“I want to make fitness simple and attainable for busy women”

-Allison Lambert

The Fit Tutor

The Fix One Thing Rule: Healthy Eating Simplified.

The idea of fix one thing is how I live my life. You will rarely ever see me jump on a bandwagon and drastically transform my life in any way.  By making small changes in different areas of your life, you will be able to experience more success on your journey to healthy living. Today I’m excited to share how YOU can apply this rule to create healthy eating habits!HEALTHY EATING HABITS Since I’m a personal trainer, people are always sharing with me their new drastic dietary changes or their crazy workout routines that requires two hours of exercise per day. Unfortunately, those things usually only work for people with certain personality types, schedules, and budgets. I often encourage people to try the fix one thing method after they experience failure with something that wasn’t manageable. The fix one thing rule isn’t rocket science.

It’s doable for the busiest person, newbies to healthy living, and the person who doesn’t think they can succeed. It teaches you to value small, everyday decisions and understand that the journey is just as important as the end result. Many people look too far into the future and get overwhelmed or discouraged, or they quit because they don’t see results right away. By focusing on the journey, you will see the value in these daily choices and small transformations, which aren’t publicly glorified but will yield your success. Let’s do this!

Here’s how to apply it:

Look back at what you ate last week. Where did you go wrong in your diet? Identify a few things you think could be wrecking your diet, or sabotage you losing those last 5 pounds. Pick one, and figure out how to change it. Answer the following questions about that one thing: Why is this habit or food a problem? What is causing this to happen? Is there an underlying cause to why I do or eat that particular thing? What could I do to stop or prevent that from happening? And from question #3, start your plan of attack.

An example:

Here’s what I’m working through now: I eat the same portions as my husband, who is taller and stronger than me (oops). What causes this to happen/underlying reason: I have always had crazy high metabolism and played sports, so I’m used to eating however much I want and it not affecting me. Being in my 30’s, my metabolism has changed, and this habit has caused me to gain weight. I eat large portions because I’m used to it, have learned to love feeling FULL, and am a social eater. What can I do to prevent this?/Plan of attack: Plate my portions based on what is healthy for my size. Eat slowly, talk a lot, and drink water to help with feeling full. Have my hubs help me be disciplined to wait until fullness has a chance to kick in before I get seconds, or stick to one plate with allowing myself a snack later if I feel hungry.

Start Small.

Maybe you struggle with sweets, stress eating, not planning meals- whatever it is, you can take ONE step or do ONE thing this week to promote success with your eating habits! If this is new to you, don’t be afraid to start small. Instead of banning all sugar in your house, limit yourself to a sweet dessert 3x a week instead of every night. By starting small you can help ensure your success. And don’t be afraid to drag someone along with you on this journey. Find someone to text your progress or struggles to throughout this week, or post updates on this blog!

Remind Yourself You are in Charge.

I recommend picking one of the following schedules for how long to focus on that habit:

  • one week
  • two weeks
  • one month.

This month, I am implementing portion control based on this blog post. Once you feel like you have a good grasp on that habit, pick a new one and start the process over. If you struggle with food, I would love for you to read my blog post about Your Relationship With Food. It’s important to consistently reevaluate and think about these things, as well as formulate plans on how to fix our struggles. It’s easy to allow emotions, circumstances, and mindlessness to determine what you eat. It’s time to take control over your eating habits and be in charge of what nutrients and calories you put into your body! HEA;THY EATING And don’t forget that nutrition and exercise go hand in hand. Like peas and carrots. So to really see results and feel better, start moving too! I would love for you to be a part of The Fit Tutor community by doing our weekly workouts, our several Workout Programs, or using our Workout Creator! I’d love to encourage and help you be accountable. Sign up for your membership today! Plans start as low as $11.99/mo and increase only with the level of accountability you desire!

In the comments, share some of your struggles with food, a plan of attack you want to try, or feel free to ask for ideas. We’re all in this together!
You can do it! – Allison

*If you have always struggled with losing weight or feel like you’ve tried everything but it’s not helped, I recommend talking to your doctor or a dietician.

Free Ebook: 8 Common Mistakes When Trying To Lose Weight

9 Responses to “The Fix One Thing Rule: Healthy Eating Simplified.”
  1. Margie

    I am having trouble controlling the cherry pepsi problem. Now that it is warmer and I am thirstier, I am drinking it more. I was on a one can on Fridays, but now I am out of control again.

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      Allison Lambert

      What is out of control? How many days are you talking about? :) You can always implement a rule where you have to drink a bottle of water first before you drink your pepsi, or you can pour some of it out to help gradually fight the addiction! What do you think you will do to work on this? I’d be happy to send you articles about how terrible caramel coloring is in pop, among the other chemicals ;)
      I know you can do it!! :)

  2. Angela

    Sugar. I eat it waaay to much. Why? I don’t know other than it taste so good and I’m not exhibiting any self control. Plan? Only sweets allowed this week (maybe for a month if this goes well) are ones that I make. As a mother of two I certainly won’t have time to make endless treats and plus the ones I do I can control what is in them and how much sugar! (And what kind! Trying out coconut palm sugar this week!)

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      Allison Lambert

      What an awesome idea, Angela!! Keep us updated on how this goes! :) I’m glad you are trying out the coconut palm sugar. I have really liked using that! When I bake I usually cut back on sweets because I actually SEE how much sugar goes into what I like to eat, OR I get to use better sweeteners like that. Hope it goes well and you can go for a whole month! I’m so proud of your efforts! That’s a big one!!

  3. Lauren

    For me it’s definitely flavored coffee drinks (tate street coffee near me does this awesome thing called a black and tan, caramel and chocolate, yummmm!). My plan is to reduce these to 2x a week and subsitute regular coffee when I want a caffeine fix (if I make coffee I normally just but it almond milk or this week i’m planning on trying coconut milk too!). I’m going to try this for the whole month and see how it goes!

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      Allison Lambert

      That’s awesome Lauren! Yes- viewing those types of drinks as “treats” instead of daily things should help! Let us know how that works for you!! I think your plan sounds great. Let me know how you like the coconut milk. I haven’t tried straight coconut milk yet, but I’ve done the so delicious coconut milk creamer and that has helped me to not put any sugar in my coffee and still love the taste :) You rock! Keep it up!

  4. Allison, I just wanted to say thanks for sharing this wonderful reminder! I read your blog in Pennsylvania and can totally attest to the effectiveness of this strategy! When I started trying to get in shape my original goal was to walk 30 minutes, 5 times a week. Then I added weight training 2 times a week. Three years later, I’m up to an hour a week, 5 times a week, but I did it slowly and it never seemed like too much to schedule. With my diet, I started limiting sugar… then several months later I limited wheat products… then later added more fresh fruits and veggies. The cumulative effect has taken me from a size 16/18 to a 4/6! It has taken me three years, but I have been able to create positive habits that are second nature to me now, and required no stress or unusual lifestyle changes.
    And now I’ve been looking for ways to stay on track and tweak the little things that I can work on, so this blog was a great reminder and encouragement! Thanks! (Keep up the great work!) :)

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      Allison Lambert

      Kelly thank you for sharing your story!! I’m glad you liked the blog! You are such a testimony to this way of habit creating/changing! You are an inspiration! I agree- once you master that particular habit or actually MAKE it a habit, the lifestyle change doesn’t seem to disruptive, especially in your schedule! :) Your hard work and healthy choices have really paid off- I didn’t realize you lost that many sizes! WOW! Like I said, an inspiration! :)