Breaking Free From All-or-Nothing Thinking

The Art Of Sustainable Habits: How To Make Wellness Stick Long-term

Frustrated by the Monday motivation that fizzles by Wednesday? You're not alone. The pattern of enthusiastic starts followed by midweek abandonment isn't a personal failing—it's actually a predictable neurological response when we approach habits with an all-or-nothing mindset.

Catina Wilson, licensed nutritionist and Atlanta Wellness Clinic owner, breaks down what she calls the "Three R's" of sustainable habit formation: Reminder (the trigger), Routine (the repeated behavior), and Reward (the benefit). This powerful framework explains why that evening glass of wine is so hard to give up, but also provides the blueprint for building positive health routines that can withstand life's inevitable challenges. As Catina explains, "With habits, it needs to be something that becomes like muscle memory, something completely unconscious that you just do without thinking."

What makes this episode particularly valuable is the honesty about neural pathways. Even when you've established healthy habits like regular exercise or nutritious eating, the old neural pathways don't vanish—they simply become less dominant. This explains why during stressful periods, we tend to revert to old patterns. The key to sustainability isn't perfection but persistence and finding motivation beyond just the number on the scale. From improved energy and better sleep to the simple victory of showing up one more day, we explore the non-scale victories that fuel lasting change. Whether you're struggling with weight management, exercise consistency, or any wellness routine, this episode offers professional guidance paired with real-world understanding to help you build habits that actually stick.

Ready to transform your approach to wellness? Visit Atlwellnessclinic.com or call 770-726-8978 for a free 10-minute weight loss consultation. Remember, the best time to start was yesterday—the second best time is right now.

To learn more about Atlanta Wellness Clinic visit:
https://www.ATLWellnessClinic.com
Atlanta Wellness Clinic
1827 Powers Ferry Rd. SE, Bldg 1 STE 250
Atlanta, Georgia 30339
770-726-8978

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:04):
welcome to the Atlanta Wellness Clinic podcast
hosted by licensed nutritionistand clinic owner, katina Wilson.
We're here to kickstart yourweight loss journey because,
let's be honest, the only thingwe want gaining weight is our
wallets.
From medical weight loss andnutrition coaching to body
contouring, we help metroatlanta women get real results.

Speaker 2 (00:29):
From green smoothies and morning yoga to journaling
and digital detoxes.
Starting a wellness habit isone thing, but sustaining it
that's the real challenge.
In this episode, we'reexploring the art of sustainable
habits what makes a habit lastand how can we avoid burnout and
that all or nothing thinking.
I'm Millie M, co-host andproducer, back in the studio
with licensed nutritionist andclinic owner, katina Wilson,

(00:50):
someone who's not only studiedthis but lived it, sharing
practical tips, honest insightsand tools to help you build
habits that feel good andactually last.
How are you, katina?
I'm great.
How are you Doing?
Well, we're diving intosomething that we all wrestle
with how to make our wellnessroutines actually stick.
Talk to us about that.

Speaker 3 (01:10):
Well, I mean, let's think about it.
You know a lot of us, myselfincluded, once you decide to
lose that weight, it is all ornothing, right?
I'm going to start on Monday.
Monday, I'm doing great.
Tuesday, I'm doing great.
Tuesday, I'm doing great.
Wednesday hits the kids aremisbehaving, there's traffic,

(01:31):
there's work, there'sresponsibilities.
Life just starts lifing andthen we fall off the wagon,
right, and that's the thing,like with habits.
I think the challenge for a lotof us, we want to go big.
It's like big or nothing at alland really, truly, when you
think about habits, it needs tobe something that just becomes
kind of like muscle memory,something that's completely
unconscious.
You just do it without thinking.

(01:52):
And so what I like to thinkabout like habits, I call it the
three R's.
There's the reminder, so thetrigger.
There's the routine, so you'rerepeating whatever that thing is
, and then there's the reward,so let's use it kind of in a
negative sense.
You know you're you're a busymom and you're a stressed out
mom, so the trigger is thatstress, that busyness, and so

(02:16):
what do you do every night?
You grab a glass of wine, sonow that becomes kind of that
routine and then you feel alittle bit of stress relief.
You might feel guilt later, butyou might feel a little bit of
stress relief.
You might feel guilt later, butyou might feel a little bit of
stress relief.
So that's the formation of a badhabit.
You can really do the samething like with a good habit.
You know what's that trigger,what's that routine, what's that
reward, and you keep doing itover and over and over again.

