It’s that time of year where people forget their New Year’s resolutions and go back to their old, comfortable habits. It happens to just about everyone who starts the new year with profound intentions to make radical changes. Here are 3 reasons why it doesn’t work and what you should try to do instead:
- You have a great idea of what you want to do but you only have the end goal in mind. I’ve been there before. You want to make a major change and see results immediately. You go three days and see the scale barely move. So you think whatever your plan was doesn’t work and you abandon ship.
- You overhauled your diet so much in a few days, and in your mind, you can do it forever. But it just isn’t sustainable. You have one meal outside that plan, and again the entire plan is foiled. You’re left where you started or worse, even further behind. It’s depressing and makes you feel stuck and helpless. Once again, I have been there. I tortured myself going through this cycle for many years.
- You saw a workout plan that a fitness “guru” follows and you believe it’s the holy grail of all workouts. It’s the newest, best way to work out and now you have the secret to getting shredded in no time. But then you quickly realize, the workouts that seem so easy for some professional to complete, leave you sore, tired, and feeling miserable. Even worse, you are so sore, you can’t complete another day of the workout. It’s a common mistake and once again, I have been there before. It’s frustrating to follow a workout that seems pretty easy only to find you are years behind where the fitness influencer seems to be. A big mistake is trying to copy someone who basically lives in a gym is able to complete. It’s not realistic.
Do you fall into any of the above traps? It’s easy to fall for all of this. We want quick results that fit our schedule perfectly. Unfortunately, it just doesn’t work that way. That fitness influencer that you admire, it took them years to get where they are at. There is one thing that sets them apart from the majority of the population, time and consistency. Think of anything you are good at or have mastered. It most likely took a tremendous amount of time and consistent effort. So here are 3 fixes for the above problems.
- Instead of weighing yourself and hoping for instant results, chip away each day with small goals. Set two small goals, I mean really small goals. One dietary and one movement goal that you can definitely achieve every day. For example, pick a meal that each day you will consume whole foods only, nothing processed. For movement, maybe it’s set a simple goal of doing 10 minutes of walking and 10 push-ups. That’s it! Will you lose a bunch of weight this way? Not quite but it’s a start in the right direction. Now you can build your small goals up over time. The point is, don’t make a monumental change, instead, you should chip away day after day. Day to day it won’t seem like much but over the course of a few months, you will see MAJOR changes.
- Instead of choosing a “miracle” diet plan that you read about that restricts so much, find a diet that supports your overall health. Find a diet that is sustainable for the rest of your life and is also rooted in science. For me, I chose to explore a whole-foods plant-based diet after my second heart attack. I knew that science has shown a plant-based diet is far superior to other diets at preventing heart disease and that it was sustainable. I started the diet because it was HEALTHY, not because it would help me lose weight. Losing 50 lbs. was a by-product of the lifestyle change. So before you hop into a Keto Diet or other fad that promises quick results while you eat whatever you want, choose your health first. The weight loss will follow.
- Avoid comparing yourself to any fitness or health influencer. It’s not good mentally. It’s fine to recognize the great shape someone is in. It is also perfectly fine to compliment someone that is very fit. But just remember, they didn’t just wake up in perfect shape. It takes a lot of time. A very wise quote I find myself reviewing over and over is “Don’t compare your chapter 1 to someone else’s chapter 10”. We are all on our own journey. Take small steps each day, and with TIME, CONSISTENCY, and PATIENCE you will get there. But the second you don’t put in the time or you grow impatient, you will quit, and the cycle will continue to repeat.
Break the cycle, and you will see amazing results. Here’s my story of how I broke that cycle. I hope I can help you in any way possible. Please do not hesitate to email me anytime at ahoopshobbs@gmail.com
