Here in Ontario, it has been a rough week. I’m sure it has been in a lot of places in the world but I only know what it’s like to live where I do. Here we’ve gone back into “lockdown” but with very different, seemingly much looser, rules this time and it is creating a great deal of tension and frustration. Everyone I’ve talked to in the last week is tired. Many have told me they’re just over it – they’re mad at the people who won’t follow the rules, the people who shirk responsibility, that the rules have created an uneven playing field but also people are largely just sad and lonely. The situation is polarizing and it wears on even the most motivated of people. Some days I’m getting close to 20,000 steps, lifting weights, eating healthy foods and sleeping well – others I’m eating donuts for breakfast and binge watching Parks and Recreation while spending the day on my laptop. This is far and away from usual for me; but I know it’s an exception to the rule.
If you do any reading on how to be healthy, you will find the word consistent a lot. Eat healthy consistently. Exercise consistently. Consistent sleep. Consistent wake up and bed times.
Consistent. Consistent. Consistent.
Too bad it’s an extremely subjective word. To me consistent could mean 6 out of 7 days a week. To you it could mean every single day without fail. To someone else it could mean try your best but it is what it is. So what is consistent?
For me the best definition of consistent is that day-to-day my goal is to hit the targets I’ve set for myself (whole foods, at least some moderate exercise, 10,000 steps, 8 hours of time in bed, up between 5:30 and 6:30 each morning, in bed around 10). I don’t hit Saturday and say “wooooo! Weekend, staying up late, sleeping in, binge drinking and eating and laying on the couch all day!” My goals on the weekend are similar to during the week. I still try to move, I still try to eat well, but if I have a day when there is movie watching and cookies, that’s ok too.
If I had to put a number on it I would say that as long as I hit those targets 4x as often as not then I am staying consistent. So out of 5 days, I want to see myself hit my targets on 4 of them. If I don’t on the 5th it’s ok. That is not to say that every 5th day is a free-for-all, it means that if one or more of those things don’t happen it’s ok. I consistently hit 10,000 steps a day, but some days that I start work early and miss a dog walk (1-2x per week) sometimes I don’t make that target. Everything else on the list generally happens that day. I just miss a step target. On nights I teach classes until 9 and have early clients the next morning I might be in bed for less than 8 hours – that could also happen on a day I didn’t get 10,000 steps; that’s still ok! Neither of these things mean that I don’t consistently do those things. I do, but 1 or 2 times in a 7 day period they can’t happen. I still set out to do them whenever I can and I am consistent about that.
You will not derail your progress in a day – or even a week. No matter what you do. I didn’t get as unhealthy as I was in one day of lethargic living, smoking, and yo-yo dieting and I didn’t get as healthy as I am now in one day of being active, eating healthy foods and treating myself well. If you do your best to hit reasonable targets most days of the week and don’t just regularly throw in the towel for a binge fest then you are being consistent and will make progress towards your goals.
Is it ok to have McDonalds once a week? Yep.
Is it ok to have some adult beverages each week? Totally.
Is it ok to take a rest day and not exercise at all? Sure!
There are no hard and fast rules. Is it the best idea to have one day a week where you eat nothing but McDonalds, consume a 2-4 to yourself and lay around watching Netflix? No. Can you do it once in a blue moon? Yes. (I mean…I still don’t recommend it but if we’re being honest if you can get yourself back up the next day and get back on track then it honestly isn’t going to impact your progress long term.)
When this latest lockdown was announced and gyms were closed yet again, several of our members expressed their frustration about ‘losing’ the progress they have been making. That is a valid feeling, it has really felt like 2 steps forward and 1 step (or more) back this past year. Not everyone has space or equipment at home to workout. But this is where we have to give ourselves some grace.
Rome wasn’t built in a day – in fact at no point did construction there just stop and everyone stepped back and said “Bam! Nailed it. This is Rome. Keep it just like this forever.” There were many things that got in the way of building that empire – including outbreaks of sickness that slowed things down or stalled progress altogether – construction delays. Yet here we are using Rome’s lengthy building process to demonstrate what you can achieve with hardwork and dedication. We respect that naturally there were setbacks in the process but in the end they wound up building an epic city.
What isn’t explicitly stated in those words of wisdom is how much work is done to KEEP Rome standing too because I promise you there is a ton of maintenance involved and that over time as human needs and technology has changed there has continued to be work required and they’ve just adapted to it.
We are no different. Getting to your goals will not happen in one day, all of your progress will not be irretrievably lost in a few weeks or even a couple months and at no point in this life are you going to look in the mirror and think “this is it! Now I will just sit here, a perfect human specimen. Journey over.” Accepting that the journey is never over as long as we’re living is a huge part of what allowed me to make peace with my body’s constant fluctuations. Sometimes I just adapt the work I’m doing to suit where I’m at, sometimes I’m honestly doing only what I need to for the whole thing to not fall apart. Just like Rome, the circumstances aren’t always ideal for me to be making any progress. – that doesn’t mean I never will again.
If you are in that place – the unmotivated, sad, frustrated, mad and lonely one – and you’re feeling that you’re “losing” your progress (or getting further from your goals) remember Rome and give yourself some grace. You are not losing – you are just experiencing construction delays.
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