Consistency, Consistency, Consistency!

Consistency, consistency, consistency

Here is my biggest complaint when it comes to health and fitness: Our bodies adapt way faster to an unhealthy decision than it adapts to a healthy overhaul. You could be making some serious headway when it comes to your fitness goals and something as small as a strawberry milkshake could derail the whole process. On the other hand, when you overhaul your lifestyle choices overnight with positive changes to diet and exercise and you could be waiting on visible results for a while. It can sometimes feel like a situation where you're damned if you do and damned if you don’t.

It happened to me. During a lull in my exercise regimen, I noticed that I was feeling lower energy levels, I wasn’t as sharp and present, I actually was feeling a little ill, and I wasn’t feeling as steady on my feet. I was all out of sorts. Now I know said in an earlier post that the number on the scale shouldn’t matter, but I was curious.

I learned that I was above my natural resting weight. Looking back on that time I admit that I was enjoying a whole spread of food that was not exactly part of the trusty food pyramid. Like I mentioned before, I hit a lull in my exercise schedule and became pretty inactive. I just wanted to snack on foods for the pure enjoyment of it, not because I was hungry. Knowing that my diet and lack of exercise were contributing to my symptoms and affecting my walking I had to have a big turnaround.

I used to subscribe to the belief that if it was on your plate you had to eat it, or you weren’t done. I unsubscribed to that pretty quick. I made healthier meal choices, I scheduled when I ate to avoid the unnecessary urge to snack. I upped my activity, even if it wasn’t a true workout, I still tried to get up and do something to get the blood flowing. I was getting to a place where I was feeling myself again. I was feeling more stable on my feet and the sick symptoms dissipated. I was back down to my resting weight.

Then, it all happened so fast. My sister brought home my favorite pint of Ben & Jerry’s Ice cream. I cracked. I think I might have downed the pint in maybe 10 minutes. They were a glorious, gluttonous, unwise 10 minutes. I woke up the next day and it was like a rubber band, my body had snapped back into feeling all out of whack. Weeks of conscious choices and hard work seemed undone by an almighty pint of ice cream.

It was a tough lesson to learn, but consistency is the key to success. Do everything in moderation. I learned I had to be consistent with my choices in what I chose to eat and how hard I worked in the gym. My yo-yo health choices were giving me yo-yo results, and the kicker is that I had the gall to be surprised. Striking a healthy balance between what you want and what you need can seem like the hardest line to walk. Once you find the sweet spot though, that’s when you’ll feel most powerful. Put in the work but be kind to yourself. Consistency can take you all the way to the finish line.

Until next time readers…

-Bianca