Episode 58Apr 13, 2026· 6:14

Forget the Scale: Why Celebrating Small Wins Is the Secret to Staying Consistent

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About this episode

Ashley Grant shares a personal reflection on staying consistent with exercise as someone who is naturally pessimistic and prone to quitting when things get hard. Over 270 days and 550+ workouts into a fitness streak, she contrasts her current physical ability with last July, when she struggled to walk from her car to the gym door, climb stairs, or bend over to paint her toenails. She discusses reframing painful or…

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Who this episode is for

This episode may resonate with you if:

You've quit fitness routines before — not from laziness, but because when things got hard, stopping felt like the only option, and you're tired of that pattern repeating.

You present as upbeat to the people around you, but privately you're pessimistic and slip into depression more easily than anyone would guess.

You've been measuring your progress only by weight or appearance, and it's making you feel like nothing is working even when things are quietly changing.

You remember a version of yourself that struggled with things that seem embarrassingly basic — climbing stairs, bending over — and you're somewhere in the middle of that changing, not sure whether to believe it yet.

You're at the very beginning — you haven't started moving yet — and you're looking for something that feels honest about how hard it is rather than relentlessly cheerful.

Questions this episode wrestles with

Is celebrating small wins actually meaningful or just telling yourself a story?

open question

Ashley doesn't resolve this cleanly — she admits she's a pessimist who finds the reframing genuinely hard, and is explicit that she's not trying to be 'one of those annoying Pollyannas' who pretends everything is wonderful. She sits inside the tension rather than selling a fix.

"so when I celebrate these milestones, it's not just to be. You know, one of those annoying Pollyannas who's like, oh my God, everything's wonderful. Because the truth is, no, things aren't always wonderful. Things sometimes really, really hurt."

Can you really train yourself out of negativity or is that just toxic positivity?

open question

Ashley shares that she's 'very pessimistic and very, very easily depressed' and is 'actively working against that' — she frames it as an ongoing effort, not a solved problem, and doesn't claim it's fully possible.

"I'm a pretty negative person and I'm trying to actively work against that. A lot of people that meet me wouldn't know that I'm a pretty negative person, but I'm very pessimistic and very, very easily depressed, I guess you'd say. And I'm"

What do you do when you realize how much your body has changed and it hits you all at once?

answered

Ashley describes sending a message to her instructor Rhonda and naming the specific unglamorous things that used to be hard — painting her toenails, tying her shoelaces — as a way of sitting with and acknowledging the change rather than rushing past it.

"wild sometimes thinking about how much my body has changed. The things I struggle with that are easier now, like even painting my toenails used to be a struggle because I couldn't reach"

Can someone who always quits when it gets hard actually become consistent?

open question

Ashley holds this tension without resolving it — she's 550+ workouts in and describes herself in the same breath as someone who is 'known to quit.' She doesn't explain how the gap closed; she just notes that it did, and that it's 'wild' to her.

"that whenever things get hard I am known to quit and I have been trying really really hard lately to focus on all the things that get me excited about work and working out and life and all the"

What does it mean to keep going when quitting is your default?

answered

Ashley describes it as actively redirecting attention toward what's exciting rather than what's hard — 'flipping the script' by focusing on what her body can do instead of what it can't.

"when you start focusing on the things that you can do, man, that's when things get really magical"

Setting expectations: This episode is not about weight loss strategies, scale-based progress tracking, or structured advice on how to build a workout habit. It's Ashley talking through her own struggle as a self-described pessimist who quits when things get hard, and why she's been trying to notice things like being able to paint her toenails again.

Tone & style

Ashley starts by identifying as someone who quits when things get hard and who is naturally pessimistic and easily depressed. The turning point is reaching 270 days and 550+ workouts in and messaging her instructor Rhonda — which prompts her to contrast her current self with the woman last July who struggled to get from her car to the door, climb a flight of stairs, or bend over to paint her toenails. The episode ends on an ongoing but positive note: she has no plans of slowing down and wants others to celebrate their own milestones.

