If you take one thing away from reading this it should be the following: you don’t have to be perfect, but you need to be consistent to achieve your goals. We all start with the best of intentions. You’re all fired up and motivated in the beginning. It’s relatively easy to be perfect at the start of the training and nutrition journey.
At some point along the way, life is going to happen. It could be a weekend getaway with friends that gets you out of your routine. It might be a bad day at work, and to feel better you come home to sulk in some cookie dough ice cream. We all have those days. Those days are not the issue. It becomes a problem when those days turn into “Fuck It” weeks. As in fuck it, I’ve already messed this week up, I’ll start again next week. Then next week turns into two weeks. And before you know it, it’s been a month and you haven’t tracked any macros or seen the inside of the gym.
There is a psychological term for this, it’s called the Abstinence Violation Effect (more on that later). Here you are starting over again. There is nothing wrong with starting over on your nutrition or training. “Sundried.com surveyed 4,000 people on New Year’s resolutions. 43% of those surveyed expected to give up on their goal after one month.” Even as a fitness professional, there are times when my training and nutrition take a back seat to work and family obligations, You know that thing called life we all experience.
The problem is trying to be perfect. Some people have this all-or-nothing mentality. You want to be perfect, let’s be real, that’s not going to happen. It’s also not necessary. Let’s say you are very strict about adhering to nutrition and training, you reach your goal, and then what? Are you going to revert to old habits and end up back where you started? Consistency is the key to long-term success with both training and nutrition.
If the tactics you’re using to reach your goal can’t be maintained for 6 weeks, 6 months, hell, 6 plus years, that’s an issue. The goal I have for my clients is to have them foster lifelong habits with regard to exercise and nutrition. It’s not what we do once in a while that shapes our lives, but what we do consistently.“– Anthony Robbins
Before I dive too deep, let’s define what consistency is. According to Merriam-Webster, consistency is the quality or fact of staying the same at different times. Doctonary.com defines it as steadfast adherence to the same principles, course, form, etc. The Cambridge Dictionary on the other hand goes with the quality of always behaving or performing in a similar way, or always happening in a similar way.
For the context in which I’m using consistency, the way the Institute of Clinical Hypnosis states, “Consistency, in other words, is therefore all about repetition. It’s about repeating the same actions (habits and rituals) over and over again; gaining feedback from these actions and adjusting them accordingly to help stay on track as we work towards our goal.” Let’s say you want to lose 20 lbs. Two pounds per week is generally considered the maximum healthy weight loss. Which can be crazy hard to achieve. Even at that pace, it’s going to take 10 weeks, realistically longer, like double or triple that time. It also depends on how much a person has to lose. If an individual has a substantial amount of weight to lose they can drop several pounds in the early stages. Heath and fitness goals take time, usually much longer than we’d like them to take. This is why consistency is so important for achieving our goals and maintaining them.
Having a plan is important for you to remain consistent. We’re talking training, making sure your meals are thought out, and even scheduling breaks from nutrition so you can enjoy special events. Plans aren’t just schedules. Plans include principles and guidelines for you to follow. You can set up guidelines for your nutrition when you’re dining out so you can enjoy life but still stay on track.
One of the guidelines I like to encourage my clients is to finish the protein on their plates first. Followed by vegetables and lastly the carbohydrate portion. The reason for this is protein tends to be the most satiating of the macronutrient so it can help reduce overeating, It also encourages sufficient protein in their diets. These guidelines also reduce anxiety and mitigate stress.
As I stated earlier, I don’t want you chasing perfection. Being perfect in the context that I’m talking about is adhering to your calorie or macro goals and training schedule without going over, or missing a training day. To reach your health and fitness goal you need to follow your plan, and part of that plan should include room to maneuver. If you can give me 70 – 80% adherence and the right timeline you can reach your goals without feeling overly deprived.
The problem is when one becomes so rigid that training and nutrition goals become limiting factors in your life. It’s not healthy if you consistently miss out on family gatherings, celebrations, or an occasional night out with friends because it doesn’t fit your macros or you have to train in the morning. If the goal of your training and nutrition is improved health, it’s supposed to add to your life, not take away from it. What if you go to such events but you are brooding over what you are going to eat or drink that it ruins the fun you were there to have? Trying to be perfect can cause unneeded anxiety.
The point of training and nutrition is to get to a healthier place. If you’re agonizing over everything you eat and drink or when you’re going to get your next training session in, you’re missing the point. That type of thinking can lead to things like the Abstinence Violation Effect. The Abstinence Violation Effect (AVE) happens when an individual commits to cease engaging in unwanted behavior, then lapses into the behavior. You know, like getting on a super strict training and nutrition plan, then life happens. Once this occurs the individual struggles to stop the behavior again. Marlatt’s Cognitive-Behavioral Model states that someone struggling with (AVE) will relapse and then do one or more of the following:
- Blame the relapse on personal failures, then triggering a sense of guilt or other negative emotions
- Blame the relapse on uncontrollable factors such as willpower
- Blame the relapse on not being able to cope with the situation that caused the relapse.
