The Truth About Fad Diets, Fitness Goals, and Why There's No Finish Line

Have you ever talked yourself out of a workout before you even started? Ashley gets honest about the mindset traps that hold people back, and what she would tell her past self today.

Listen to the episode here…

What This Episode Is About

This is a Q&A episode. And it’s a good one.

Ashley answers listener questions that cover everything from the moment she walked out of her very first Zumba class to how fitness has changed her creativity, her work, and her relationships. She also tackles one of the most common questions in fitness: is there actually a finish line?

Short answer? Kind of. But the full answer is worth hearing.

Whether you are just starting out or trying to get back on track after falling off, this episode is full of real talk and practical takeaways.

What Would You Tell Your Past Self?

One listener asked Ashley what she would say to the version of herself who walked out of a Zumba class after just fifteen minutes back in August 2023.

Her answer was simple: listen to the instructor.

That day, her fitness instructor told her she could do more than she thought she could. Ashley didn’t believe her. She walked out. And looking back, that one moment represents something a lot of people experience. We talk ourselves into quitting before we even give ourselves a real chance.

If she could go back, she would also tell herself to stop believing every thought that popped into her head. At the time, she was convinced she needed to slash her calories dramatically. She thought she had to overhaul everything all at once. She thought the only path forward was a hardcore diet.

None of that was true.

What she actually needed was to start putting in the work. That’s it.

Why Fad Diets Set You Up to Fail

Fad diets and extreme calorie cutting have one big problem: they don’t last.

When you treat eating like a punishment, you set yourself up to quit. When you tell yourself you just won’t eat this week, you are setting up a cycle that leads nowhere good. You lose some weight. You go back to your old habits. You gain it back. Sometimes more.

The fix isn’t a stricter diet. The fix is showing up consistently, even imperfectly.

And if you walked out of a class after fifteen minutes? That’s okay. What matters is whether you come back.

How Fitness Changed More Than Just Ashley’s Body

Another listener asked how getting fit changed how Ashley shows up in other parts of her life, like work, relationships, and creativity.

The answer surprised even her a little bit.

Creativity and Work

Ashley does creative work for a living. And for a while, she was hitting a wall creatively. The ideas weren’t flowing. She felt stuck.

Once she started working out regularly, something shifted. Her mind started to clear. She started thinking more clearly. New content ideas started coming. She felt more confident pitching the kinds of assignments she actually wanted to do.

Movement does something for the brain that sitting still simply does not.

Relationships and Community

Ashley describes herself as an introverted extrovert. She loves being around people, but she also needs time to recharge. And for a stretch of time, she was becoming a bit of a hermit. She works from home. She wasn’t seeing anyone. She felt isolated.

Fitness classes changed that.

Showing up to class meant showing up for a community. It gave her people to see, a place to belong, and the energy that comes from being around others who are working toward something.

She even joined a pool league since committing to fitness. It opened her back up in ways she didn’t expect.

She also got more intentional about staying connected to the people she cares about. She now puts calendar reminders to check in with friends, whether they have an appointment coming up, a surgery, or something they were nervous about. It sounds small. But it’s made a real difference.

Is There a Finish Line in Fitness?

This might be the most honest answer in the whole episode.

No. There isn’t one. Not really.

Ashley’s goal is to move her body every single day for the rest of her life. So technically, the finish line is whenever she stops breathing. Which she admits sounds a little morbid. But it’s the truth.

Goals Change. That’s a Good Thing.

When Ashley started, she had a goal weight in mind. She was chasing a number on the scale. Over time, she realized that wasn’t the right thing to chase. She shifted her focus to feeling better, feeling stronger, and getting her health markers under control.

One of her early goals was to get her blood pressure under control. She did that.

Her strength goals have changed too. She started with three-pound weights for her lighter work and fives for heavier. Then she worked up to fives and tens. Then sevens and fifteens. Now she’s using eights and fifteens and has her eye on tens and twenties.

Her clothing goals have changed as well. She hit the medium she was working toward. Now she’s curious about small.

The goalpost keeps moving. And she thinks that’s exactly how it should be.

Why Shifting Goals Keep You Going

Having something to work toward is what keeps motivation alive. If you hit a goal and then just stop, you stall out. But if every goal you hit opens the door to the next one, you stay in motion.

That’s the whole point.

Key Takeaways From This Episode

Here are the highlights worth remembering:

On getting started: If you walk out of your first class after fifteen minutes, that’s not failure. That’s a beginning. Go back.

On fad diets: Extreme restriction doesn’t work long term. Sustainable movement and real lifestyle habits are what actually stick.

On fitness and mental health: Working out regularly can clear mental fog, spark creativity, and help you feel more connected to people around you.

On community: Fitness classes, leagues, and group activities can crack you out of isolation in ways you might not expect.

On goals: Stop chasing a number. Focus on how you feel, how you perform, and how your health is improving. Let the goals grow with you.

On the finish line: There isn’t one. Movement is for life.

Action Items

If you’re just starting out or getting back to it, here’s where to begin:

Pick one class, one walk, or one workout and commit to it this week. Just one.
If you quit partway through something, go back. Don’t let that be the last time.
Stop waiting for the perfect plan. Start with what you have right now.
Write down one fitness goal that has nothing to do with the scale.
Put one check-in reminder on your calendar for someone you care about. Moving your body tends to make you a better friend too.