Roadmap to Success: Mastering Your Health and Fitness Goals
Roadmap to Success: Mastering Your Health and Fitness Goals
Setting Yourself Up for Success
Though many of us have all the best intentions to conquer our goals once we get started, life tends to get in the way. Missed training sessions due to family illness, “off” days on our nutrition habits due to vacations, skipping the gym and opting for the snooze button after a long weekend. Whatever the reason, consistency seems to be the main struggle when it comes to the success rate of many’s health journeys.
We don’t rise to the level of our challenges; we fall to the level of our preparation.
We’re wired to save energy. For thousands of years, our brains and bodies have evolved to seek the path of least friction—in other words, we take the easiest route. We’re pretty good at it.
We scroll through Instagram because it’s easier than getting out of bed. We hit snooze and skip our morning workout because it’s cold outside.
Building good habits doesn’t mean overcoming bad ones or ramping up our motivation to suddenly change overnight. Those kinds of changes don’t stick. Instead, we need to change up our daily habits and routines.
A commitment device is a choice you make NOW that will control your actions in the future. For example, if you make an appointment with your personal trainer, you’ll show up at the gym. If you join a soccer team, you’ll show up for the games. And if you prepare your lunches in advance for the week, you’ll eat them.
Here are two very simple habits you can set up right now:
- Book your appointments or reserve spots in PTL classes for the week.
Sign into your account here.
Reserve your 1:1 appointments or save your spot in a group.
2. Write down what your lunches will be for the week.
To make it easy, either eat the same thing every day (or plan 2 lunches and rotate) OR plan your dinners for the week and carry the leftovers over to the next day’s lunches.
Write up your grocery list.
Go to the store.
Buy the groceries you’ll need for all of your lunches.
Set aside one hour for food prep TONIGHT.
Chop up your vegetables, proteins, nuts and seeds. Put them into separate containers.
Make enough for the full week.
You don’t need to get fancy: Most of us eat the same thing most of the time, and that’s just fine. Save your variety for dinner
And be prepared for your mind to try and talk you out of all of it. We are great at making excuses and procrastinating. Our biggest tip? Don’t give yourself time to do it. If you feel those counter productive thoughts creeping in, get a move on! Whether that is literally getting up and going to the gym anyways or getting up and packing your lunch for the next day with the food you already have prepped. It will take a little bit to get into the habit but the more you counter act those thoughts, the more the new habits become solidified and just a part of your daily routine that you will eventually crave.