Let's cancel that all or nothing mentality once and for all... Seriously.
Now this sounds harsh, but in reality, you have so many things balanced throughout your life, there's no reason why you shouldn't have a balance with your health and fitness.
With the New Year we know that the mindset of "starting fresh" or pursuing the "new me" starts. While we encourage everyone to START and not hold back, we also know that the concept of "starting fresh" or achieving a "new me" usually asks of a person to make big changes that don't fit their lifestyle and that are not sustainable.
These big changes seem exciting at first. You're all for the big changes because you want this year to be a different year. So you go buy all new recipes, you join the gym, you take up reading, you start making your shakes, going to sleep earlier, and the list goes on.
But the thing with all those habits changes, while they are good, they are not truly YOUR HABITS and they are not something you can stick to long-term. This then gets you overwhelmed, and slowly falling off each habit, until about 3-4 months in you quit completely, and hang the goal on a rack for the next year.
Every time you experience this cycle, it gets worse, and more difficult to get started. However, you are stuck in this cycle because you keep repeating the cycle with the same approach.
If you truly want this to be a different year you have to step back for the approach you've taken every year. So how do you make this change and avoid approaching your goals with an "all or nothing mentality"?
Follow these steps:
Write out your goals for the new year. Make sure that when you do this, they are realistic and achievable, but also challenging enough to excite you.
Break down the bigger goals into smaller targets. This will allow you to see the steps to your goal more clearly, and make it easier to track and ensure you that you're along the way to your goal.
Recognize your wins and reward yourself. While the big win is the final goal, it's super important to recognize the wins along the way and celebrate them. By recognizing the wins, you can create more wins.
Ask yourself if you can practice this for the rest of your life. This is the best question you can ask yourself. If you answer is "no" then it means that you are approaching your health and fitness in a non-sustainable way for your current lifestyle.
Mistakes will happen, accept them. If you miss a workout, or feel disappointed with something you ate, understand mistakes are normal and can happen. Instead of calling off your goals, forgive yourself, learn, and re-approach your goal after learning from your mistake.
Find your balance. Being on a diet, working out long hours at the gym, skipping parties, is not sustainable unless it's something you truly enjoy and feel like has becoming a part of your lifestyle. If you're constantly feeling like you're making sacrifices, it means you are not truly accepting the changes as a part of your life but something temporary. Pursue your health and fitness habits in a way you can truly make it a part of your lifestyle.
One you work on the above changes, you can truly embody the habits. You can make lasting changes to your lifestyle with long-term healthy habits. This will not feel draining, and will truly allow you to live healthy for the rest of your life. Not only will you reach your goal this way, BUT you will also be able to keep the results long-term.
With guidance you can make these changes and also get the accountability you need to stay on track and make sure you don't drift off the road that will lead you to your goal.
If your ready to make these long-term changes, APPLY HERE to our application to learn more about our coaching services.