I'm changing the name because it has a lot to do with what we're going to talk about today. Look, I still care incredibly about nutrition and fitness. Okay, we're gonna talk about it a lot. Food, strength, movement, all of the things that help us feel better. But as I started
Thinking about the women I want to help, I kept coming back to something. And I've noticed it with a lot of my clients too. There are so many women who want help with nutrition and fitness, but they struggle to stick with the things that they say they start. Okay? They have a goal, then they get going, then something happens and they stop. And eventually they're coming back saying, I just can't stick to anything. And if that sounds like you, this is a great place to be.
Because this conversation goes way beyond what you're eating or what workout you're doing. And maybe it's the thing that you've picked just doesn't fit your life. Or maybe you don't even like doing it. Or maybe you just are trying to start with a goal that's just too big for everything that you have going on right now. Or maybe you've just spent so much time taking care of everyone else that you haven't really thought about what you want. Because I know that you want to feel better.
You just don't know exactly what that looks like yet. And I want to have room for those conversations here. I want us to talk about the things that make everyday life easier, the things that we keep putting off, the things that we might have to try just because they sound interesting. Because you can love your family, you can love being a mom, and you can really appreciate everything that you have going on in your life and still want to feel better or have things that you want to change. So I want to
talk a little bit about this and how this has played out in my life because sometimes it's a really good way just to give you some different perspective. And meal planning for me is a great example of this. Because every week I would scan Pinterest and I'd sit down and I'd look for recipes and I'd look at our schedule and I'd be like, okay, who has what what night? What nights are rushed? What's busy? You know, and so when I told myself I need to plan meals, I was giving myself an entire project.
nikki (03:19.372)
Because I it would drive me crazy. And I wanted to have figured dinner figured out. I just didn't want to spend over an hour figuring it out. So I'd just go to the store and I'd buy a bunch of stuff. And then half the time that stuff would go bad because we didn't eat it. And it's frustrating because you've spent the money, you've gone to the store, you have food in your house, but you still didn't really answer the question about what you're gonna have for dinner. So then I just end up back at the store. And when I wing dinner
I can find myself going to the store all the time, probably spending way more money than I need to, and not really knowing what we're gonna have.
nikki (04:04.908)
And then the age-old question, I'm sure that you get too, but it's like nails on a chalkboard for me. It's what's for dinner? And look, I get it, they're asking a reasonable question. Okay, they would like to know what we're gonna have to eat. But I'm frustrated because I don't have an answer and I have to figure it all out again. So looking back, I can see how much I was asking myself to do before I could consider any of these meals planned, find the recipes, make the choices, look at all of our schedules.
Playing the meals and I kept thinking, I don't want to deal with this right now. So I would get, I I got super frustrated and I built myself something, and we're gonna talk more about that on another episode. But what I want you to think about today is the version of the task that you're actually asking yourself to do. So when you say you want to get organized, are you picturing an entire weekend of going through every room? Or when you say that you want to start working out.
Have you already decided that it needs to be a full hour several days a week? Or when you say that you want to eat better, are you giving yourself the job of finding and making a whole new set of meals? Because maybe there's a reason that you keep putting things off. And maybe the starting point doesn't need to be what it is, and maybe you need to look at it again. So let's bring this back to what it looks like in your life, right? When you say,
I need to get my life together. What are you actually talking about? What happened that you made made you think that you needed to get your life together? Okay, was it another evening of figuring out dinner at the last minute? Did you open up a closet full of clothes and feel like you had nothing to wear? Did you get to the end of another week and realize that you hadn't made time for something that you need you that you say that matters to you? I want you to get specific. And maybe you need to pause this episode and so that you can write it down.
Okay, but my entire life n needs to work doesn't really give you a good place to start. So I'm tired of going to the grocery store four times a week. That gives you something you can actually look at. Or you know, I'm tired of not feeling good in my clothes, that's a little big, right? But could give you a place to start. And while you're thinking about what needs to change, I also want you to
nikki (06:29.698)
Give yourself a little bit of credit for what you're already doing. So if you tell me that I'm not consistent with anything, I'm gonna ask you what you're consistent with because I'm gonna bet that you probably brush your teeth. If you're not consistent with brushing your teeth, then the dentist is gonna know. You probably show up for work or chauffeuring your kids and taking them to all the places that they need to go. So I want you to like look at the particular thing that you're struggling with before we decide.
That you're just not a consistent person. So what makes this one thing difficult to follow through? Because that's where I want you to start. So you might already have five things in your head. And if you paused in the episode and wrote down the things that you want to get going on, great. But dinner, exercise, the closet, that appointment, the project that you've walked past for six months, for this week, I just want you to choose one of these. Okay.
So think about the thing that keeps coming up, something that you find yourself complaining about, avoiding, or wishing that you had figured out.
