I know it’s sometimes easier to cower over
To diminish your desires before being let down

But here’s the thing
Nothing in this life is guaranteed
Your successes won’t ever be handed to you 

And you’re being tomorrow will thank you for your efforts from today
And you will not make leaps and bounds in such a small time frame

But when you choose yourself
And you choose to remain consistent
Your progress will show
Each action will compound on top of the other
Feeling stronger and prouder than you were before

So don’t give up
Don’t let your doubt creep in
Don’t let it take over

Focus on you
The goals ahead
And the desires your carry

Staying strong in your word
And consistent in your actions

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Friends! Listen up…

As a fitness coach, health coach, and yoga instructor I constantly get asked these questions/statements, or some form of them:

• What’s something I can do to feel better about myself?
• I want to get better with my nutrition.
• I want to get better with exercising.
• How can I reach *insert goal*?

I’m going to give you a secret. This is something that I work with my clients on and something that may seem very obvious and yet, it’s something that soooooo many people struggle with. I would say that at least 50% of my clients come to me thinking that they need help with body image, nutrition, or overall health but they actually don’t. They really need help with consistency. I know, the age-old saying “consistency is key” is cliche and exhausting to hear because it means that there is work to be done. But hear me out on this one…

Big Leaps Lead to Burnout

Drastic changes don’t work. You will burn out. I’m not kidding. It is VERY difficult to make drastic life changes in a sustainable way.

Take going vegan for example…

You are an avid meat eater and milk drinker and all of a sudden you go cold turkey, not consuming any animal product. You feel great at first. Energy is high and you feel on top of the world. Until a week goes by and you go get pizza with the family. The realization of your favorite Friday night traditional now feels like a chore. Why? Because you are either restricting yourself or you cave and deal with the continuous cycle of guilt and shame that comes with going against your word.

And fitness…

You get a gym membership and start taking classes every day. You went from no exercise to intense movement every single day. Your body feels exhausted. Within two weeks, you are hurting all out and end up with severe low back pain because you didn’t take the time to learn about proper form or to adapt your body to its new routine. You end up having to take time off, making it much more difficult to get back in. You have created mistrust in your body from the pain and never built a solid routine to feel confident getting back into.

Big leaps lead to burnout because you aren’t creating a safe place for your mind and body to adjust and to exist. It’s an endless battle when you dive in head first. Sure, there can be a healthy sense of excitement for something new but not having consistency or a game plan will likely result in stress in the body which leads to fight or flight. Your mind and body will be in a continuous state of fighting itself or emotionally checking out.

Compound Interest

Let’s go back to the going vegan example…

If you choose to tiptoe your way into veganism slowly, you are giving yourself grace. So, the first few pizza nights don’t leave you feeling guilty because you’ve given yourself the grace to consume the pizza. It doesn’t have to be all or nothing. While tip-toeing your way into this, you learn ways to swap foods in your diet that are just as nourishing and fulfilling. So then, maybe after a few weeks, you realize how good you truly feel and decide to try the vegan option on the menu. You realize how delicious it is and feel like you aren’t depriving yourself, rather you are a part of the experience and enjoying it just as much. You’ve built compound interest by building up the resistance and education for a few weeks to swap foods out that are satisfying. You don’t feel the need to restrict yourself and feel freedom in your choices, reducing the likelihood of binging later on.

And the exercise example…

Instead of the “no pain, no gain” mentality, you ease into exercise to teach your body new ways to move. You learn about the proper form that feels good based on your anatomy. You focus inward on an exercise routine that feels invigorating. One that consists of active recovery and allowing your body time to rest and heal between intense workouts. This leads to the body feeling more aligned and connected, reducing burnout. Your body slowly gets stronger and gains stamina, making it easier to work out more consistently without injury while also being able to rebound faster after time off.

Health is about compound interest. One salad and one workout won’t change your current health status. Building healthy habits upon each other will lead to better, more sustainable results. This is why most diets don’t work. It’s not because the idea is bad, it’s because they aren’t sustainable. Our bodies aren’t meant to move through intense change because it gives no time to adapt.

It’s Not About What You’re Doing

These two examples (the vegan story and the exercise story) are actual, real-life examples of what I’ve seen and experienced with two of my clients. Their issues weren’t about nutrition or exercise. Their issues were about creating action plans, sticking to their goals, and creating consistency in their lives. Your health isn’t about what you’re doing, it’s about how you’re doing it. Slowly implementing new ideas in your life will yield better results and will also leave you feeling better. What’s the point of doing something if it doesn’t feel good?

My life was a spiral of decisions that felt awful for so long. They were drastic, irrational, and extreme. It lead to blackouts from lack of nourishment, low energy felt extreme exercise, and lack of intuition because I was following the crowds of diet culture. You are in charge of your goals and I promise you, staying consistent in the little things will result in way higher success rates than extreme versions of what you desire. Start small and notice the little shifts that feel good. Find gratitude for your efforts and allow it to continue to build compound interest. It’s hard. And, you can do it.