The Only Thing You Need Is Consistency By Baraa El Sabbagh, Personal Trainer and Registered Nutrionist

What Is Consistency?

Hey you. Are you frustrated with trying everything and not getting results? Do you want to know the one true way to see progress? I talk about consistency all the time and while you might not know what I mean by that right now, I'm going to walk you through it all right here. As always, if you prefer to listen to me talk about this, the podcast episode is ready for you to listen to on your errands, on a drive, or on a walk. 

Let’s take a moment to think about why some people get results and others don’t.  It’s natural to start something only to find a few days later that the passion subsided. But that’s exactly what sets the successes apart; the consistency to keep moving forward when things get boring or stale. 

5 Ways To Stay Consistent 

I’m going to be sharing 5 ways you can stay consistent and finally see the progress you’ve been working towards for ages. These tips are tried and tested by yours truly, so I promise you’re going to benefit big time. 

To be truly consistent means carrying on with your activity of choice no matter the circumstances. So our goal is “staying the same at different times”, and this applies to all aspects of your life, whether that’s regarding your health, your work life, or social outings.

Let’s use exercise as an example: Being consistent is working out 4 or 5 times a week, week after week, for an indefinite period of time. It’s not about trying for 2 weeks, and stopping as soon as something gets in the way. We have to ride out those blocks that might set you and I back. 

1. Have A Strong Reason

Let’s say you want to have kids in the near future. You envision a healthy pregnancy, a smooth delivery, and hopefully a cute little bundle of joy at the end. Living healthy and eating well is essential to the months you’re trying to conceive plus the 9 month journey itself and beyond. 

Maybe you already have kids and you want to be an awesome role model for them. To teach them your ways and inspire them to seek the healthiest life. That’s an excellent reason to want to exercise and eat well: after all, kids learn most from what they see daily and mimicking your healthy lifestyle is an amazing thing to make happen. This is your WHY. To live a long life with your children, to play and run around with them happily and energetically and be a vibrant role model for your family. 

It could be you don’t even want kids and your why is completely different! There’s no wrong answers here. My why is to live a life full of energy and vibrancy, to walk 40 thousand steps when I’m on vacation, and to jump up and down on a stage like Tony Robbins when I’m 70. 

I want you to pause reading for a second so you can write down your own reason. It can be anything you want, and it could be different based on what phase you’re at in life. It’s your turn. Dream big! 

2. Have A Guide

How often do you have to workout for it to count as consistent? If you invested in a program that asks you for 3 workouts a week, then those should become your non-negotiable training times. 3 times a week for one hour each, you should be off limits to your friends and family, phone should be on do not disturb, work shouldn’t be able to reach you, and your complete focus is on your workout. 

Preplan your sessions by adding them to your calendar, finding a babysitter for the kids if needed, and knowing what exercises you’ll be doing when the training session starts. It won’t work to just wing it every time, because you want to work your upper body, lower body, and core and have a professional guide you through it. Programs are made to do this for you and you’re meant to follow through with it to see actual results. 

If you already have one, that’s awesome and I hope you’re enjoying it. But if you don’t, I have set up a progressive program that will get you working out your entire body if you commit to the sessions all week. You can choose between the  beginner, intermediate, and advanced and pick between the 2 month or 6 month option. Do your program week after week, don’t skip any workouts, and you’ll be on the path to success, guaranteed! 

3. Start Spreading The News

I know you might think it’s a little much to share your goals with your friends and family, but I’m here to tell you it’s exactly what you should be doing! You need to tell them your plans to stay consistent so they can learn to be accommodating as well. This is especially the case for people pleasers, which I myself am (& currently working on getting out of), so I know how important this part is. 

It tends to be a little odd when you go from saying yes to every outing to suddenly ignoring all your WhatsApp groups because you have a 7.30 AM spinning class 4 times a week. Hey, you’re entitled to explain yourself or NOT. BUT, when you choose to be open from the beginning, you’d be surprised to see how understanding everyone will be. 