Because if that one thing worked a little bit better, would you notice a difference in your wake? And if it if you would, I want you to start there. But here is the trick that I do not want you to that but here is the trap that I do not want you to step in. You do not need to choose the thing that sounds the most impressive. I want you to choose something that matters to you. So maybe getting dinner figured out like me would be less frustrating. Or maybe taking care of an unfinished task.
would mean that you could stop reminding yourself about it every time you walk past it. Like maybe there's a drawer in the kitchen that needs to be cleaned out. Or maybe making time for something that you enjoy would give you something to look forward to. Because it's gonna be different for everyone. And if you're listening to this and you're like, okay Nikki, but I have these things going on and my parents are sick and my kids have, you know, a crazy schedule.
nikki (08:34.338)
And I'm barely getting through the week and barely surviving, then we yeah, let's we gotta take that into account because it's part of your life, and these are real demands on your time. Because your starting point needs to fit the life that you have right now, and that might mean making the actions smaller than you originally planned. And it also might mean getting help with something before you really have room for it. So we need to look at what's actually going on. So once you've picked the area.
The next question that I want you to think about is where do you want to start? Because eat better leaves you with a lot of things to figure out. What does it mean to eat better? Right? And then that leads you down another rabbit hole of questions. So if dinner's the problem, like it was for me, maybe you pick two dinners for the week and you make sure you actually have what you need to make those two things. And maybe it's something that you already make.
nikki (09:36.385)
You don't need to open Pinterest to find a bunch of new recipes if that's the part that makes you want to close the whole thing and just push it away, right? Pick the dinners, check what you have, and then put what you need on the grocery list. Okay? Then look at your week and where does it make sense to make them? That's a good starting point. On the flip side, if you want to get back into strike training, what needs to happen first? Do you need to choose the workout? Do you need to figure out where it's going to fit in your week?
Start with a shorter session than what you've been putting off, right? So if there's a if there's a project that you've been avoiding, what part could you work on first? So this week I want you to try finishing this sentence. This week I am going to blank. And then I want you to put an actual action after it. So maybe you need to pause the episode and you need to think about it because you need to think about this week, I am going to do what?
But things like I'm going to get organized are still pretty broad. But maybe you turn that into this week I am going to clear out the drawer in my kitchen that I can barely get to shut. And that gives you somewhere to start with. But I want you to be honest with yourself because if you choose a step and you immediately start thinking of all the reasons that it's just not gonna work, then you need to start looking at those reasons. Is it something you need? Is the timing unrealistic? Have you made
The first step so big that the project just
Is there something that you need? Is the timing unrealistic? Or have you just made the first step so big that it feels like an entire project? So then maybe we need to break it down again. And I've done this for myself on many things. I can want something and change it and still keep finding ways to put it off. So I'm going to ask you the same question that I have to ask myself sometimes. What are you actually willing to do? Because wanting dinner to be easier.
nikki (11:38.659)
wasn't changing dinner for me. I had to actually do something different. So your action can be small, but choose something that you can actually act on. Which brings me to why I created the 1% better bingo card. Because I was thinking about all of the women who wanted to make changes and struggle to keep going. And I also think about women who love challenges and those little tiny steps keep them motivated. So I created a
Paid version in my community where they can choose the action that they want to work on and it gives them a very specific bingo card for themselves for the month. And so it allows them to get bingos for toward the goals that they want to make. And so if once I did that, I then decided I wanted to make it for everybody. And I wanted 24 tiny things that you could start to make things life.
That you could make life 1% better. So pick one square. It can be the free square. And then I want you to choose something that just fits your life, fits your fits your energy, and fits all the things that you have going on right now. And then give yourself a specific time or a situation when you're going to do it. And what does that look like in your actual day? And if something on the card matters more to you right now, you can start there. The card gives you ideas of somewhere to begin, but you still get to decide what makes a difference in your life.
And then there's one more part I really don't want you to skip. After you do the thing, I want you to notice it. So let's say for me, like you planned two dinners and you actually made both of them. You might be tempted to say, Well, it was only two dinners. Okay, but you planned them and you made them. So how did that feel? Did the evenings feel easier? Did you avoid an extra trip to the store? Did you use food that otherwise would probably have just sat in the fridge? Would you want to do it again next week?
You said you were going to do something and you followed through. So I want you to give yourself some credit for that. Because you don't immediately turn those two dinners into a plan for every breakfast, lunch, and dinner that month.
nikki (13:56.622)
So I want you to try doing the thing that helped again and and just see how it works. It's also it's also really useful to notice when something didn't help. So maybe the action was still too big, or maybe you tried something and you just didn't like it, or maybe the timing made it harder than it needed to be. Then we just have something that we can work on adjusting. And that's part of why I really and that's part of what I
And that's part of what I want this show to be. We're going to try things, we're gonna ask questions, and we're going to figure out what makes enough of a difference to keep. So some weeks that might be about food or fitness, other weeks it might be a home project, your clothes or your goals, or stress or sleep, or just making room for something that you actually enjoy. You get to decide what feeling better in your life means to you, and today you just need somewhere to start. So
If you are excited about this and looking forward to this new journey, I would love it if you would share this episode with a friend who is looking for a place to get started, or share this or review it on Apple Podcasts or Spotify so this show can start to reach so many more women. I am so looking forward to working through all of this with you and being here to make life 1% better in midlife.
