“I need to get back on track” Hands up if you’ve said something similar to this at some point. It’s easy to give up and when things go wrong. So how can we stop stopping and why is it so important not to give up?
Get back on track
So, my hand is firmly in the air here, I have uttered those words, or similar, many times. You know the story, you start a diet or exercise plan and things go well and then out of nowhere something happens.
- A stressful time at work
- A difficult personal situation
- Family
- Uni
The list goes on. And when these things happen we down tools and we focus only on what is essential to us. This is normally finding the energy to wake up in the morning, drag ourselves to work or uni, do what we need to do in order to get through the difficult time and then go home and sleep away the exhaustion.
Thankfully when it’s all over, we can get “back on track”.
Until the next time…
Life will find a way
Thing is, all of these events I’m talking about here are life events that will not stop happening. You will always have busy periods at work, you will always have uni deadlines. There will be a crisis, to some level of severity, at some point in your life with your loved ones.
There. Is. Always. Something.
The hardest part of weight loss and lifestyle change is finding a way to make it work when everything else goes tits up.
And it is possible, we just need to change our mindset and our plan, once you do that you can stop stopping and finally find a way of living where you’re not always hitting the pause button.
1. Your plan must be flexible
If your plan is too rigid and relies on specific rules that take over your life then yes, it will be easy to abandon it when things get in the way. The truth is, the way that you eat and the way that you move should be able to fit around your life.
If it doesn’t, it’s not sustainable and unless your life never changes and nothing ever happens you cannot keep it up long term.
2. You must be disciplined
While a flexible plan is important it’s not the only variable. You need to decide what is important to you and then make choices based on that.
It won’t always be convenient to choose a healthier option, it won’t always be easy to get the workout in. And some days it won’t happen but ask yourself – that workout that you skipped was it because you really couldn’t go or have you forgotten what your long term goal is?
3. Be clear on what you want
This is the biggie. Why are you changing your eating habits? Why do you want to go to the gym more often? Where will you be if you don’t give up?
If you know what you wan’t, you can almost always find the time to prioritise it. You might need to make adjustments, the workouts might be shorter. The food choices might not be perfect, progress might slow but it does not need to stop entirely.
In Summary
It’s time to stop stopping.
Yes, life gets in the way.
Things are difficult.
It doesn’t always go according to plan.
But life will never be smooth, it will very rarely give you a clear shot at the goal. We need to push on through and make our plans work for us.
Be flexible, be disciplined, be stubborn, follow the plan and do what you can. In there lies success.
Ainzlie
p.s – Ready to stop stopping and get back on track for the last time?
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