How To Be Consistent While Losing Weight

How many times have you fallen off the fitness wagon? Are you being consistent? If you want to reach your weight loss goals you need to be consistent. Learn 7 tips on how to be consistent while losing weight (especially if you are a woman over 40!).

10,000 Hours To Be A Master

Malcom Gladwell stated you need to do 10,000 hours of something in order to master it.

So let’s take a look at your life…

What are you a master at?…

Growing up in the ballet world I for sure put in 10,000 hours in dance technique.

As much as I am constantly learning about all aspects of personal training, I feel I have mastered that as well….That doesn’t mean that I am done learning by any stretch of imagination.

But what else have you become a master at??

How many times have you sat in front of your favorite dessert (we’ll say a doughnut) and you have thought I am not going to eat that…and then within seconds you are eating it. If you have done that 10,000 time you have become a master at not listening to yourself and giving in to instant gratification.

How about how many times you have started to workout and then gave up after only 1 week. You have become a master at not following through.

Now before you start spiraling out…know that being aware of what you have mastered is a great thing even if the things you have mastered are not serving you or not helping you reach your goals …The great thing is you can change them!.

Habit Pathways Will Help You Be Consistent

Imagine you are walking in a forest where there are no paths just forest.

Let’s say you walk to the right side of the forest and you come back each day and you keep walking to the right side…eventually you will have worn down a path.

Now one day, you come back and you decide hey let’s go to the left side today.

There is no path so it’s going to be challenging to start making that new path.

There might be days where you go “ I don’t want to go down the left path there’s too much brush and trees in the way and I keep getting lost”…so for that day you choose to take the right path which is already worn and brush is out of the way and you can see where you are going.

Now, the problem is that the right path is leading you to everything you don’t want and the left path leads you to all the things you say you want.

Which path are you willing to choose??

This is the way it is with losing weight and the habits you have created. If you for the longest time have come home from work and plopped on the couch and eat take out…that is your right sided path. You have worn that sucker down. It has become automatic that you do this every day.

If you come home and have decided to NOT sit on the couch and to make a light dinner ….that is going to be super hard because this is the path that isn’t worn down yet.

Good thing is …The more time you wear down the path the easier it becomes. So the more times you choose to come home after work and make a healthy dinner and skip sitting on the couch, the easier it will become.

If you Want to Make Lasting Changes You Need To Be Consistent

Being consistent is essential to making any real changes in your life.

If you haven’t been consistent the good thing is it’s a skill you can learn it.

#1 Name Your Goal

Your goal has to have some meaning to it.

It has to light you up.

I always ask clients what they want to see when all is said and done. And a lot of the time I get “I want to lose weight or lose 50 lbs”.

But that’s not your why.

What does losing 50 lbs give you??

Does that mean you can walk up the stairs without being out of breath?

Does that mean you won’t have to take medication?

What is your why? …Why do you want to get in shape or lose weight?

Once you have you goal, you need to make small steps to get you to your big goal. This is where being consistent will play a big part in your success (or lack of)…

#2 Schedule It!

You HAVE to schedule the steps you need to do to get your goal – priorities get done.

Don’t tell me you don’t have time.

We all have 24 hours in the day- you choose how you spend that time.

Want to know what your priorities REALLY are???

Log your time for a week. Write down in 15 minute intervals what you spend your time doing (other than sleeping).

It will be very eye opening to see what you ACTUALLY are spending your time doing. Then you will REALLY know what your priorities are!

#3 Ignore Your Inner Child

As soon as you set goals (especially BIG goals) your brain is going to start to seize. All these thoughts are going to come flooding into your head….

Are you kidding?? You can’t do that! Who do you think you are? You’ve tried in the past and you have failed and that’s what is going to happen again…go ahead you will see….and on…and on.

If you can make it past your “Negative Nellie”…when you actually take steps to start your brain is gonna tell you “I don’t wanna”… The more you get past these thoughts and be consistent with doing it anyway, the easier it will be to stick to your plan and get the success you desire.

#4 Get Accountability

Hire someone to keep you on track and to stay consistent.

With all my training programs, you have access to me every day. I help keep my clients accountable. I feel like I have “Spidey Sense” about my clients…it’s like I know when the are sabotaging themselves.

Don’t get Aunt Susie or some $5 plan you don’t care about. Invest in yourself and get some skin in the game. If you paid $1,000 to work with a trainer I bet you would show up and give it all you got!

#5 Don’t Slash Your Tires

Everyday is not gonna be rainbows and unicorns. Many days you will not want to do it at all. This is when that worn down path is gonna look might good because it is “easier”.

This journey does not need to be perfect. If you started learning how to speak a foreign language, you are not gonna make complete sentences, natives will be confused as to what you are saying and you may even say some curse words because they are one letter off from a regular word.

Ditch the all or nothing mentality – If you do have a day when things don’t go exactly as planned – it’s okay – there is no need to give up …I love this analogy from Keith Kline- “If you get a flat tire do you go out and slash the other three tires?” No! You get the one tire fixed and keep going.

#6 Choose Your Path Wisely

Going back to the path analogy, every time you choose the right sided path you are reinforcing old habits. The more you pick the left side the more you reinforce new habits.

#7 Let Go Of Your Stories

If you always think of yourself as someone who never finishes what they start…guess what? You will never finish what you start!

Some of the stories you tell yourself you think are just facts but they are really just beliefs…I will get into this more in a future post but for now just observe the thoughts that are popping up in your head.

BONUS TIPS!!

Always Have a Back Up Plan

I like to tell my clients to have a Plan A, Plan B and Plan C…or as many plans as you need. That way there are no excuses to you reaching your goals. Read more here about making plans.

Make It Non Negotiable

Last bonus tip! If you REALLY TRULY want a result you will let nothing stand in your way of achieving it. So get out of your own way and in the words of Nike “Just do it!” Can you imagine if you did everything you said you were going to do??? Wow! We’d all be kicking-a$$ and taking names!

Bottom line:

Be consistent and you will see results. You have to be all in on your goals. Give half-a$$ed effort you are going to get half-a$$ed results. If you REALLY want to lose body fat you get all the resources you can to help you wear down that path towards being healthy and fit.

Want help reaching your goals, remember you can request a free phone consult with me by clicking here.