Follow Through aka Consistency - what's your tip

carlaringuette

Heard on a podcast something interesting this morning. They were talking about a pyramid and how motivation is the base, then you learn the tools (cleaning out all the junk from your house), then learning the skills - gym membership/learning new cooking skills. It's this next level I found interesting. For those of us who do great for awhile and then life gets in the way they called this next step Follow Through.

You know what you need to do, you had the motivation (which comes and goes depending on what's going on in your life) and you've even mastered some new skills but for some reason the follow through isn't there yet.

That's where I'm at. And 21 days did not make a habit.

I have the motivation because I really cringe when I have to miss a workout.
I have the skills because I've been at this awhile. (years off and on)

I had the consistency in March. 28 workouts in 31 days. And the only reason it was 31 is because we went out of town for a wedding and I didn't have time or access to the gym. I did play around in the hotel gym but it wasn't really a gym and not the same type of workout you get from Zumba or HIIT class.

April I was down to 12 workouts because my 88 year old father-in-law is living with us and can't eat late so my perfect plan of stopping on the way home from work doesn't always work. I was lucky to get 12 in but bummed that it wasn't more. I switched to getting 10k steps a day and feeling like a win, when I did get to the gym.

So far this month we on day 3 and I will have 2 workouts in by this evening. It will get better after Mother's Day because he will be moving on to my sister in laws. (He spends 3 months with each sibling). So I should be able to get back on track until he comes back in the winter.

Still have not mastered the Follow through and the Consistency that I would like.

How have you mastered it?

Here are the tips I've incorporated so far:
Get my gym bag the night before
Stop on the way home from work
Put it on my calendar and on the family board so everyone knows the gym schedule


Working on ways to have the food prepped so it can be thrown together quickly when I get home which is usually around 7 pm

My healthy eating is the first thing that goes when life gets hectic. Mainly because of the lack of time to prep and be prepared.

The fam is not a big fan of the crockpot. Will need to find some recipes they like.

Feeling frustrated that I haven't been able to get past this.....
Just need more hours in the day...

RelCanonical

Usually, for me, baby steps are a requirement, and I have to do it long enough to where when I'm stressed, or tired, or something, that's the thing I do because I just don't want to think about what to do, I just want to do my normal routine. That's when I start following through. Otherwise, I will get out of the habit.

MichelleSilverleaf

Anything built on motivation is bound to crumble, in my opinion. Motivation is flimsy. It comes and goes. Discipline is what keeps you at it when motivation decides to walk out the door. It's the "I don't really feel like doing this today but I'm going to do it anyway." You don't get that from motivation.

I've started and stopped numerous times and what it all came down to for me was being in that right place mentally. You can have all the good intentions you want, all the plans you want, but if you're not 'there' mentally even the best-laid plans can falter. And that doesn't mean you failed, I really think it's all part of that process to get 'there', where things start sticking. That's just my two cents though.

girlwithcurls2

I have found that the Cooking Light cookbooks have been a huge timesaver for me. One that is falling apart in my house is "Fresh Food Fast." Another is "Superfast Suppers." There are various versions available. I've bought them for my adult kids too. I admit, the recipes are not super gourmet, but my family prefers home cooked food over anything, and most of the recipes include lots of basics, so I'm not buying things I won't use again.

Oh! And as a bonus, it's Cooking Light, so the recipes easily fit into my meal plan for the day. Cooking Light gave up using "nonfat half and half" and other reduced calorie and reduced fat ingredients too, which I was glad to see. You can also look up recipes on their website. I think they might have a 30 minutes or less tab, or something similar.

kimny72

Sometimes when the going gets tough, you have to pare your requirements down to the bare minimum and define what is "on plan" and what is "good enough". On days when work stresses me out and doing my scheduled workout is realistically just not going to happen, I call a friend and take a long walk while chatting. If meal prep fell through the cracks, I throw together whatever meal I can and just stick to (or close to) my calories.

Consistency is a great "aim for the stars" goal, but staying on just about any plan for your entire life is a fairy tale Drilling down to what processes are really making the difference and which are just the icing on the cake is IMHO important. Create good habits and then be flexible enough to know what "good enough for a bad day" is, and be mentally strong enough to shrug off the bad day and have a good day tomorrow!

carlaringuette

I really like what was said about discipline. Took that to heart this weekend. I think when my father-in-law is with us I will need to be one of the early folks at the gym. I will re-adjust my schedule so that I get to bed early as he goes to his room early anyway and just make it my discipline to get up early and hit the gym first thing.

It was wonderful this morning. First thing I did was my workout. I will miss my class buddies but it's only for 3 months out of the year.

Thanks everyone for your input!

lorrpb

“21 days makes a habit
90 days makes a lifestyle”
It’s a nice saying, but in reality prob more like 6 months.

lalalacroix

In the past 6 years I have screwed up my weight loss plan more times than I can remember.

This time around I have one hard and fast rule: log everything. As long as I'm logging, even if it's an estimate, it somehow keeps me on the right path.