If you’re frustrated by your lack of results or how slowly progress seems to be happening …
It’s probably because you’re not consistent enough.
Ouch, though.
You may be cursing me out right now and that’s fine with me. I’ve made a shift in my life over the past couple of years with regards to being liked. I’d rather be helpful than liked.
So, let’s see if I can help.
Consistency is the name of the game when it comes to results.
If you’re consistent enough for long enough, the results are inevitable.
However, when it comes to losing fat and improving body composition, most people struggle with both.
Too inconsistent. Too impatient.
If you need proof … just consider your dieting history.
Or statistics around dieting.
Almost everyone gains the weight back. Not because their body all of a sudden breaks.
It’s simply because they couldn’t continue to follow through.
Now, we can absolutely place blame on the methods.
For example, it’s damn near impossible to stay consistent on 1200 calories or Optavia or keto or whatever fad diet you’re trying.
So, I’m not saying that inconsistency is a character flaw.
Often times it has nothing to do with you and everything to do with the method.
But that doesn’t change the reality that a lack of results is often a lack of consistency (typically combined with a lack of patience).
I spoke to someone recently who said that she lost a bunch of weight tracking macros over a 6 month period.
Then, she said that life kicked her ass and she completely backtracked because she couldn’t stay consistent with tracking with all of the stuff she was going through.
Super common.
Consistency is difficult when you’re following the wrong path.
She was overly dependent on one thing. She hadn’t worked on other habits that would sustain her through a difficult time.
When we chatted about her daily routine, there wasn’t much in terms of foundational habits.
She was still viewing it as a means to an end and not a permanent fix.
That’s the instrumental shift that is so difficult to make.
Everyone SAYS they want this to be a lifestyle.
Very few take action according to that statement.
If it’s a lifestyle, you don’t overreact to the scale being up one day.
If it’s a lifestyle, you don’t expect perfection.
If it’s a lifestyle, you don’t give up after one poor decision.
If it’s a lifestyle, you don’t jump into extreme protocols or restrictive diets.
If it’s a lifestyle, you don’t say you need results like tomorrow.
You can say you want a lifestyle until you’re blue in the face but it won’t happen and it won’t click until you really embody it.
Easier said than done, I know.
But when it finally clicks you’ll have a whole new perspective on consistency.
Creating a lasting lifestyle is the goal … and a challenge.
The reason why it’s so difficult is because any change is already challenging enough … but we’re talking about fundamentally changing your lifestyle.
That’s huge.
Let’s not sugarcoat it.
You probably have to change your social dynamic a bit. Especially if you say you want fat loss, you’re likely not able to get away with drinking all the time.
I used to drink like 12 beers every weekend. It was part of my social life. Changing my lifestyle meant adjusting that social dynamic. Difficult shift to make. Totally worth it though (for me).
I had to start saying no to things. Saying no to the 9 million desserts that my family gets every time we’re together. No to the offers for alcohol. No to going out when I really wanted to get to bed early.
Everyone loves to talk about balance. Hell, I love to talk about balance.
But very few want to keep it real about what it takes to achieve the results you desire.
You can’t just continue with the same patterns that got you to this place that you’re uncomfortable with.
Balance is great. You shouldn’t completely eliminate foods you love. You don’t have to completely give up alcohol.
But you damn sure have to make some changes.
You CAN ‘have your cake and eat it too’ … but is it worth it?
And no, eating well all week and defaulting back to eating like an asshole every weekend isn’t going to cut it.
Here’s the good news.. no one gets to tell you what you do or don’t want.
So it’s perfectly acceptable to say … I’m not willing to cut back on drinking, to reel in the meals out, or to upgrade the quality of food choices that I make.
Amazing. Then just be ok with where you’re at and what you’re currently doing.
No one said you have to change your body. No one said you have to look different or feel different.
You said it. But it’s not a requirement.
It’s up to you to decide if it’s worth it or not.
Look, the level of sacrifice that you need to make to achieve certain goals is an individual thing.
Some of our clients can get away with dining out or drinking a bit more frequently than others.
That’s partially the luck of the draw and partially a lot of hard work and consistency that allowed for more flexibility.
There was a good chunk of time that I spent being like 95% dialed in. Which has now allowed me to get away with being like 80% dialed in.
Anyway, I hope this is making sense.
What I really mean is …
Consistency for you might look a lot different than you think.
You want your cake and to eat it too.
And every coach loves to show you how their clients are dropping weight while eating … well … cake.
Which obviously can be done. But it misses the complete picture.
It’s cherry picking.
I can take a picture of Mel and I going HAM on sushi, sipping glorious pink cocktails, and post it to IG for everyone to see.
The perception would be … OMG you can be lean while eating a metric ton of sushi and drinking pink cocktails?! Amazing, I want that!
It’s a little misleading.
The picture doesn’t show the years of work we’ve put in. The picture doesn’t show the 10-12,000 steps per day we get. The picture doesn’t show how much time we’ve spent trying to build muscle. The picture doesn’t show that we eat really well most of the time. The picture doesn’t show that we both cut back significantly on alcohol. The picture doesn’t show how serious we are about our sleep routine.
Can you drink alcohol and dine out and still achieve your body composition goals?
Of course. But maybe not as much as you think. And the level of flexibility is dependent on the individual.
Once you understand what that looks like for you and what consistency means for you …
You may decide it’s not worth it. Once again, there’s absolutely nothing wrong with that.
The mental stress and frustration that you have is likely a product of not being consistent enough and not being patient enough.
Truly taking the time to make it a lifestyle (and not just saying you want it) will make things so much less stressful and more fun.
It’s not easy. But if you actually want it, then it’s worth it.
If you don’t, then stop lying to yourself.
I said what I said.
