109. 4 Surprising Ways You're Sabotaging Your Health and Body Goals

If you have been waiting for a sign to start 2026 feeling strong, confident, and actually in control of your body again, this is it. The New Year Reset Program is back and this year it's bigger and better than ever. Last year it was four weeks. This year it's eight weeks, eight live coaching calls, deep dive support, and you get lifetime access to my full Breakthrough program. All for the exact same price as last year. Why am I doing this? Because I do not want there to be a single reason you don't hit your body goals this year while still living a full, real busy life. If you're ready to get a custom plan, real support and results that actually last, go grab your spot now. Seriously, pause this episode and go over and join the New Year Reset Program with me. Head to mindinmymacros.com reset or or scroll on down to the show notes and I'll link it for you there. All right, let's get into the episode. Are you unknowingly sabotaging your own success when it comes to your health goals, your body goals, or really any goals that you have? If you feel like you've been stuck or constantly falling short of your goals, chances are you might be getting in your own way. Funny how that happens, right? In today's episode, I'm going to break down four surprising ways that you might be sabotaging your progress, from things like comparison traps to getting caught up in unimportant details. I'll walk you through why not seeing the success that you want is maybe at hand, and more importantly, how you can change that today. Stay tuned because by the end of this episode you'll have a clearer path forward and better insight into how to get unstuck stuck.

Welcome to the Mind and My Wellness Podcast. Your podcast for all things macros, movement, mindset and everything in between. I'm your host, Dani Merenberg, an ex yo yo dieting cardio junkie turned sustainable nutrition coach who's helped over 1000 women feel confident in their skin by learning.

How to eat for their goals without.

Sacrificing a life well lived. I created the Mind and My Wellness Podcast to give you simple, effective and manageable tips you can take away from each episode and implement in your daily life to look and feel like the best version of you. Each week, my guests and I teach you the secrets to mastering your health and owning your power. Nutrition, mindset, movement and women's health are all topics you'll find here. Think of our time together as your productive little health break from the day so grab your headphones, fill up your water, and let's dive into today's episode.

