There’s this trend that’s been around for quite some time within the health and fitness realm: Inconsistency. It rears it’s ugly head at New Year’s more than any other time of the year.
You’ve probably experienced it yourself. I know I have.
You get caught up in accomplishing a particular goal. You figure out a plan and begin going to work to make it a reality. But then something strange happens.
All that drive you had a few weeks ago suddenly vanishes. You decide to give up, although you don’t tell yourself that. You fall right back into your old ways or decide to try something new because your plan just doesn’t seem to be working.
Sound familiar?
Inconsistent is defined as “not staying the same throughout” or “acting at variance with one’s own principles or former conduct”.
When it comes to health and fitness, it’s a path characterized by bouncing back and forth between one plan and another. New Year’s resolutions offer a chance to begin change. But for the majority of people they won’t stick to a single plan.
They do create a plan at first though. For those looking to lose weight, they may switch their meals to include a healthy serving of protein and vegetables, while limiting alcohol and other treats. And also plan to hit the gym 2-3 days per week.
This is a great plan, no doubt about it. And it would help anyone accomplish a weight loss resolution. But, and this is why resolutions and weight loss goals fail, most will not stick to this plan for more than a few weeks or months. They may get tired of doing it or just devote time to other things, but whatever the reason is, they give up.
By now, you can probably guess what the only plan you will ever need to accomplish anything is. But if not, it’s consistency. That’s it!
It doesn’t matter who you are, the more consistent you are with your plan, the better results you’ll see. What does this look like exactly?
Well, if you set a goal of losing 20 pounds in 6 months by calorie counting, it means you will count calories for 6 months until you hit that goal. Not count calories for 1 month and decide to go on the Atkins diet. Then a month later decide to try out the Paleo diet.
It’s as simple as that. Constantly jumping from one thing to the next is a recipe for failure and will leave you frustrated more than anything else.
Now, you will most likely have to tweak your plan from time to time to continue seeing results. But that’s totally normal. Your body will adapt and changes are a necessary part of the process.
In our example of counting calories, you may find that your progress stalls after losing the first 10 pounds. In this scenario, you may need to lower your calories slightly to starting seeing more weight loss.
But that’s all you need to do. Analyze what’s working and make tweaks to your plan accordingly. It’s the easiest and simplest thing you can do.
This doesn’t only apply to those working through New Year’s resolutions. It doesn’t matter one bit where you’re at. You could be just starting out, or have been working towards your goal for the past year. Consistency is the secret ingredient that creates success.
So, in 2017, make a point not to jump from new program to new program or from diet to diet. Pick your plan and be consistent. I know it sounds easy but it’s really not.
We are always on the lookout for the newest thing to try. But the ones who choose their path and ride it out, are the ones that can accomplish anything they set out to.
