CONSISTENCY
Consistency – so important, but something our society often overlooks. People are so focused on wanting things now that they aren’t willing to spend the time consistently doing small things over time to get the results they desire. I think a lot of us can relate to being frustrated and discouraged after not seeing the scale move after 4 or 5 days of eating well and hitting the gym. We might say to ourselves, “Its just no use!” after only drinking a miracle juice for a week or buying a $70 bottle of fat burners with no results. You may think, “Id rather be fat than have to do this” following a week or so of starvation and cardio class every day without even a single pound shed. While we can all probably relate, many of us still continue to overlook the obvious solution of CONSISTENT diet and exercise in hopes of the faint possibility of a quick fix fat loss solution. Well, in this post Im going to give you a few tools to help you gain that consistency you need to change your body once and for all.
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GET REAL
Once youre mentally prepared to change your body. the next step will be what I like to call “getting real with yourself.” This is where you set small and realistic fitness goals – no more hitting the ground at 100 mph like most people do when starting a diet, only eating lettuce and broccoli after being accustomed to eating pizza and cheeseburgers every day. You have to be real with yourself about what is attainable for you as an individual. Only make changes that you feel are going to stick to and therefore help you reach that level of consistency youre shooting for.
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FIND YOUR MOTIVATION
I wanted to give my personal experience with “getting real, consistency and motivation,” to give you guys a real account of how I came up with these programs that have helped myself and hundreds of my clients change the way they think and in turn change their bodies forever.
I grew up eating frozen pizza and drinking a two liter of coke a day (no fault of my mom, who is the kindest, most generous, wonderful woman in the world). When I entered the tenth grade, I wanted to change my body and physique, so I did what everyone does, I went on every crazy diet known to man, worked out every day, and tried all of the “overnight fat loss serums” I could find. Like most people that go down this path, I was on a roller coaster ride of ups and downs with my weight, always struggling, depressed, and almost to the point of being obsessed. It wasnt until my senior year when I became a personal trainer that I finally realized the error of my ways through the help of a special client.
I had started training this new client, Robert. He was a middled age guy from the Antelope Valley with a couple of kids and about 200 lbs to lose. Yes, I said 200 lbs to lose. He was over 400 lbs and had always struggled with his weight in a similar way that I had and so many others had as well. He was too heavy to walk on the treadmill, too big to fit on the machines, too immobile to lay on the benches, and this left me with few options in regards to training him. I figured I was one of his temporary solutions that he wouldnt stick to, but that couldnt have been further from the truth. You see, Robert had everything he needed to succeed and it wasnt machines, treadmills, or my expertise
it was motivation, strong mind, and realistic expectations. He had just had his second child and said to me, “Ive never been able to play soccer with my oldest son, but Im going to make damn sure Im playing soccer with both of my boys by the time my youngest is old enough.” He seemed crazy motivated, so I set a bunch of goals for him to eat perfect and do cardio every single day, only drink water forever, and never miss a workout. Robert had another plan, though. He trained with me and when he was at home he planted a tree for his wife in the yard, a few days later helped her with some flowers, gave up soda, walked the dog, cut back on fast food, swept the patio – he did something that was realistic on a consistent basis.
Training Robert taught me that the answer to some questions is in you and cant be answered by others. He knew himself, he knew what his motivation was, and he knew what had to be done to reach his goal, and that he would have to do it consistently for a long time. Robert lost over 100 lbs with me in a year and a half before I left that gym. He played soccer with both of his boys every week.
After training Robert, I was realistic with my own expectations and became a happier, more fit, and better educated trainer in the process.
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SET SMALL GOALS THAT CAN BE SOMEWHAT EASILY INTEGRATED INTO YOUR DAILY SCHEDULE
Examples include:
Cut out sweet cereals for breakfast
Dont purchase junk food when shopping so its not in the house tempting you
Pack your lunch for work
Join a group workout program for added support and fun
Set small goals for your fitness and workout program for something to work toward (then increase your goals as you go)
Reward yourself with a “cheat meal” once a week
Once you follow these steps, consistently setting and achieving goals becomes an upward cycle. As you gain momentum, you will want to continue achieving new goals. One thing to watch out for is losing focus on the goals that built your springboard, which can cause the whole thing to fall apart. Those goals should become good habits.
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