When one of these occurs it leads to the mindset that they have already made a mistake, so there’s no point in trying to salvage the day or possibly even the entire plan. None of these are healthy ways for us to think. This is what I like to call the “Fuck it’s” I mentioned earlier. Don’t undo all the good things you have done just because you had a bad day or overindulged on your family holiday. Be patient with yourself. Bad days will happen, holidays are meant to be celebrated. It’s important to enjoy life if you want to maintain the results you’ve achieved.
All you have to do is get back to what was successful for you at the next opportunity. Another facet of consistency is being patient with yourself. You’re going to stumble along the way, just don’t give up. Eating one salad and working out one time isn’t going to give you six-pack abs. One meal, one day, or even one week won’t derail an entire plan if you don’t let it. Once the smoke clears and the wrappers settle just get back on track and start making progress again. It is that simple. Mistakes are how we learn, a necessary part of success in life.
It’s believed that 80 – 95% of dieters regain their weight in the first year of losing it. To me, a big reason this occurs is unsustainable methods, one of which is trying to be perfect. If you want to reach your goals and maintain them you need to achieve them through methods that become a part of your life. Choosing to make a lifestyle change as opposed to going on a diet is one way. A dieting mindset is something one suffers through until one reaches your goal or gives up. People look at diets as something we eventually go off of; lifestyle changes are in it for the long haul. Ditch the diet and make a habit.
Habits become automatic, it’s just what you do. Let me give you an example. As an adult, most of us don’t have to think about tying our shoes; it’s automatic. Think back to when we were kids learning this skill. It took all of your focus to loop, swoop, and pull. And half the time we still needed help. Now we can hold a conversation while tying our shoes and not even think about it. Once habits become automatic they are low brain activity. Low brain activity doesn’t rely on willpower. Willpower is a finite resource. Reliance on willpower is a mentally draining activity. Mental fatigue from using willpower has shown a correlation with making less progress. Build habits so you can maintain success.
Success either short or long term is dependent on consistency, consistency is a product of balance. A balance between what you’re trying to achieve and what you can sustain. Your perfect ratio of those things is up to you. One must include factors like the given timeline of reaching your goal. Setting a realistic goal along with a realistic timeline can help you stay on plan and prevent you from radically changing your life.
I’m going to assume most of us remember the show The Biggest Loser. The contestants were losing hundreds of pounds in very short periods. Because of the timeline of the show, the contestants were subject to extreme caloric restrictions and exercise mandates. A study followed up with 14 contestants 6 years later. Metabolic adaptation due to the extreme calorie deprivation was still making it hard for them to maintain their weight loss. Often the more drastic the deprivation, the more drastic the rebound. Proper goals and timelines matter for long-term sustainability. Don’t set yourself up for failure. Set a proper timeline so you can find a balance between real life and your goals.
Hiring a coach is also a great way to stay consistent. I’ve found that most people have a general idea of what they need to do. They’re not always sure how to put it together. Coaches will work with you to develop a plan based on your knowledge and goals. Coaches offer support and accountability. And assist you in tracking progress by encouraging you to challenge yourself. I’m sure my clients have heard “if it ain’t challenging you, it ain’t changing you” one too many times. Usually followed up by asking them to go up on the next set of repetitions. We as coaches also help with realistic expectations for results. It can be very discouraging to a client if they feel like they are not making progress. When people get discouraged, consistency frequently suffers. In most cases, they are only looking to see if the scale is going down.
I help my clients see the progress their making even if the scale isn’t showing it. People overlook things like clothes fitting differently when the scale is the only measurement. They miss that they are doing 12 repetitions with a weight they struggled to get for 8 only a few weeks ago. The Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research found that gym members who used a trainer gained an average of 2.86 lbs of lean body mass versus zero in the self-trained group in a 12-week study. Coaches also keep you from overdoing it, as most people are very motivated in the beginning. We also work on proper form and technique. It’s hard to stay consistent if you’re injured from overtraining or poor technique.
In theory, striving to be perfect with your training and nutrition seems like a good idea. When you step back and carefully look at what it takes in practice, the pursuit of perfection doesn’t hold up. Find a level of adherence to your training and nutrition regimen so you can make progress and also continue your life, without sacrificing too much. Consistency trumps perfection every time. To be consistent you need to have a plan to achieve your goals. A plan should have a realistic timeline for the goal. The plan needs to be based on sustainable methods. The methods should allow you to be patient with yourself as the unexpected occurs. The changes you make need to become habits. You don’t want to rely on willpower alone. Reliance upon willpower is not a recipe for long-term success, at some point, it will fail you. Habits equal consistency. If consistency is a problem, seek the advice of a trainer or coach. Sometimes you don’t know what you don’t know. Coaches are a great resource for navigating the obstacles that arise on your journey. What’s the point of going through all this if you’re not going to keep it up? Stop chasing perfection, get consistent and keep your hard-earned results
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