Do you ever have days or weeks when you feel like you’re doing pretty well in terms of fitness and healthy eating?
You’ve been eating well, exercising, getting fresh air and drinking water, and feeling pretty good with it. You’ve found a groove and are maintaining progress, even if that progress is gradual.
I hope you do.
However, we probably all also go through days, weeks or even longer periods when we lose focus, motivation or become overwhelmed with other things. We comfort eat, we get lazy, we notice the pounds creeping on, and feel a bit uncomfortable.
Some people swing back and forth in unhealthy ways from one extreme to another, and I don’t have too much experience of that myself. There have been times during periods of depression when things were more noticeably difficult for me, at one point I was too thin, and then some years later I noticed I was putting on weight after starting on medication. But apart from that, the pendulum hasn’t swung too far in one direction or another for me.
That being said, even for relatively healthy people we do notice the subtle changes in ourselves that leave us feeling ‘sluggish’, unhealthy and not so great physically. We know when we’re beginning to lose focus, motivation and when our health, wellbeing and weight isn’t quite what we know it should be, even if that isn’t particularly noticeable to other people.
So what happens if you find yourself in such a position? The key is consistency. Overnight transformation doesn’t happen. It takes regular, consistent and intentional changes in our lifestyles in order to maintain progress.
Maybe you’ve ‘fallen off the wagon’ a bit with your health and fitness. Maybe you’ve been inconsistent during seasons of celebration, holidays, festivities, or conversely low mood, depression and difficult circumstances. You’re not on your own.
Don’t beat yourself up about it. Remember you have to start somewhere, and once you’ve started just keep going. If you’re overwhelmed, make some small steps forward, start with 5 minutes of exercise if you’re struggling, and build up from there, keep consistent, keep moving, keep eating well, don’t be demanding or obsessive with yourself and your habits, but just try to maintain consistency and you’ll make progress.
There are no shortcuts, but try not to be overwhelmed by thinking about how far away you are from where you want to be with your health and fitness. Just do one small thing today and if that’s all you can manage for now, that’s ok. Start again tomorrow, and just keep going. Small steps in the right direction all add up, so stay positive, you can do it.
Life as it happens to be 