(02:38):
And that's how you know I liketo look at habits.
So it's really about being ableto manage those triggers,
creating kind of thatsustainable routine, repeating
it over and over and thenrealizing, like, what that
reward is.
And that reward could be weightloss, it could be feeling
better, it could be less stress,right.
But really that's how I like tothink about the habits, the
formation of habits.

Speaker 2 (02:58):
Makes so much sense and I know for me, when I was
going to the gym regularly, mybody almost started to crave the
gym, if that makes sense.
Like, my body was like aren'twe supposed to be doing
something right now, Threeo'clock?
So I guess my question would bewhen you do have those missteps
because life happens, yourschedule changes at times how do
you keep from falling into thisspiral and tell us some tips

(03:22):
about getting back on the wagon?

Speaker 3 (03:26):
Yeah.
So the thing with habits isthese become like over time they
become a part of you, theybecome a part of your neural
pathways.
So even though, to your pointright, like you created this new
habit of going to the gym, whenyou're doing it on a regular
basis and you're feeling good,it doesn't mean that original
bad habit when you fell off thewagon and you were just drinking
the glass of wine and thensitting around right or grabbing

(03:48):
the chocolate chip cookie orthe ice cream, right.
It doesn't mean that that goesaway.
And you see this with a lot ofaddicts.
They go through the process,they get clean, they're clean
for a really long time, thenlife happens and then they fall
off the wagon again.
And so the thing is with habits.
Again, it's all about babysteps and we have to get away
from kind of this all or nothing.
I do think that you have torecognize and I loved your

(04:11):
example, because it's theexample that I use for myself,
but I loved your example thatyour body starts to crave it.
You have to start to reallykind of appreciate that new
feeling that you get right fromthat new habit that then becomes
the reward, that new feelingthat you get right from that new
habit that then becomes thereward, Um, and that reward,
hopefully, is stronger than thereward of not going to the gym
or just picking up that glass ofwine and the guilt that comes

(04:34):
after.
So, over time, I think you justhave to know that although
you've created these new habitsthese new good and healthy
habits the old ones don't goaway.
It's really a matter of if youcontinue to do it.
Over time, those becomestronger and stronger and
stronger, and the bad habitsbecome less and less.
So for me, like with nutrition,I love sweets right, it tastes

(04:56):
good, whatever but what?
But because I've been eatinghealthy for so long now, now,
when I overindulge, what ends uphappening?
I don't feel so good.
So when that happens now islike maybe I'll eat sweets, but
I won't indulge as much, youknow, as a result of it, because
eating the sweets doesn't makeme feel as good.

Speaker 2 (05:16):
That's some great advice, and can you just list a
few good habits that people canstart off with?
But then also talk aboutsustainability.
When you don't see changes,when you don't feel like you're
making progress, how do you staymotivated?

Speaker 3 (05:34):
I think we talked about this in one of the earlier
episodes which is around kindof those non-scale victories,
right?
So again, I think, when we'rethinking about habits, when
we're thinking about weight loss, when we're thinking about kind
of that new health journey thatwe're taking, the scale is only
like one factor.
You have to start to consider,well, what are other wins, right

(05:56):
?
How do you feel?
How are your clothes feeling?
How many inches have you lost?
Are you getting more energy?
Are you able to drop some ofthe medication?
There are all different kinds ofways to kind of look at like
the victory of overall health,other than just that number on
the scale.
And so that's one of the thingsthat you know as a nutrition
coach that we look at.

(06:16):
I mean, obviously we know thatthe scale is important, but
there can be times where you'redoing all the right things and
that scale doesn't move.
And so I'll ask the questionwell, how are you feeling?
How's your digestion?
How are you sleeping?
Those are all important when itcomes to kind of the wellness
journey.
And so I think you know, asyou're going through this
journey, as you're going throughthe journey of improving your
health and creating new habits,you have to look at different

(06:40):
kinds of wins other than justthat number on the scale, and if
you do that, then I think youstart to look at success or feel
successful all around.

Speaker 2 (06:49):
And just completing the habit one more day can be
considered a win.

Speaker 3 (06:53):
We got to oh absolutely Every day, every day,
baby steps, you're one stepcloser to getting to where you
want to be Absolutely.

Speaker 2 (07:01):
For sure, great advice, as always, to sticking
to those habits and making themsustainable.
We'll catch you on the nextepisode.

Speaker 1 (07:13):
That's a wrap on this episode of the Atlanta Wellness
Clinic podcast.
If you're ready to kickstartyour weight loss journey, and
not just your bathroom scale andfrustration, visit atlwellnessL
wellness cliniccom or call usat 770-726-8978 for a free
10-minute weight lossconsultation, because the best

(07:35):
time to start was yesterday.
The second best time right now.
See you next time.