Personal experience and self-reflection from one person's fitness journey. Not advice, not a method — Ashley's own account of what has worked for her.

toneWarm & personally candid

focusAshley reflecting on 270 days and 550+ workouts in, and why she thinks celebrating small physical wins — not the scale — is what kept her going.

stylesolo_monologue

energymedium

complexitybeginner

pressure Levellow

emotional Texturegrateful, honest about struggle, quietly encouraging

Notable quotes

"it in y 'all because... I'm the type of person that whenever things get hard I am known to quit and I have been trying really really hard lately to focus on all the things that get me excited about work and working out and life and all the"

— Famous Ashley Grant

"I'm a pretty negative person and I'm trying to actively work against that. A lot of people that meet me wouldn't know that I'm a pretty negative person, but I'm very pessimistic and very, very"

— Famous Ashley Grant

"class in in a week. I remember how much I struggled to get to the door from my car. I remember how much I struggled to get up a flight of stairs"

— Famous Ashley Grant

"are easier now, like even painting my toenails used to be a struggle because I couldn't reach them. Not so. And y 'all, so true. I remember having trouble just bending over to paint my toenails. I remember how hard it was to sometimes even tie my shoelaces. And you could contort"

— Famous Ashley Grant

"now. It's going to feel better. It's going to suck a little bit sometimes. That's just a fact, but it's worth it. And I'm rooting for you. And"

— Famous Ashley Grant

Episode transcript

Organized into 3 chapters — open any part to read the full text.

0:001. Why Ashley Wants to Celebrate MilestonesAshley introduces the episode's focus on celebrating milestones beyond the scale, framing it through her personal tendency to quit when things get hard and her effort to stay excited about working out and life.0:532. Being a Pessimist Trying to Flip the ScriptAshley admits she is a naturally negative and easily depressed person, and describes her active effort to look for reasons to smile — including reframing painful workouts as proof her body handled something hard.3:263. 270 Days In: Remembering Where She StartedAshley reflects on being over 270 days and 550+ workouts in, contrasting that with last July when she struggled to get two hours of class a week, climb a flight of stairs, or even bend over to paint her toenails.

Open full transcript

Mentioned in this episode

personRhonda

Ashley's workout instructor, to whom Ashley sent a message reflecting on how much her body has changed over her fitness journey.

Key themes

Quitting when things get hard

Ashley openly identifies herself as someone who quits when difficulty hits and frames the whole episode as her active effort to fight that tendency.

Celebrating milestones beyond the scale

Ashley argues that tracking non-weight wins — completing a workout, bending over to paint toenails — is what keeps her going rather than watching a number on a scale.

Being a pessimist trying to flip the script

Ashley admits she is naturally negative and easily depressed, and describes deliberately looking for reasons to smile rather than defaulting to what's wrong.

Making life feel magical

Ashley references something she read about reframing ordinary moments — like calling a drink an 'elixir' — as a lens she's applying to workouts and daily life.

Reframing pain as proof your body handled something

Ashley describes shifting her reaction to workout pain from dread to a kind of gratitude — 'wow, my body just did that' — as a way to stay consistent.

270 days and 550+ workouts in

Ashley anchors the episode in a concrete personal milestone — over 270 days and 550+ workouts — as evidence that celebrating small wins actually works for her.

Remembering how hard basic things used to be

Ashley contrasts her current fitness with last July, when she struggled to get two hours of class a week, climb a flight of stairs, or bend over to paint her toenails.

Painting toenails as a milestone

Ashley uses the specific example of no longer being able to reach her toenails to paint them as a concrete, non-scale marker of physical change.

Focusing on what you can do instead of what you can't

Ashley describes her own shift from fixating on limitations to noticing capabilities, calling it the point where things get 'really magical and really joyful' for her.

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