You get started because of motivation.

But you ultimately succeed because you’ve created habits.

When we fail at staying consistent with something, we often blame our willpower. We say we just don’t have as much self control as someone else.

But honestly that’s not really the case.

The truth of it is, we didn’t create new habits we enjoyed enough to stay consistent with them. New habits that actually took away the need to use will power to stay consistent.

Motivation is fleeting. Self control isn’t infinite.

What makes changes last and results truly build is that we’ve created new habits that, to some extent, don’t really take effort.

So when we are first motivated and all gung-ho and go to extremes? We may be setting ourselves up to fail.Because we are relying purely on motivation to carry us through.

Motivation that will burn out…especially often the more intense and restrictive we are to start.

Instead we’ve got to use that initial motivation to help us create new habits we enjoy even if it means not doing as much as fast.

As cliche as it is…it really is true you’ve got to find a way to enjoy the journey.

And that means creating new habits that do fit your lifestyle to some extent. Habits that you enjoy enough to keep repeating until they require no self control to do.

Now…You won’t enjoy every habit to start that you have to implement – change does require change and for us to be uncomfortable. 

BUT the more you can create new habits with things you DO enjoy, finding maybe new activities to do, new healthy restaurants to eat at, the more you’ll accept some of the things that aren’t as easy to implement to start.

All about that balance!

Here are 3 tips to help you create those new habits to carry you through!

#1: Tweak your current lifestyle.

We need to create new routines and habits if we want to make the changes sustainable. 

The easiest way to do that is to start with small tweaks to what we are currently doing. Small adjustments to things we love.

I know I like to eat out once a week, so Ryan and I found a healthy way to do so.

Know you really like to enjoy meals with your family so having to prep your own thing won’t work long term? Start by working backward from your family meals to tweak other meals. This way you’re keeping yourself in a routine you enjoy that you’ll ultimately want to do!

Love wine? Find a way to include it in your macros on certain days.

The key is realizing there has to be a balance. 

And that part of what makes creating new habits easier is piggybacking off of habits we already enjoy while changing ones that aren’t as ingrained!

#2: Challenge yourself to explore!

The more you do, the more you do.

The more you accept getting a bit uncomfortable in other areas of your life, the more you become open to changes.

And when making changes to your diet or workouts, why not explore other areas of your life that could introduce something new and fun and better promote the lifestyle you want to live?

Plus often we find activities and such that only make us want to stick with the new habits more.

Instead of just going out to dinner on a date night, why not try a new fun activity?

Instead of a Sunday morning just going to brunch and drinking, why not try adding in a hike with friends?

Explore other fun activities. You may be surprised by how much fun you can have finding a new activity you enjoy that only promotes the other lifestyle changes you want to make.

Not to mention, the more you get comfortable with change?

The more diet and exercise changes won’t feel so overwhelming.

Plus the more you create an overall new lifestyle, the more all of the habits fall into place together!

#3: Realize you won’t always want to do the things you should.

Even habits we’ve done for decades, we don’t always want to do.

And recognizing this is key.

We are human. 

But recognizing when we have lost motivation even in habits that once felt easy, is key. It may be time to try something new and slightly different.

It may be time to do some sort of reset.

Like maybe you do just need a day to skip your workout and not track.

BUT doing so consciously is key so you can get back to it.

Or maybe you realize you just need something new to jazz things up.

Creating a lifestyle doesn’t mean doing the exact same routines the exact same ways forever.

We can create routines and habits, but always constantly be running little experiments to keep things fun.

That’s the beauty of life. There are always new things to learn and ways to explore.

Routines and habits shouldn’t be inflexible.

One of my amazing Unicorns asked, “I was wondering if there were general “success” habits that you’ve noticed yourself and/or all clients who’ve met / exceeded their goals practice consistently on the daily?”

One of the things I told her that I think is actually at the heart of whether or not we succeed is…

We have to remember that we will NEVER be perfect with anything.

It’s about learning to recognize the detour more quickly to get back on track!

She summarized this thought so nicely as…

Shift as soon as I notice drift.

Exactly!

Detours are going to happen. There will be things that get us off track, whether it’s life events popping up or simply stress.

But success isn’t dependent on us never having these deviations.

It’s dependent on how quickly we can recognize we are off course and get back on track.

How quickly can we “right the ship” so to speak.

Because the quicker we can just sort of note the slip up or mistake, not JUDGE ourselves and then just simply do what we can to move forward?

Often the less those detours really even register or matter.

