Exercise, nutrition, performance, health…It can be challenging.
Information changes. Recommendations change. Habits can be hard to build. Sometimes exercise hurts.
Have you ever noticed that it’s WAY easier to sit on the couch and eat cookies, than it is to go the gym and eat vegetables? Yeah, me too…
Despite all the challenges and the things that can knock us off the quest towards improved health and fitness, there is one thing that I think derails people more than anything…
And in my opinion it really doesn’t have anything to do with the physical.
It’s about your mindset. Specifically your mindset surrounding progress.
Progress is NOT linear. As much as we would like it to be, it’s just not.
When it comes to weight loss or strength gains, the ups and downs week to week can be really frustrating.
Rather than fighting against the proverbial valleys of fitness, I’ve found it’s much more helpful to just accept what is.
Missed your workout today? Ok. Fine. Don’t let it become more than it is.
Ate like crap Friday, Saturday, Sunday? Ok, accept it for what it is.
What’s done is done…
Where I feel like we miss it often times, is we fail to see the simple value of RECOGNIZING and having an AWARENESS of the changes that need to happen…
This in and of itself is PROGRESS. Because without having an awareness of a given problem, the problem will likely persist.
Now, you might say, “Yeah I’m aware of my struggles, but I keep repeating them over and over.” In which I would rebuttal and say, you’re aware that you missing the mark, but you may not have identified why you keep binging, slacking off, or staying up until 1 am every night.
My point is not necessarily to dissect shortcomings, but rather suggest that progress doesn’t always look like the scale numbers going down, or the weights going up, or the sprint time improving.
Sometimes progress looks like gaining valuable insight in the face of failure and defeat.
Don’t let the dips of fitness derail you. Progress isn’t linear, and if you’re ready for this, you’re on the journey.
So be encouraged, get out there and move, and give us a holler if you need help.
