Here’s Why Busy People Yo-Yo With Their Health, Fitness and Weight (And The One Thing You Can Do To Avoid It)

Would you be surprised to know that most people trying to get in better shape struggle with ups and downs along the way?

Heck, maybe you’ve even experienced it yourself;

One moment you’re on it, training several times a week.

You feel great! Unstoppable!

You’re even thinking about running a 10k, no wait, why not a marathon! Or doing a triathlon… well maybe.

Next thing you know you’ve picked up an injury. Or you got snowed under at work. Or got caught up with family or travel commitments.

You miss a workout. Or two.

“No big deal” you think. Next week will be better.

But it’s not.

Before you know it a month has passed. Then a year.

The only time you seem to work up a sweat or get out of breath now-a-days is climbing the stairs.

Not cool.

So you go all-in again on your fitness. Vowing to stick at it this time. And the cycle continues.

Here’s the problem:

The ‘All or Nothing’ Approach is Killing Your Progress

The biggest reason I see so many people struggling to be consistent with their fitness is because they’ve given themselves 2 choices.

On or Off.

Do fitness all-in. Or don’t do fitness at all.

Unfortunately it’s this kind of ‘all or nothing’ approach that can have you yo-yoing in and out of fitness for the rest of your life.

You see, we can have all these great plans for how our week’s going to go.

But life has other ideas.

Maybe you:

• Pick up minor injury
• Get busy at work
• Have family commitments take over

Or perhaps you’re just not feeling it one day.

And when you’ve only got two options it’s too easy to slip into doing nothing.

And we’re right back to square one; feeling crap, dejected and starting to believe perhaps we’re destined to NEVER be in good shape.

But that’s bull.

The reality of life means that we’re not going to be able to do ALL of the stuff required to be our fittest and healthiest ALL of the time.

Should we just accept this and give in to the inevitable?

Hell no.

The key to getting round this is to know – up front – that life’s going to throw you a curve ball every now and again.

Probably more often than you’d expect.

And that if you only have a maximum for what you’d like to get done (like go for a run 45 minutes per day) then when you’re faced with the week from hell you’re going to struggle.

To Succeed You Need to Have a Plan A, B and Maybe Even Plan C

If you’re serious about transforming your health and fitness for GOOD I’d encourage you to park the ‘all or nothing’ approach in favour of what I call ‘always something’.

Contrary to the ‘all or nothing’ approach the ‘always something’ approach knows that you need to have BOTH a maximum amount of exercise you’d like to achieve… AND a minimum amount of exercise you’re committed to doing in any given day/week.

Adopt the ‘Always Something’ Approach

For example;

Worst case

Let’s say that rather than abandoning exercise and physical activity all together during busy/challenging times you make the commitment to – at the very least – do a 10 minute walk each day to keep your body moving.

Okay. Not bad.

Better

Then let’s look at what to do when things are going okay. You’ve still got a few pressures on your time. But you’ve got time for what you’d call normal;

30 minutes, three times per week training in the gym – split between a bit of cardio and a bit of strength training with weights.

Good.

Best case

The there’s those times when all the stars align. When this is the case you’re going to hit the gym 3 times per week, get out for a run twice per week. And seeing as we’re in dreamland why not throw in a few hours out on the bike at the weekends too.

Awesome!

Here’s the catch…

During the busy times, I want you to give yourself permission to be okay that your health and fitness is on the back burner for the moment.

You’re still going to be doing something. But you’re not pushing your fitness goals forward right now. And that’s cool.

Know that for now you’ve prioritized giving more to your business, family, relationships or whatever. So there’s only so much left to allocate to building your health and fitness.

And sure, as soon as you’re done putting out fires in other areas of your life you’ll gradually crank the dial back up with your health and fitness.

And Best Part of the ‘Always Something’ Approach?

When you keep a foot in the door it’s sooo much easier to step it up when you’re not launching from a standing start.

Summary

Even with the best intentions, life’s going to get in the way of your health and fitness plans. Guaranteed.

You can’t do anything about that. You can however anticipate it.

So, to avoid the soul destroying yo-yo effect consider switching your approach to health and fitness from ‘All or Nothing’ to ‘Always Something’.

Create your own fitness dial. Crank it up when life’s running smoothly, and dial it down in turbulent times. But please, don’t ever give up.

Would you like some help getting your health and fitness on track?

If you’re at a standing start and would like some support to get you going then we’d love to help.

Call on 07766 808 553 or click the button below to request a complimentary fitness consultation and let’s chat about you, your health and fitness goals and put together a step by step personal action plan to get you started.

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