But the more we sort of make ourselves feel guilty for them, the more we end up actually continuing along the detoured path, getting further and further away from what we need to be doing.

We actually allow ourselves to continue steering in the wrong direction.

So how can you shift as soon as you notice drift?

Here are 3 Tips to help you out:

#1: Don’t judge.

Often it isn’t the mistake that is the issue. It’s our own internal hater judging us that leads us down a dark path.

That one cookie becomes 10. And then it becomes “Screw it I’ve messed up today so may as well just eat bad the rest of the night.” Which then even sometimes becomes, “Well it’s Thursday so may as well just wait to start over Monday because I’ve messed it up!”

This can lead to us basically driving ourselves miles out of our way instead of just turning the car around at that first place to make a U turn.

So what if you had one thing and your macros won’t be perfect?

Better to do what you can and get CLOSE over completely writing the day off!

Mistakes are going to happen. You’re human. Get used to it.

When they do, just do what you can to correct them over making yourself feel guilty or stupid!

#2: Assess.

Often we just ignore or avoid what happened over facing the mistake head on while assessing why it occurred.

The more we can understand the WHY behind the things that happen, the more we can address the true causes and even learn how to handle situations before they happen.

Like if you know you tend to reach for something at the end of the day when you’re stressed and tired.

Maybe you plan in a treat so you don’t feel deprived, even working backward from that.

Or maybe you just realize you can’t even have any of those snacks in the house, at least to start.

Or maybe you just know you need to make a macro friendly sweet treat to keep you on track.

There are so many ways to help yourself overcome potential pitfalls, but the first key is assessing and learning why they happen in the first place.

We will never be perfect, but the more we can improve our understanding of ourselves? The more we can create systems and routines that really work for us!

#3: Pick one small thing to move forward – even just mentally.

If we can’t do something perfectly, we act like it isn’t worth doing.

But if you have a detour?

Just do what you can to get back to it.

Even if you can’t hit your macros and your calories are way off, do something MENTALLY to get back on track.Even if you skipped the workout and are about to go to bed?

Roll out for 5 minutes just so you know you still did something that could even help you tomorrow.

It doesn’t have to be big.

But we want to do something as soon as possible to get the momentum going back in the right direction!

Just remember the key isn’t never slipping up, never making a detour. Those things are going to happen.

The key to success is just recognizing it more quickly and doing what you can to move forward ASAP!

When we start a new program we of course have “expectations” about what we’ll get out of it.

But what if the reason we’ve never fully seen the results we want is because of our “expectations” of what the outcome will be?

What if we are expecting too much? What if our binary definition of success is holding us back?

What if the benefit of each thing we do isn’t as simple as “did we or did we not get (insert outcome here)”?

Now I’m not saying not to expect yourself to work or not have high expectations when it comes to what you want out of things.

But I think too often we set our expectations only on reaching a specific goal and not on the LEARNING PROCESS involved in achieving that outcome.

It’s also why we can get really down and feel like nothing has ever worked for us. We are only seeing victory as did we or didn’t we reach our goal.

If we instead saw each thing we’ve done as a chance to LEARN so we can build upon that next time?

Well we’d end up getting a lot further faster. 

And we’d probably feel like we’re “starting over” a lot less. When we start something new, we need to set our expectations to be what can be LEARNED from this experience? How can we grow?

If our expectations are simply to learn? We’re going to get far more out of every experience.

We need to think of our journey as building a bridge.

Too often in our mind we simple see success as going from point A to point B.

But each thing we do can teach us something about how to truly build that bridge to get us across

Each experience can add a piece to make our bridge more sturdy.

Each experience can show us how to move closer to our goal, even if it is the pitfalls to avoid.

And in doing the habits and implementing the systems to move forward? Often we will reach our goal and before we know it.

Sometimes taking our focus OFF the outcome and putting it onto the building process, the daily habits, ultimately helps us reach our goal faster.

Because we’re putting in the work and doing what we should.

Instead of just focusing on how far we have still to go.

When building the bridge, you don’t want to keep looking up and thinking “Are we there yet?”

You want to think about what next piece you have to lay out to get across!

There are a few terms I hear popping up a lot when we talk about nutrition…that I feel like we don’t fully understand or that we either glorify or demonize unnecessarily.

And I wanted to discuss these terms and what they should REALLY mean to us if we want to get results.

Term #1: Diet

People will hate on you for calling something a diet.

The term “diet” has come to mean something where you starve yourself to lose weight and deprive yourself of all of the foods you love.

Dieting means deprivation.

We often almost treat dieting as punishing our bodies.

