Perfection is PROGRESS: The Key to Sustainable Results

Have you ever achieved your desired fitness results then lost them a few months later?

Well unfortunately you’re not alone. Recent studies have shown that 90% of people who lose weight wind up regaining it within five years. There must be a solution to this fitness epidemic!

The main issue with weight loss is the excessive amount of programs that claim to produce rapid changes. These programs, whether diet or exercise, advertise successful testimonials and before-and-after pictures that blow your socks off! What they don’t tell you is that these results are generally NOT sustainable.

The key to sustainability is to build slow habits. However, we as humans tend to only focus on the end goal without taking the small steps we need to get there. This is like jumping off a plane without a parachute!

I like to relate fitness to college or a career. When we start a new career or it’s the first day of class we experience progress day after day, learning new tricks and developing habits that lead to the final goal of graduation or promotion.

This is the exact same for fitness and health. Today’s habits will bloom into next month’s results and the key is to slowly change these daily habits that are sabotaging us. Remember, small victories today win the war tomorrow.

Now here are some tips to start moving forward. After hitting each goal, move on to the next!

Eating Habits:

Never ever will you have to “go on a diet” again if you make small changes to your plate.

  1. Replace just one meal a day with a healthier option (or one soda a day with a water).
  2. Move on to weekly goals, such as only having 2 sodas per week.
  3. After replacing unhealthy foods, make rules and eliminate foods. For example, make a rule that doesn’t allow you to have sweets in the cabinets at home.
  4. When 80% of your diet is healthy and consistent with your goals, now is the time to become more specific with your caloric intake and macronutrients.

Exercise:

Working out the easy part, but making it a priority…not so much!

  1. Small workouts at a time. If you start doing 2 hour workouts when you did ZERO hours of exercise the last 2 weeks, you will perceive this as a huge time commitment. Get in some short but productive workouts at first.
  2. Be more active. Going from the couch and office chair to running everyday doesn’t work. Your body needs time to switch habits for sustainability.
  3. Try new activities. Play sports with friends, go on walks, and discover forms of exercise that you enjoy. The key to consistent exercise is to ENJOY it!
  4. After making these lifestyle changes, you are ready for more. Join a gym or get a trainer to teach you how to properly exercise.

 

Consistency is the name of the game for education, careers, relationships…everything! Fitness and health are no different. The path to results is one step at a time. What you do today will help you get there, but focus only on your meals and your workout today.

 

They say the slower the results, the more permanent!

 

 

 

 

 

 

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