Pressing Pause On Your Health & Fitness
I'm currently at Day 7 of running my 30 Day Challenge. And in my email to them yesterday, I talked about the problems with pressing the "pause button" on your health and fitness. What do I mean by that?
Well, whenever I run a Challenge of some sort, things always start off with a hiss and a roar - those doing it are very excited to start something new or to have a re-start! But then there's always those who drop off. Why?
Because unexpected (or even expected) things come up. We're dealing with real life. Work gets crazy busy, your kids get sick, family birthdays, weddings... the list goes on. When you miss a workout or eat the wrong thing, the thought process for most people is "I've failed". So you stop completely. And you reason that you'll just take a break – it’s not the right time - and start again when things calm down...when you have more time, when your kids aren't sick.
Except things never really slow down or get any easier. And you just keep putting it off. Or you start again and the same thing happens... and you hit "pause". Sound familiar?
Many people are stuck in this cycle and way of thinking - giving their all to their health and fitness and then giving up when challenges come up. And this stops them from getting any momentum towards their health and fitness goals.
Having a fresh start after you lose your way sounds very appealing. That's why New Year's resolutions are so popular, especially when you have over-indulged during the holiday season. We think that if we have a fresh start later we will find the "magical right time".
But the problem with this kind of mentality is that it only builds the skill of hitting pause... when the skill that we need to be building is the skill of getting fit (or staying fit) under real life conditions and all its challenges. If all we know is getting fit under perfect conditions (when life is seemingly easier), then whenever life isn't perfect (which is most of the time), we hit the pause button. And wait for a better time. But ask yourself this: "What will be different when you start again?" The answer in most cases is - Nothing. Nothing will be different. Life will still be happening and you'll still have real life challenges.
There’s never going to be a magical time when things are easier. You can’t escape from work, family or personal demands. And you can’t escape the need for health and fitness in your life.
Think about this: What if you tried to hit pause in other areas of your life? You can’t not show up for work and not expect to be fired. You can’t take a break from being married and not expect for your marriage to suffer. And you definitely can’t press pause or reset on being a parent. Life has no pause button. We just have to keep going each day and try to do our best. Why should health and fitness be any different?
The pause button mentality is an "all or nothing" approach that never gets you anywhere.
BUT - with an "always something" mindset, you can choose to dial up or dial down your healthy habits based on what is going on in your life.
Instead of all or nothing, you aim for always something. Instead of hitting pause, you adjust your dial either up or down, depending on what is happening in your life. But you don’t turn it off completely. There’s a big difference between turning your dial down to a 3, 2 or even a 1, and turning the dial off completely.
So this might look like some weeks you might only be able to workout 3 times per week for only 10 mins a day. Or even just 5 mins a day. The point is to just keep going. It’s not about being perfect.
The below infographic "How to Stop Pressing Pause on Your Health and Fitness" from the amazing Precision Nutrition, shows how doable (and effective) it can still be when you turn your dial down and you will realise that there’s never a good reason to hit pause again. Here’s what you’ll learn:
• how life doesn't pause, so neither should your health and fitness;
• how even small efforts add up over time;
• 6 ways to adjust your life dial to keep making progress;
• how you can make your own "dial up or down" chart and refer to it when life gets busy (or slows down).
To access the full infographic in a tablet friendly or printer friendly format, click here.
As a Precision Nutrition Certified Nutrition Coach, I use this tool to help my clients move away from the “all or nothing” thinking. I teach my clients to develop the skills of getting fit and healthy under real life conditions. The Precision Nutrition coaching curriculum is one of the best in the world.
If you are interested in 1:1 nutrition coaching or group coaching, I will be kicking off my coaching in the new year. To register your interest for this, please click here.
