New Year, New You: Consistency + Patience.

Hey friends! I hope you all had a very Merry Christmas, surrounded by the ones you love. 🙂

Just like any holiday season or special event we encounter, we are often bombarded with loads of sweets and treats that we can’t resist.  Which is totally okay every once and awhile because let’s be real, you’ve gotta live a little!

After the holidays, we remember that January 1st is just around the corner; a New Year full of new opportunities, goals, changes and commitments. I think everyone can agree with me that most of us make goals towards becoming healthier.

It is a time for an “out with the old, in with the new” mentality. Our stockings were full of new workout gear + cookbooks and we signed up for that new gym membership, all while sadly tossing out the Christmas cookies we had so much fun decorating, but know they aren’t going to help us out in the long run.

But let’s be honest. Whether it’s the New Year or that “First Official Monday”, having all of those things is a great start, but the hardest part of sticking to something is staying motivated, encouraged and inspired to keep moving! We live in a world of instant gratification where we expect overnight results and when we don’t see them in 1 week, we throw in the towel completely. Our own minds are often our biggest obstacles in determining whether or not we can go through with something. And this doesn’t just apply to the realm of health + wellness. Our minds often interfere with our pursuit of anything that makes us a little nervous or afraid: relationships,  jobs, change, moving, and even loss. No matter how badly we desire it, if there is any shred of doubt, discouragement or deviance, we give up entirely.

Just like everything else in life, there are two things we need to keep in mind when making healthy PERMANENT lifestyle changes: CONSISTENCY + PATIENCE.

Consistency + Patience are key in our daily choices. Be consistent in your workouts, you food choices, your lifestyle habits. Be patient with your body as it adapts to these new nutrient dense foods. Rather than getting bogged down with FOREVER, choose one day at a time, one meal at a time, one workout at a time. What choice will you make today?

Consistency + Patience determine your results. Let me ask this: what makes you think that the effect of the YEARS of poor habits + bad eating is going to be completely reversed/cured/healed within a matter of DAYS because you ate well for a week? These things take time, if done the right way. Rome wasn’t built in a day!

Consistency + Patience are about commitment.  View this as a commitment to a healthier LIFESTYLE over a new DIET. If you want to see PERMANENT, lasting change in your health + vitality, you must commit to making consistently good choices FOR LIFE. Yes, you can have some wiggle room every once and awhile, to indulge in all that life has to offer, but hopefully with a stronger understanding of how that might affect you and your goals in the long run.

Consistency + Patience are about accountability. You are more likely to stick to something if you have a support system, or better yet, an accountability buddy to go through the process with you! Set a workout time with yourself + your accountability partner, and don’t allow the other to quit on you or bring you down. Every time you decide to sleep through your alarm, you are cheating yourself. In order to see change, you have to make changes!

Consistency + Patience are about grace. Throughout the process towards becoming a better you, you will experience some setbacks, some disappointment and some failures. Be gracious with yourself. Nobody is perfect, and the people who pretend to live a perfect life are just plain crazy. Even if you slip up on a meal, skip a workout, or perform less than ideal in the gym, give yourself a little grace. You are human. You are doing more than most, and one little hiccup or season of less than ideal performance won’t determine your eternity.

To be honest, I am writing this post mostly as a pep talk to myself, because the last month has been a real struggle for me in CrossFit. My performance isn’t where I want it to be, and often times feels like it’s worsening in some ways. But I’ve learned that it is just a season, and although I wish I were superwoman, this is a part of life. Adjusting to the ebbs + flows, and rolling with the punches. Some days you might only be able to put forth the effort of a “4” instead of a “10” but finish it out to the best of your ability, and leave it there. Tomorrow is a new day.

My goal through this platform is to be your guide, your motivator, your cheerleader, your educator, your accountability.  I WANT to see you succeed in reaching your goals, whether they be fat loss, muscle gain, kicking the meds, or cutting out processed foods from your kids’ diet. One. Step. At. A. Time.

We can do this together! Make a plan, and take action.

REMEMBER:

SMALL STEPS = BIG CHANGES!

May 2015 be all that you hope for, and more than you could ever dream of.

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