But the term DIET actually just means…

“the kinds of food that a person, animal, or community habitually eats.”

Yes with the rise of the “dieting industry” and fad diets, it has taken on these other meanings.

But I mention this because I feel like we need to stop the association between diet and restriction.

We need to recognize we can enjoy foods and achieve results.

We also need to admit to ourselves that we DON’T just treat food as fuel and that eating can also be social and fun and enjoyable.

So instead of seeing a “diet” as something negative, see it as a chance to dial in the foods you habitually eat toward a specific goal – whether that goal is weight loss, fueling better, performing better, gaining muscle or whatever!

Term #2: Sustainable

Sustainable doesn’t mean easy, especially to start.

It doesn’t mean doing whatever you want to do whenever you want to do it.

Often anything new does NOT feel sustainable.

But once we give the new habits a try?

We realize that we CAN create a new routine around them.

But change is hard. And often takes us outside our comfort zone.

What is familiar and easy? That feels sustainable.

But often what has been sustainable has NOT led to the results we want, which is why we are now looking for a change.

So as you search for something sustainable, realize it may be uncomfortable to start.

Recognize it also has more to do with the lifestyle you ultimately want to lead and knowing yourself.

And also realize that if a goal is important to you?

What you will sustain long term may not be anywhere near what you’re doing now.

Sustainable does NOT mean it will be comfortable to start.

And it does not mean there won’t be sacrifices.

It just means you’re considering what you truly want out of life and what, given the chance to create the new habits, will actually be something you can do long term.

And I don’t even mean directly those habits but the underlying systems.

There will always be ups and downs. Creating a new routine that is sustainable means we know what we can always return to!

Term #3: Lifestyle

I find myself now almost shuddering when someone says it has to be a “lifestyle.”
 
This new emphasis on creating a lifestyle, almost makes us believe that we are going to do one thing for the rest of our lives.

But nothing stays the same.

So why would our diet?

Everything has ebbs and flows and variations.

So should our diet.

Your goals change. Needs change. Routines change.

So your diet will change as well.

The key is learning what YOU need to do to fuel.

It’s honestly why I harp on macros so much.

Because when you understand macros? You can create the lifestyle you need AT THAT TIME.

But we have to remember we never do one thing forever. Everything in our life is constantly evolving and so will our diet!

SUMMARY:

With our nutrition, it can be hard to make changes. For some reasons, any time we seek to make a change, we see any sort of tracking or logging as restrictive.

But no matter our goals – from performance to aesthetics to health – understanding our diet better is key. And having data to make tweaks? Only makes it easier.

We are the ones judging ourselves, not the tracking.

And we have to remember, everything in our lifestyle is constantly evolving. What is easy at one point, may not feel sustainable at another. That’s why it is key we take time to really LEARN about our personal needs. So we can constantly be evolving our nutrition to match our ever changing needs and goals! 

As much as we can become scale obsessed, wanting to see that number go down, what we TRULY want is fat loss.

I mean would you honestly care what that scale said if you loved how your arms looked in that tank top or fit back into your “skinny jeans?”

NOPE! 

You wouldn’t.

And I can tell you from personal experience, fat loss doesn’t always mean losing weight on that scale. It can actually mean your weight doesn’t change at all as you lose fat but gain and retain lean muscle.

So in the end?

You look leaner but you haven’t lost any weight.

I mention all of this because I think so often we strive for faster results on the scale or greater weight loss and ultimately hold ourselves back from true body recomposition.

We do these extremes that don’t help us retain lean muscle and even cause us to lose it. 

And then after maybe seeing some fast weight loss results from extreme deprivation that depletes our muscles of glycogen, causes us to lose water weight and maybe some fat but also muscle, we just end up regaining the weight.

And the worst part is…none of the weight we regain is necessarily muscle! So we ultimately end up worse off than where we started.

So if you actually want to lose fat? You need to stop seeking quick and dramatic scale changes.

You need to be a bit more ready to trust the process and implement these 3 key tips!

#1: Focus on protein!

Sorry but if you want the best body recomposition results? You can’t simply focus on calories in vs calories out.

While there is flexibility to how you dial in your carbs and fats, PROTEIN IS KEY.

If you want to build and retain lean muscle while in a calorie deficit, you need to get more protein.

It’s why calories are not created equal. The type matters. And a deficit can be dramatically impacted by how you’re adjusting those macros.

#2: Don’t go extreme on that calorie deficit

I know we think that if we eat less, we will lose more, but dramatic calorie deficits are the biggest reason honestly why we can’t stay consistent with our diets.

