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.

And at times I would reach tipping points, throw my hands up in the air and give up all hope. My reward? Cookies, cookies and more cookies

But I had a wake-up call and came to the conclusion that this type of mental lifestyle was not going to get me the sexy arms I so desperately wanted.

As a result, I began searching for a way to maintain motivation and adherence to a program. The answer to my prayers? Dr David Burns MD. He created a method that revolved around the avoidance of cognitive distortions.

So without further ado, here are three distortions you should avoid so that your arm tone motivation never fades:

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. Overgeneralization distortions. With this one you become a psychic because you believe that something that has happened to you in the past will keep on happening in the future. Just because you haven’t been able to get toned arms in the past does not mean that you will keep on failing in the future.

3. Mental filtering distortion. This distortion is pure evil because it prevents you from giving yourself enough credit-a critical component to success. For example, let’s say you have an entire month of solid workouts but miss one workout due to a last-minute commitment. Instead of giving yourself praise for the awesome month of workouts, you ignore them and beat yourself up for the single missed workout that was entirely out of your control. That’s ridiculous!

Keep the above distortions in mind and make sure you avoid them at all costs. Doing so will allow you to win the mental “arm tone” war. In the end, the person with the highest level of motivation always wins. Good luck!