Hello. Hello. Welcome back to the show. Before we get into it today, I want to get a little real with you. You see, I have been there thinking that I was doing everything right, but still not seeing the results I wanted or feeling like I was accomplishing what I needed to get to what I thought was successful. I've caught myself time and time again sabotaging my progress over and over and over. And what I realized that I was doing are some of the exact things that I'm about to share with you today and that I see within my community. But what changed for me was getting honest with myself, checking my mindset, and really focusing on the bigger picture. And I hope by the end of this episode you'll have a few light bulb moments and leave feeling empowered to take the next step towards your goal. Whether that's health, whether that's personal, whether that's whatever it is without feeling like you're getting in your own way and you're self sabotaging. So today we're going to cover four sneaky ways you might be self sabotaging yourself and not seeing the success that you hope to see. So let's dive into it with number one, you're comparing yourself to others. Maybe you're comparing your starting point to where someone else is in their journey, or you are seeing someone else succeeding and you're like, well, I don't have that yet. This is one of the biggest traps that I see, comparing your journey to someone else's. And it's so easy to look at someone else's life and be like, wow, look what they've accomplished. Wow, look how they were able to lose weight or they got this promotion or whatever it is and easily compare yourself to them. And I don't know about you, but for me, this used to be so debilitating. I used to see the glass half empty versus the glass half full in these situations that I used to compare and it would quite frankly lead me down a spiral and make me feel unworthy, make me feel like I couldn't succeed myself. And I do not exclude myself from this. I have fallen victim to comparison so many times, and I still do, but now I'm able to catch myself. And I have one example in particular. There is an individual who is absolutely crushing it in business, who is about two years ahead of me in work. And I always would find myself comparing to this individual. And I'm like, wow, this person is crushing it why am I not seeing the same success? Why am I not feeling that way? Why am I not able to do what this person's doing? And then I have to remember they have put in two more years of work than I have. What makes me think that I should be in the same place as them? Right. We are in two different points of our journey that that can get really clouded sometimes and we can just see someone for what they are and where they are and not really look under the hood and realize all that it took to get there or what it took to get there. And I say that in terms of I get often asked or the situation will come up within my coaching programs of yeah, well, my friend was able to lose like 10 pounds no problem. She did X, Y and Z. When I tried to do that, it just didn't work. When it boils down to it, it is often because it's not sustainable for you. Or maybe they took some really risky moves to get there and they're not telling you the full story. So one, we're not always comparing apples to apples often and more often than not, we're comparing apples to oranges because we're comparing are phase one to someone else's phase 12 or vice versa. And it can really cloud how we are viewing our own success. So instead of comparing and seeing at it in a way that is debilitating to you what I like to do and what I have found successful through hypnotherapy, through talk therapy, through craniosacral therapy, all of the mindfulness meditations and breath works that I've done, all of this internal work I've done has really come down to how can I switch the way I'm thinking about this and think of it in an expansive way. So I look at this individual now as an expander for me. And what does that mean? That means that I see what this person has accomplished. I know it's possible. I know it's possible. How freaking cool is it to know that I can have that too? Maybe my journey to get there looks a little bit different. Maybe the time it takes to get there looks a little bit different. But to recognize just where you are in your journey and where someone else is in their journey, everyone's going to have a different path to get there. And it's all about finding the little wins day in and day out that you are having, seeing how far you've come. When we are able to recognize that everyone can have success, everyone can have their own way of achieving that Success, it really simplifies things and takes the pressure out of it. And I definitely see this being the biggest hurdle and self sabotage technique that we use day in and day out, which is very easy to do now with just the enormous amount of social media that's consumed. I think that's where we see it most often is it's so, so easy to fall into comparison trap. But if we can remember that everybody's journey is different and just because someone is where you want to be or somebody has what you want, doesn't mean that you can't have it too. Focusing on someone else's success is not necessarily going to help you and instead focus on your own small wins and acknowledge really where you came from. Now, the second way that you are sabotaging your own progress is that you're not giving it enough time. Another mistake that I see people making is not giving their efforts enough time to even be successful. So if you are used to quick fixes or you're used to that instant gratification which is just so common today, then anything less than immediate results can feel extremely frustrating. And but the thing is that real lasting change, it's going to take time. Whether it's trying to lose weight, whether it's trying to start something new, gain a new hobby, gain a new skill. It is about playing the long game and it's not about the sprint. And you know that cliche saying like it's all about the journey, not the destination. I don't know about you, I just want to get to the destination, right? But I realize when I reflect back, I am way less happy when I get to the destination. If I'm rushing the process, if I'm just kind of scrambling just to get there, it isn't as satisfying in the end. But if you can find ways to enjoy the actual process of getting there, it becomes way more enjoyable. And then when you do succeed, it is way more gratifying. With the client work I've done, results do take time. And so if you're somebody who has been going through quick fix after quick fix and you're not seeing results, what I ask yourself to do is really reflect on that and ask yourself if you have given it a fair shot, if you have actually committed to the day to day and putting your head down and sticking with it. One of the best words of wisdom I've ever heard is that those who succeed aren't necessarily better at that thing than anyone else. They're just the ones that never give up. They're the Ones that keep going, no matter if they're having a hard day, no matter if they're seeing results or not, they just keep committing to themselves and showing up. So I think it's really important to set realistic goals and have this shift in mindset from the quick fixes, the instant gratification that ultimately do lead to burnout, and fully commit to a process knowing that the results will come. And I know it can be really challenging to put that up to fate and like, well, how do I know that the results are gonna come? If you stick to something with a proven track record, if you know, like, hey, I know how to get there, I just need to keep showing up and keep putting in the work, you're gonna get there. There is absolutely no way that you can fail. And if you keep trying and maybe the path is going to look a little bit different, but you are going to succeed and you're going to learn along the way. All right, number three, and this one is a good one. This one is one that I see very, very often, especially with where we're headed in the wellness industry. The third way you're sabotaging yourself is that you're letting the small things get in the way of the big things. What do I mean by that? What I mean by that is you are getting so hung up on the little things that are probably not gonna move the needle for you. Things like what supplement do I need? What is meal timing and do I need to eat my protein within 30 minutes after my meal? When do I take creatine, how much creatine do I take? Do I need a bcaa? All of these things are the little things that if you are not already doing, the big things are not gonna matter. What are the big things? The big things are sleep, overall calorie intake, your energy levels, assessing your energy levels, how you're managing stress, how you're incorporating a balanced diet, how many whole foods versus processed foods you're eating. These are all the foundations, these are all the pillars that if you do not have those in check, getting caught up in all