We get too hungry.

We cut our calories so low we interrupt proper hormonal functioning. We cause metabolic adaptations.

And we end up losing just as much muscle as fat.

Not to mention our workouts suffer.

Basically, trying to do more, ends up making us feel miserable while we not only achieve less but sometimes even suffer some nasty consequences.

It is much better to create a smaller calorie deficit or even just start with the current calories we are consuming while adjusting our macro breakdown.

Especially the older we get. Previous extreme dieting practices often make it harder to lose weight as we get older. And by slashing calories to the extreme, we can also hinder ourselves from building and retaining lean muscle – which does become harder as we get older!

And then don’t try to out exercise your diet to burn more calories. This not only leads to overtraining but often muscle catabolism as well.

#3: Strength Training

You’ll notice the first two of these are diet related, but that doesn’t mean workouts don’t play there part. 

Especially when it comes to helping you build the lean muscle mass that not only promotes better fat loss but also makes you look leaner!

So often we turn to cardio for weight loss because of the higher calorie burn in our workouts, but we need to stop seeing our workouts as purely a way to burn more calories.

That’s shortsighted not to mention, as we get stronger and fitter, we adjust.

So unless you’re running or cycling constantly for longer or further or faster, your body is going to adjust. So while your watch may tell you that you’re still burning a ton of calories, you’re most likely not still burning the same amount as when you started.

Your body becomes more efficient. That’s why it can do more more easily.

That’s why strength training is key. It helps you build lean muscle to even burn more calories at rest. It helps keep your metabolic rate higher. And it also fuels your other cardio activities you may enjoy.

It can also fight against the catabolic affect of those more steady-state cardio activities.

And as we get older? 

Strength training becomes even more important as it becomes harder to gain and retain lean muscle! Building muscle helps us avoid some of the metabolic slowdown we associate with getting older!

SUMMARY:

So if you want to lose fat?

Stop trying to rush the process. Focus on these 3 key things and you’ll see those long term results actually adding up!

Want some delicious, macro-friendly recipes to help you hit your ratios and get results?

Check out my Cookbook Collection!

I don’t care who you are or how much you know…

Results never happen fast enough.

And the even worse part?

Often not only do results not happen fast enough but progress is NEVER linear.

I bring this up because I know we are all guilty of wanting more.

Of considering going to more extremes or doing more to try to get things to happen faster.

Or on the flip side…of getting so frustrated we give up.

Which really if you think about it is super stupid considering giving up for sure isn’t going to get us results faster.

But well, it’s still tempting none the less out of frustration.

Honestly, often really the issue is we simply haven’t given our results enough time to build.

While I know we become afraid that we’re repeating the same thing hoping for a different result, or sticking with something that won’t work?

Often it’s really just that we haven’t done it long enough. 

We can’t out exercise or out diet time.

So what can you do to help yourself trust the process a bit more? Be willing to give things time to add up?

1. Create a clear plan with a set end date – I know in theory we want to make changes a lifestyle, but we do better with an end date. A set time at which we can assess and adjust. Also, even with a lifestyle? You won’t be repeating the exact same habits forever. Our needs and goals are constantly evolving. What you do to lose weight or gain muscle? Won’t be what you do to maintain. Especially if you even change workouts or fitness goals or activity level….

2. Track – If you can see you’re doing the habits you need to be doing to get results? You know you’re doing the right stuff. I think often we are more worried about whether or not something is working when we don’t have that accountability. When we can’t see if we are actually doing what we are supposed to be doing. And often when we don’t want to track? It’s because we do want to give ourselves an excuse. We don’t want to take that honest look at what we are doing. Because all too often that honest look DOES show it is our fault and is something we can change. If you want results though? As hard as it is? You want to know there is something within your power to accurately adjust!

3 – Measure in multiple different ways. Body recomposition won’t often show on the scale. But do you really care what the scale says if you LOOK amazing? If you have the aesthetic visual you want? Not to mention if you’re able to move better, lift more, run faster, cycle further? Guess what? Those habit changes will build toward other aesthetic changes that may take longer. So taking PRIDE in those other achievements will help you build momentum and stay motivated. Success breeds more success so finding ways to celebrate wins to keep us moving forward toward long term goals is key!

I mention all of this because around this time of year, we start to get frustrated. We’ve been putting in weeks of work towards new goals and no matter how amazing our results have been? We always want more.

The key is realizing that results mean being in it for the long haul and finding pleasure in the changes themselves.

And even recognizing that impatience is…well….part of it. It means you’re doing what you should be!