Consistency is Key?

Consistency Definition: steadfast adherence to the same principles, course, form, etc.

I have mentioned being consistent in previous posts and honestly in this crazy world I think we all strive for some type of consistency in our lives. This can be great, but only when you’re being consistent at something that is a) beneficial and b) achievable/realistic. In a post this past fall I talked about knowledge being power which is true here. If you’re doing something consistently that you think is beneficial, but in reality it’s not, you’re not going to achieve your goal. Assess what you are doing and if it’s not working, tweak it!

Maybe you’re eating something for lunch every day that you think is really healthy, but in reality it’s lacking protein or nutrients. Maybe you’re hitting up the stairmaster every single morning like this woman climbing the stairway to heaven and you think you’re going to get some type of rock hard body. I hate to break it to you, but it’s  not going to happen. If you’re looking for a ‘rock hard body’ you’ll need to focus a lot more on nutrition, strength training and high intensity interval training and focus a lot less on slowly climbing the stairs every morning for an hour.

You can consistently eat well most of the time, but you really can’t consistently eat perfect. It’s just not humanly possible in the world we live in. It took me awhile to learn this. I used to find myself in an all or nothing pattern where I would eat 100% clean all the time for awhile. That never worked because in the end I would crave something, eventually give in, and then  I would feel defeated and continue eating poorly. So many people experience this…they try the next ‘new’ diet for awhile, but it is not usually something that is sustainable. For people who are eating clean 80%-90% of the time consistently…they will see success. This is both beneficial and achievable. It even becomes easy when you make it a way of life. Yes, you’ll goof up and have days where you only eat 20% healthy, but then you just get back on track the next meal.

Good news – if you have tried to reach a goal using some type of consistent behavior and have failed, there is still hope. Every time you fail at something you’re slightly closer to getting it right. Maybe it’s time to rearrange the path you’ve laid out to help you achieve your goals and perhaps make the path a little less rocky and a little more realistic.

So what’s my point? It’s important to be consistent, but you must be knowledgeable about what you’re doing and realistic as well. If you’re consistently doing something really easy, it’s probably not going to be the best course of action. I like this recent article by Mike Boyle (I Think I’ll do Upper Body Today (Female subtitle- I think I’ll Just Run Today). He talks about how so often people do what’s easy for them for a workout, rather than mixing it up and certainly more often than doing what’s particularly challenging. Next time you go to the gym try something you don’t like or something that is hard for you. Do that consistently. Maybe you’re already working out consistently, but you need to replace 3 or 4 of your daily elliptical sessions with a good strength training session.