of the little things are not going to answer your problems. They're not going to help you in any way. So what I recommend you doing and you can take away from this episode right now is something that I teach inside my program. And I'm going to tell you how to do it for free. And you can do it today inside my breakthrough program, which is my 8 week guided coaching program. I have every single client do a life audit. This is a Lifestyle audit that is looking at things like your current energy levels, your sleep, how many hours of sleep you're getting a night, how many calories you're eating a day. If you're of menstruating age, do you have a regular cycle? If so, how many days is it? If not, how many days is it? Do you get in daily movement? Are you more sedentary throughout the day or are you pretty active? Are you incorporating movement in throughout the day? These are some of the foundations that, again, these are the big players, they're unsexy. But like, if you are not focusing on these things first, it does not matter what you're including in what supplement, what, you know, protocol, what red light therapy you're doing, none of that is going to matter if you do not have the foundations down. And so we're getting so, so hung up on those little things that those big things are falling through the cracks. So what I like to do is with the lifestyle audit, assess those things, rate them on a scale from 1 to 10, and identify the areas that you might be falling short on. So anything that's like a 1 to a 4 on the 1 to 10 scale, I would say focus on that, focus on those areas and we'll get into number four on kind of techniques that, that you can use in a sustainable way to help to incorporate things into your lifestyle that are going to help promote those foundations. So number three, again, we're just focused way too much on the small things and it's at no fault of your own, because the wellness and health industry is a billion, billion, billion dollars industry. And that's because we're selling things to you, like programs and powders and supplements and teas and all of the things that when we have serious health goals, whether that is a, hey, I want to lose weight, I want to feel good in my body, or whether it's, hey, I am sick and I really need to find a solution to feel better in my body. We become so dependent on any sort of messaging that promises that. And the truth is, is that the small things are over promising and under delivering. And it's the big things, those big foundational elements that if you get those down, everything else falls into place. Okay? And the last way that we are sabotaging our own success is that we are relying too much on willpower. Willpower is often the first thing people turn to when they're trying to reach their goals. But the thing about willpower is that it can only take you so far. Willpower is great to get going. Don't get me wrong, you know, you're like, yes, I'm all in, gung ho. But what willpower has trouble with is sticking around and having willpower. It becomes almost this crutch that we need in order to accomplish our goals. But what we actually need instead of willpower is to create sustainable, healthy habits that are easy to incorporate into your lifestyle and focusing on actions that fit into your lifestyle this way that you don't have to force your willpower to stick to something that feels totally out of alignment for you. And I think about the whole 30. For me, there's so many great aspects about the whole 30, do not get me wrong. But there's a lot of elimination in it, which I do not like that approach. And I would try the whole 30 time and time again, but for me, I could never make it the full 30 days. And I felt like it was a me thing. I felt like it was my willpower. I couldn't stick to it. You know, I just don't have it in me. And the truth was that it wasn't a willpower thing. It was, hey, this is not sustainable for me and I can't force myself into doing something that I'm not going to be able to maintain long term. So it's all about building healthy habits and sustainable habits into your current lifestyle and routine. And that's where I mentioned in point number three. If we can focus on those foundations and building habits around those foundations, it becomes a lifestyle. And at the end of the day, if you are implementing those habits into a lifestyle that feels good for you, it doesn't feel like you have to put it to willpower. It just becomes part of your day that you enjoy and you don't even think twice about it. And I see this happen time and time again inside our programs, specifically our one on one coaching program. I have so many episodes with past clients who just feel like, yeah, I came into this program feeling one way and I don't even think twice about it now because it's just become such a great part of my lifestyle. So anyway, to wrap up this episode, the four ways in which you might be self sabotaging yourself is, Number one, you are comparing yourself to others and you're getting stuck in the comparison trap. Number two, you are giving up my friend before you're really gonna see success. You're not giving it enough time. Number three is you're focusing on the small things and neglecting the big things that are actually the things you need to be focusing on and number four is to build healthy habits into a sustainable lifestyle and not leave it up to willpower. Because willpower is fleeting. And I'm not gonna lie, I fall victim to these still. And if you feel like, oh my gosh, I really struggle with comparison or I really am noticing that I'm not giving things enough time, or, yeah, I am throwing money at any little small fix that I think is going to help take what I mentioned today. Do the lifestyle audit really pay attention to what you can be focusing on from the big picture from those foundations to implement into a strategy to build healthy habits around those that feel sustainable in your life. And message me on Instagram, Let me know if you are also feeling similarly, because I can tell you right now, through my research doing this episode, I pulled this from so many client conversations, from so many DMS with my community, and from my own personal experience. So again, I am not, not a victim to these. I definitely struggle with these. And it's all about finding those solutions to work out of them and recognize them. So I hope this episode brought you some awareness and gave you some actionable tips to take away to help you get out of the routine of self sabotaging so that you see the success that you are destined to see. Okay, because you can have it now. Next week's episode, I am so excited, you guys, because I am interviewing a leading expert in indoor air quality. He is changing the world with his air scrubber as well as he's creating the most healthy. It's the healthiest school in America, which we got, dived all into it. But this was one of those episodes that I left the episode and I immediately went back into the house and I was like, eric, we have to do X, Y and Z. Because this is directly impacting these things that I am noticing with our health. And they were the smallest things and they were free. And those are the types of action items that I love getting out of conversations with leading experts. And I know you guys are gonna love this. Indoor air quality is just as important as the water that we're drinking, as the food that we're eating. And so I cannot wait to share this episode with you. It's actually in two parts. So next week's episode, we're diving all into the importance of air quality and why you really, really, and I, I kid you not, you need to be highly conscious of your air quality. And then part two of the episode the following week, we dive into free, sustainable solutions to improve your indoor air quality and what you can see as a result of that as it pertains to your health, which is wild and so cool. And I can tell you already that I've implemented some of these things and I'm so aware of them now that I am just really happy with the awareness that that conversation brought. So I was able to make some changes in our home and I'm already a highly conscious person. So anyway, I won't give too much away, but tune in next week because it is such a good episode. And until then, keep minding your wellness.

Thanks so much for tuning in to today's episode. I love hearing from you, so shoot me a DM over on Instagram at mindandmymacros to keep the convo going. If you've learned anything from this episode or any of my past episodes, I'd really love it if you took a few seconds to leave a quick rating of review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. I love hearing what you've learned or what you've taken away from any of these episodes. It means so much to me when you do that. And if you have any friends you know that need a little help kicking some old dieting mentalities to the curb and want some simple, effective and sustainable tips to feel their best, share a link to this episode with them. Thanks so much for listening and I'll catch you next time.