You’ve been working towards a specific goal for a while now and you are starting to notice a lack of progress causing you to be disheartened. Sound familiar ??
A lot of people start towards some kind of fitness / lifestyle goal without much of a direction or the buzz word consistency … and this is the problem. It’s all well and good going to the gym, working out and eating a balanced diet but are you actually being consistent in these things? Do you do the same program in the gym tailored to what you are trying to achieve or do you change your workout every time? Are you restricting your food throughout the week to go on a big blow out at the weekend? Do you take into account all the other areas in your life?
Because these could be the reason you are not seeing the progress you want.
First of all lets talk about your goal. When it comes to setting goals there are a few things that will help you create solid ones to follow and achieve. Most of the time it is a lack of focus or direction in our goals that makes them hard to achieve. You want to make your goals SMART ones which means they need to each be:
Specific
Measurable
Attainable
Realistic
Time Managed
You also want to make them personal to you and have feeling so that when you think of your why you are empowered by it. Once these have been done then we can move on.
The next thing is your training. In order to make progress towards your goal you need to be consistent with your training, both in what you do in your sessions and how often you train. Look at your lifestyle and see how can your training fit into it. There may be moments where other things take priority which is fine just be aware of this and the fact it will take longer to achieve. If you have a specific goal then a proper programme for this will help loads because you will be exercising in a way to get you there. This is where a PT comes in to help you with that programme, if you are starting out I would always recommend this so you can learn, absorb and understand what you need to do and how to do so correctly. When I speak about programmes I am relating it to goal that has a specific purpose such as muscle building, strength or endurance gains etc. If your goal is just to move then you don’t need to be as strict.
You have your plan in place now you need to bring that consistency to the sessions and you need to challenge and push yourself. Progress will falter and you will plateau if you don’t give your body some challenges. Try not to go through the motions it’s time to dig deep and see what you can do.
Finally look at your lifestyle. Diet shouldn’t be this serious restriction for 5 days and a massive blow out for 2 days instead look at the week as a whole and aim for a more balanced approach. No 2 days will be the same as some days we eat more and some we eat less but the more you restrict the more likely you are to over eat later down the line. It’s about finding an array of foods to eat in your diet that suit you, your needs and your tastes. Educate yourself on ways that work for you and how you can benefit your health and goals without causing issues for yourself.
I would also look at your sleep – are you getting enough of it? Poor sleep habits can slow progress down as your body isn’t working at 100% and you can fatigue easier. Aim to get 7-8 hrs unbroken sleep a night and see how that helps.
It’s all very well and good having these goals but like everything they will take time and work to reach. You need to stick at something for at least 4 weeks to start seeing any changes before thinking about tweaking and making changes. If you are doing that then you should be on your way to achieving your goals. And remember there are people to ask for help if you need it so you are not alone.
Consistency is key, don’t forget that
Love Vicki xxx
