Consistency Killed the Fat
Consistency is the key to success. Whether you are new to a healthy lifestyle or have been doing it for years; Consistency is how we achieve lasting results.
Sometimes it’s just not easy.
Consistency means: steadfast adherence to the same principles, course, form, etc.
Like I already talked about in my articles, How to Set Goals that Last and Six Steps to Setting Goals that Last, there are steps we have to take in order to reach goals. But just like walking, if you take one step forward and another step backwards then you don’t really reach your goals very quickly, or ever.
This is where consistency comes in. Now when I say consistency, I don’t mean consistently stepping through all your changes one after another. I mean staying consistent with the change you just made. As you take those steps towards your end goal, make each one stick before you go to the next. Once you see you are consistent with that one, add the next change, the next piece in finding balance in your life everyday.
Your goals should be realistic which will boost your ability to be consistent.
If you are 300 pounds and your goal is to be 100 pounds, your realistic “baby step”goal, should be to lose 5 or 10 pounds (first). When your goals are realistic, you get to see obvious, consistent improvement and can celebrate your successes a lot quicker, reaching one small goal at a time.
Consistency depends on solid promises.
Never make a promise to yourself, or anybody else, that you cannot keep. In Six Steps to Setting Goals that Last, the 5th step is TALK ABOUT IT. Talking about it makes you want to continue those good habits so that you don’t disappoint anyone, but we all have moments where we fail. Owning those moments and promising to do better, for yourself, is also important. Consistency isn’t always immediate, it’s a mindset; begin with consistency in your mind and when you miss it don’t lose that mindset, reset and keep pushing.
Once you have decided what you’re going to do, talking about your plans reinforces them and motivates you to take action. It also creates strength within you to do it again. This gets stronger and stronger every time you do what you said you were going to do.
I’ve seen this recently. My brother and I have been listening to a lot of podcasts about how to change the habits you do on a daily basis. He is a car salesman and the hours are long. Going to the gym can be a struggle.
My boyfriend and I just recently started going to the gym at 5am. Since Andrew works with my brother, and there just isn’t any better time to hit the weights, I told him he needed to get in the gym with us. Which, to say the least, was the last thing he wanted to do. Sleep or gym? I think we would all want to choose sleep.
Eventually, my bro did start coming, but he missed a day after his first day, went again, missed another couple days, but kept at it. Now he’s a regular 5am gym rat… who’da thunk?
My point is, he did miss a few days, but he stayed consistent in his mindset and he regularly told people at work that he was doing it, plus he posted every morning on Snapchat that he was. So he had the combined mental consistency, the “talk” and his actions followed. (Plus, he had us, which helped!)
If you are in the beginning stages of a change in lifestyle, and you SKIP one single day, at this moment, you’re weakening your mental strength.
Sometimes we miss a day because of unavoidable circumstances. Make sure that you are consistent in your thoughts, not just your actions. If you miss a day keep telling yourself “I am doing this thing every day”.
Once you allow yourself to miss a second day during your new habit forming stage, unless you have extremely strong will power, this is a potential set up for a third day, and the rest of your days to come.
Decide, commit, and don’t go back.
Consistency and lazy can’t be friends.
Change sucks. It hurts. It’s difficult. It takes energy. It takes dedication. You have to force yourself to put one baby step in front of another. Once you look back at how those little steps brought you to the top of the mountain, … ain’t nobody ever regretted the pain it took to see the view!
Bad days happen, but consistently push past them.
Get up. Move on. Keep up the momentum! Don’t let one off day ruin your progress and keep you down. Consistency requires you to get up, push past the pain, accept that you’re not perfect, and repeat the times that you did well before.
Focus on the positive. We all have bad days. Life happens. The trick is to accept that life will get in the way sometimes. Recognize when it was really life and when it was a decision to find an excuse not to keep going. I talk about how to turn excuses into positive results in Quit the Routine Start an Excuse.
Set a two-week no break rule to solidify your consistency.
If you are about to take that first baby step, and you’ve done everything you need to set yourself up for the change, make a two-week-no-break rule. Get into the habit of your new decision and change. This way, you’re well on your way and when you take a day off or miss a day, you’re more likely to get back on it than if you take a day off two days in.
If you consistently want it, you’ll consistently go get it.
Period.
The title of this article is “Consistency Killed the Fat”, and I realize that I have mostly been talking about fitness, but, I am talking about any change!
If you are wanting to lose, or gain, weight, eat better, change your entire eating habits in a drastic way, drink more water, etc., any healthy lifestyle habit requires baby steps, and consistency for long-term results. It is very important to stick with it and stay consistent even when you don’t see a change. Change takes time. Without consistent persistence, change won’t happen.
Keep it consistently exciting by changing it up.
Boredom can ruin a great routine. Sometimes we have to break away from the routine, and find something to spice it up. If you’re tired of the gym and finding it difficult to keep going, get involved in something outdoors, or join a class in another location. There are options; Google and Pinterest are great places to find ideas!
Follow balance8lifedotcom, ’cause I am consistently here to motivate!
I’m here to help! I post something new every Wednesday. Doing things alone, making a change of any kind, takes a lot of work, so finding that someone that can help keep you focused is so invaluable. For quick on-the-go motivation, tips, and reminders, follow balance8life on Instagram here!
No matter where you are in your health-journey, keep up the good work! You’ve got this! I would love to hear from you! You can comment below, or, if you want to follow me on social media, come on over! I am on Facebook, Instagram, E-mail, Twitter, Pinterest and balance8life.