It took a lot of trial and error to figure out how to get arm tone and as a result, flabby arms were the thorn in my side for a very long time. I was extremely frustrated and resorted to hiding behind kimono-style tops all the time.
Why? Because my levels of motivation were in a constant flux. No matter what I did, I could not maintain a lasting amount of motivation.
Sometimes the disappointment would be so great that I would jump ship all-together. And a jar of cookies would become my consolation.
One day I had a wake-up call and realized that if I couldn’t figure out a way to stick with a program for the long run, I would never be able to get sexy arms. And I also knew that this motivational “yo yoing” wasn’t sustainable.
So I searched high and low for a method that would allow me to stay motivated indefinitely. And I’m happy to say that I found said method. It was created by David Burns M.D. In my opinion it’s the best thought modification system out there. Central to his method is the elimination of cognitive (thought) distortions.
So without further delay, here are 3 cognitive distortions you need to avoid that you don’t fall of the arm tone bandwagon:
1. Perfectionism distortions. If you see things as black or white then you have this distortion. For example, if you have to have a perfect workout or no workout at all then you suffer from perfectionism. How do you avoid it? Don’t sweat the small stuff and always keep moving forward despite minute setbacks. In other words, focus on general patterns of improvement.
2. Over generalizing distortions. This one is based on the faulty assumption that if something happened to you in the past it will keep on happening again and again in the future. You may tell yourself, for instance, that since you haven’t been able to lose weight in the past you will never be able to lose weight in the future and every program out there simply won’t work for you. Yet nothing could be further from the truth.
3. Mental-filters distortions. This one his horrible because it forces you to focus on the negative instead of the positive. If you have a solid day of healthy eating, but slightly veer off and have a small amount of junk food you only focus on the junk food. But what about all the other healthy food you ate? Always give yourself credit for the positive.
If you do not avoid the above cognitive distortions, arm tone will keep on eluding you. You have to achieve constant and lasting motivation in order to stick with an arm toning program. With the above tips in mind you are now one step closer to sexy arm success!