Ask them if they can plan restaurant outings on the weekends instead of during the week so you can have an early night. Or if they’re set on a weeknight activity, invite them over at an earlier hour and you can all cook something together with healthy options available. 

You can also suggest plans that don’t involve food: you can look into hikes, beach days, bowling, or game nights that also help you reach the healthiest version of you socially, physically and mentally. You see how it’s all tying up nicely? 

By communicating your goals, you’re securing a support system that’ll be there for you when you least expect it: for example, at our family gatherings, I used to eat the main meal but skip the sides because they didn’t fit into my requirements (think Mac n Cheese, fries, bruschetta, etc). Once my relatives noticed this, they started preparing sauteed veggies and creative salads to include on the table so I'd have something to eat too, which was so thoughtful. 

People can surprise you in the best ways if you let them in! 

4. Find The Balance

How do you not let things get in the way? What do you do when you’re traveling or have an intense week at work? How can you still stick to your exercise and meal plans when there’s a million things happening?

This, my friend, needs balance. Let’s say you’re on vacation. You arrived at your hotel, tired from the journey, and ready for dinner. You find that the only available restaurant just serves burgers. Don’t restrict yourself! Go for that double patty extravaganza if that makes you truly happy. 

To exhibit balance, you simply have to plan the next healthy thing you’re going to do, like: plan a workout for the next morning. Your next meal can be rich in fibers, like a big ol’ salad with walnuts, grilled chicken and lots of colorful ingredients. 

While on vacation or at a full day meeting with a brunch buffet where you can’t bring your own food, I want you to either make the healthiest choice from what’s available or order what you have your heart set on. If you choose the latter, I just ask you to make small adjustments so that when things get back to normal, you don’t have a hard time getting back in your groove. 

So always think: Alright cool, I wanted to have that cookie, I loved it, here’s how im adjusting tomorrow. It doesn’t have to be extreme. No, you don’t have to do cardio for 3 hours or skip an entire day of meals. You just need to get back to what you were doing. 

When I travel, I stick to my workout schedule as close as possible and I eat the same way I would back at home, while making a little leeway for not-so-nutrient foods. For example, if I have a yummy chocolate croissant for breakfast (because I don’t often have that when I’m home), I enjoy it fully, but then I make sure to have something like a shrimp salad for lunch, which keeps my day nourishing and balanced. See what I mean? 

5. Future Pacing & Scheduling

This means, look at what you have coming up this week and make adjustments accordingly. Let’s say I usually workout 5 times per week and that includes Wednesday’s. But THIS week, I happen to be moving houses on a Wednesday (true story!) 

So instead of working out only 4 times this week, I will make Wednesday my rest day and schedule that workout to another day so I'm still training 5 times per week. 

But guess what, even if I end up training 4 times and skip the 5th one, that’s still GREAT! It’s a busy week, papers need to be signed, closets have to be organized… it’s not something we’ll finish overnight. So I’ll give myself permission to miss a workout or two, knowing that when things settle by next week, I’ll be back to training 5 times again.

Because we’re NOT robots after all! Yes, I want you to be as consistent as possible but it should be WITHIN REASON. That means if you’re not feeling well, rest. If you’re injured, take the rest you need. If you’re moving, take the time to get it done.

Home Improvement

Alright team, to stay consistent, you need to: 

1. Think about your why for living healthy
2. Decide on a program and commit to it
3. Tell your family and friends what you’re doing so you can get the support you deserve 
4. Remember that consistency isn’t about all or nothing, if you’re traveling or in a full day meeting that throws you off track for a day, you can get back to it with the next best action.
5. Future pace and plan to conquer!  

I truly believe in the power of consistency. You’ll notice it might be a big change at the beginning, but a few weeks in, you’ll be so at ease and comfortable with your new lifestyle, especially that you’re seeing results! 

Till next time. Talk to you soon!