You Actually Are Consistent…Just Not in the Right Things.

I used to hate to hear that I just needed to be “consistent” to see results. 

Want to lose weight? Eat in a calorie deficit consistently. 

Want to build your social media following? Post consistently.

Want to be healthier overall? Drink water, go to therapy, and eat nutritious food…consistently. 

I hated that word for a while because I couldn’t ever seem to be consistent! I tried. I tried so many times to do the things I needed to do to reach my goals, but I couldn’t stay consistent. 

I thought it was a lack of will power or that I didn’t really want to reach my goals enough. I thought consistency was just not something I was capable of being. 

But one day I realized…I’m actually consistent AF already.

All of my default patterns and current habits are CONSISTENT patterns and habits that I repeat every single day. I have done the same things day after day after day and they have gotten me where I am right now. 

I have been the most consistent…and changing my habits to match my current goals is actually a matter of pointing my consistency in a different direction. 

With that realization, I was no longer so freakin’ hard on myself about my lack of progress. There was nothing wrong with me. I was completely capable of being consistent. I just needed to figure out how to be consistent at things that helped me work toward my health and life goals instead. 

Being consistent in your healthy habits can be simple–though it isn’t easy. Here’s how to start making changes and being consistent at the things that move you toward your biggest goals: 

Shift Your Language.

Making a shift in your mindset away from “I’m a failure because I can’t stay consistent,” to “I’m the most consistent! Now I’ll be consistent at this other habit,” makes a huge difference in how you approach your goals. 

I know it’s kind of the “thing” now to be hard on yourself in order to see change…to beat yourself into submission so you stop eating junk food. Some fitness coaches would have you believe that you have to destroy yourself in order to see any real progress. 

I disagree 1,000%. If being hard on yourself actually worked, we’d all be lean and fit and be rich and live to be 100 years old. 

Instead, shift your language from “I suck and being consistent with good habits,” to “I’m really good at being consistent and I just need to change what I’m consistent in.”

Have you heard about the power of affirmations? It might seem a little “woo woo,” but psychologically, whenever we use “I am” statements, we tell our brains that our reality is a certain way. 

If you say, “I am not healthy. I am not fit. I am fat. I am broke. I am unsuccessful. I’m inconsistent,” our brains believe it.

But if we say “I am healthy. I am fit. I am lean. I am rich. I am successful. I’m so consistent,” our brains believe that too…and then we subconsciously set to work to make those things reality. 

Shift your mindset and your language to positive and affirmative statements–even if it seems silly at first. Speak your goals into reality.

Be Honest About What You’re Willing and Able to Do.

If you work with me as a nutrition client, I’ll ask you dozens of questions every time we meet about what you’re willing and able to do as you make changes to your diet. 

If you don’t give me a 9 or 10 on a scale of 1-10 in terms of how willing and able you are to make a change in your life 6 or 7 days of the week, we’ll simplify the change. 

Nothing changes if nothing changes…and if you can’t make a change sustainably because of something in your life, time, work, or willingness, nothing will change. 

When you consider making a change to your lifestyle, ask yourself…how willing am I to make this change? 

Am I able to do this thing every single day of the week–or at least 6 of the 7 days of the week? 

I would even ask yourself: Is this something I am willing to do (or want to do) every day for the rest of my life? Making temporary changes won’t give us the lasting change we long for…if the answer to that question is “no,” that doesn’t mean you won’t EVER be at the point where you can answer “yes.” It just means you need to simplify the habit to be something you can do right now, and then move onto the next part.... 

Use the “Progressive Overload” Method.

In weightlifting programs, you may have heard the term “progressive overload.” Progressive overload is a training principle that involves gradually increasing the demands placed on the body over time to promote adaptations such as increased strength, muscle mass, and endurance. 

You can use the same method to make significant lifestyle changes over time. The key is to start with the next thing that seems just out of your comfort zone. 

If one of your goals is to lose weight, instead of making the goal, “Overhaul all of my nutrition and only eat whole, nutritious food with high protein and no sugar,” start MUCH smaller. 

You could start with one meal. Your goal could be, “I’m going to eat a breakfast of two eggs, a piece of whole grain toast and natural peanut butter along with a big glass of water in the morning within one hour of waking up.” That meal gives you around 20g of protein to start your day, along with some healthy fat and slow-digesting carbs. 

That habit is simple and you can easily complete it every day or at least 12 of 14 days. 

Then you push it just a little bit further. Breakfast is habit now, so you move on to lunch. You pack your own lunch for work, so you decide to make your next task, “Make 5 medium chicken breasts in the oven on Sunday evening and pack 1 chicken breast with 2 handfuls of fresh salad greens, some cherry tomatoes, half of an avocado, a small tupperware of my favorite dressing, and some chopped cucumber.” And just like that, you have a healthy lunch meal with around 30g of protein to eat at work every day of the week. 

True change happens when you continue to push up against the limits of your comfort zone to make incremental changes over a long period of time. 

In one year, the woman who started eating a breakfast with 20g of protein every day may now be eating 30g or more of protein at every meal and snack. She’ll likely meal plan and have fresh vegetables and fruit on hand always, and she will probably be able to say “I completely overhauled all of my nutrition, and I eat mostly whole, nutritious food with high protein and little sugar.” But instead of that being her first goal–going from 0 to 100 in 1 week–she used progressive overload to make incremental changes over time, only this time, it will actually stick. 

Your goals are baby steps away–not huge leaps away. You know how to be consistent. Now it’s time to start being consistent at the things that will help you accomplish the biggest dreams you have for your life. 

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