As a fitness professional, we encounter this situation sometimes:
Trainer: Follow this program strictly for 6 weeks and then come back and talk to me.
Client: Ok, I will do it...I'm ready for a change and I will do my best!
(6 or more weeks later)
Client: I got off track, but I am now ready for a new program...something fresh that will get me results!
Trainer: But, you don't need a new and fresh program to get results!
Client: What do you mean? What should I do then??
Trainer: Simple...do the LAST program I gave you that you never finished (or barely started)!
You see, giving up on one thing DOES NOT qualify you to be able to start a new thing! Yeah, I understand that maybe the last thing was something that you shouldn't have been doing in the first place like a diet...so definitely don't go back and try that again because you will continue to fail with that!
What I am talking about are the healthy decisions or habits you were making before for a period (however small) of time that you gave up on! This idea that there is some new magical unicorn plan out there that will get you quick results and that you will be able to bypass healthy LIFESTYLE choices to get there is a complete fabrication!
Because the last plan, program, healthy lifestyle choices didn't "work" for you because you chose to only commit to short-term doesn't translate into that plan, program or healthy lifestyle choices not working long-term! As I like to say...
"The bookends of true change are commitment & consistency!"
You will never see lasting change until you commit to the right plan, program or healthy lifestyle choices and then be consistent with that commitment over the long-term! NO real change will ever take place if it is short-lived no matter how good the "new and fresh plan" is!
A marketing trick actually just came to mind right now! When something is advertised as "new" or "fresh." Those words appeal to people! They stimulate our senses and set off our "feel good" hormones! We jump at those things thinking they will be exactly what we need in the moment, but all the while, the thing we often really need is something that has become "old and stale!"
It became old and stale because you put it down and let it get moldy!
Just because something has a "perceived" mold on it, doesn't mean it is no good! Think of blue cheese for example! Just maybe that healthy habit or lifestyle plan you had going in the past is the very thing you need to pick back up and do again! But this time with commitment and consistency! This time, don't give up and don't be put off because there is "mold" on the last thing! I have told many before that you could have a "new and fresh" cow pie, but that doesn't make it any better!
ACTION Step: Take a look back and identify ONE healthy habit you used to do but gave up on for whatever reason and PICK that habit back up and start it TODAY!
Your Health & Fitness Coach,
Clayton
