Consistently Holding Yourself Accountable
Even though I’m a take-no-prisoners kind of girl, this “tough love” talk about consistency is hard for me. I am extremely sympathetic to how difficult it is to overcome the inertia of obesity. There is a deep-rooted sense of hopelessness about it that is very difficult to defeat.
I beat that hopelessness when I realized at my lowest possible moment that I was worth the time and considerable effort it would take to get better.
Simply: I was worth fixing.
I was worth it then, and I’m worth it now.
The way that truth manifests for me every day is consistency. I am consistent with my healthy eating plan and my fitness routine every day because I know that it is primarily these two things that allow me to live the life I want to live.
In order to be consistent though, I must be willing to kick excuses to the curb.
Call them whatever you want: excuses, rationalizations, or justifications. They all mean the same thing; you’re hiding behind them and using them to avoid looking honestly at your situation.
Part of the reason we fail to lose weight is because we cut ourselves too much slack. We make too many exceptions.
In Tuesday’s blog, “Consistency is Key” I used the example I hear from people all the time, about how they usually eat a healthy diet and exercise, but that yesterday was an exception because it was their daughter’s birthday (or cousin’s son’s bar mitzvah … or tailgating before the game … or St. Swithun’s Day) so they overate, but they got right back on track today. Mostly.
No big surprise, hiding behind the excuse that today is an exception and that you’ll get right back on track tomorrow (maybe) is a weak strategy for successful weight loss.
And there are a million of these excuses. You have a slow metabolism. You travel a lot for work. You’ve got bursitis. It isn’t that I don’t believe you, I would just say, “Okay. So what?”
All these excuses do is give you an out for not doing the best you can with what you’ve got. If you’re willing to let go of your excuses you will win at weight loss.
Consistency happens because you want it to happen. Because you embrace it. Because you know in your heart of hearts that you’re worth the time and considerable effort it takes to be the very best version of yourself.
But how do you manage consistency on a day to day basis? How do you motivate yourself, how do you hold yourself accountable every day? I can’t even tell you how much I wish I had a universal, one-size-fits-all answer to those questions! If I did I’d be a gazillionaire! Regrettably, I am not.
What I can do is tell you how I did it, how I do it, every day.
Consistently eating healthy and exercising means I commit to these 3 things every day. No excuses!
- I shop for, prepare and eat healthy meals and snacks
- I exercise vigorously for at least 60 minutes
- I pursue things that bring me happiness and pleasure
Yep, in addition to the diet and exercise components of healthy living I dedicate myself to doing things that make me happy and bring me pleasure every single day. On a very basic level, when I am happy I find it so much easier to do all of those things that make me the best version of myself.
Consistency is absolutely imperative in all things that matter: brushing your teeth and wearing sunscreen to be sure, but also in eating well, exercising, following your passions and spending time with people who love and support you in a healthy way.
So tough love from me is really only tough on the surface. It is actually deeply sympathetic.
I get how very, very hard this is. But it gets easier, I promise. And you’re so damn worth it!
Let’s go get it!