Often when we talk about creating a lifestyle with our diet, we act like we’re going to do one thing for the rest of our life.

Which is interesting because we don’t just do exactly the same workouts forever.

Heck, if you look at your current lifestyle it probably isn’t exactly the same as it was just even last season.

I know personally my schedule and even activity level slightly shifts from Summer to Winter.

So if our lifestyle is constantly adjusting and flowing, even due to family obligations and work, why would our diet ever stay exactly the same?

The thing is it shouldn’t.

Your diet should evolve over time as your needs and goals change. Your lifestyle should evolve as you get older.

Menopause will change things.

Injuries will change things.

This doesn’t have to be a bad thing. We just have to be open to the changes.

And it’s why creating a lifestyle doesn’t mean you’re doing one thing forever.

And honestly, it’s why I love teaching clients about macros.

No one macro ratio works for everyone. And even when you find ratios that work for you, they’re going to change and adjust.

But the key point is, you have a solid foundation off of which to build.

Macros is like having the house frame set up and laid out.

You can adjust the paint colors, the decorations inside, anything else you want whenever you need or want based on what you want at the time. But you have that solid foundation off of which to build and tweak to suit your needs.

So instead of running from macros and letting the learning process push you to seek out a quick fix, embrace the learning process knowing that it will give you that solid foundation off of which to create a true lifestyle.

Because a fad diet and quick fix isn’t that. It may get you fabulous results, but you can’t keep doing it often which is why you fall off.

Results don’t come from doing something then going back to old habits.

Results come from evolving as your needs and goals change.

And remember evolving doesn’t mean what you were doing was bad or wrong. But if systems are mismatched, you’re not going to see results from them even if they are good independently.

What worked for you when you were training hard 6 days a week for hours, may not work now when training 3 days a week.

What worked for you at 20, may not work for you at 60.

It doesn’t mean you’re doomed. But you have to meet yourself where you’re at. And that’s why I wanted to share these 3 tips to help!

1: Track what you’re doing.

I know everyone hates hearing this but what you measure, you can manage.

If you don’t truly know what you’re consuming, you can’t accurate adjust.

The only way to know what may be mismatched to your needs is to have a clear picture of your current lifestyle.

This isn’t judgement. It’s data so we can get the results we deserve.

Tracking isn’t about cutting out either.

Heck, so often with clients we actually need to ADD IN calories because they’re actually under fueling.

Tracking just gives us the power to truly adjust to have that solid foundation off of which to build.

2: Embrace Learning Why

It is easy to start defending what you’re doing, even when it isn’t working. But if it isn’t working, see opportunity in making a change.

To help yourself embrace the change, learn why it may be worth testing out.

If it does’t work, you can always go back to what you were doing. But you don’t know if a better system is out there if you don’t risk experimenting a little.

Just do your research. Learn how or why it may help in your situation.

This knowledge can make you truly embrace testing and implementing new habits that may seem scary.

And it even helps you understand when NOT to test something as, even though it may have helped your friend, the ratios or plans don’t match YOUR specific lifestyle even if they may have at another time even!

3: Set end dates.

I’ve mentioned this a lot recently but you want to have end dates to things. We don’t do well with forever and staying consistent.

When there are end dates, there is accountability. AND there is a chance to re-assess and adjust.

This can help us get more consistent because we don’t feel like we’ll be stuck doing something that isn’t working and end up jumping ship too soon.

It can also help us even plan in consciously to adjust when our lifestyle evolves so we aren’t using an outdate “system.”

But having end dates gives us times to learn and tweak and grow while remaining consistent.

SUMMARY:

Our needs and goals change. We have to be willing to evolve with them.

It’s even FUN to adjust workouts, try different ratios, experiment with new activities.

See changes as an opportunity instead of an obstacle.

Don’t get so frustrated repeating the same old systems that are outdated just because they used to work.