Notice how far you have come

By Heather Smith

We often hold ourselves to very high standards when it comes to our diet and exercise routines.

If we’re not seeing what we want to see – or if we’re not seeing it as quickly as we would like –we often throw in the towel and quit.

We end up with a bit of an ‘all or nothing’ approach as our interest rises and falls depending on where we feel in relation to our goals.

A good strategy to help maintain your consistency is to remember to look at how far you have come rather than how far you have to go.

Let’s say your ultimate goal is to be in a regular exercise routine. To you, that means 3 workouts a week. Your starting point was zero. Now, you’re getting 2 workouts most weeks and 3 sometimes. That is not failing – that is great progress!

How about if your goal is to get 10,000 steps a day. Your starting point was 2,000 and now you’re getting about 6,000… Again, that is not failing. You’re consistently able to do more than you could at the start. You are making progress!

Let’s say your nutrition goal is to cook three meals a day from scratch. Your starting point was cooking one meal a day yourself, and now you manage to cook two meals a day several times a week. Of course, there’s more work to do – but throwing the towel in and going back to your old habits is not going to help. You are closer to your goal than you were, so keep on making progress! So, when the going gets tough, remember to take a look back at how far you’ve come. Make sure you really allow yourself to notice the changes. Be proud of yourself, even if you’re not where you’d like to be yet, and make sure to find positives in the achievements you’ve made. www.fitbiztraining.co.uk