How many workout or diet programs have you tried? Studies show that the average woman goes on 16 diets in her lifetime. That’s a lot of stopping and starting, wouldn’t you say?
There are usually two reasons why someone would quit a plan. Either there are no results happening or you simply can’t maintain the intensity or strictness of the program itself (ie: a crash diet). So the cycle usually looks something like this:
Start a new program or plan –> stay on this for anywhere from 1 week to 2 months —> stop seeing results or compliance drops —>fall off for a while due to feeling discouraged —> join a new plan or program with the same high hopes as before (that this will be THE one) —> the cycle continues
Often times the answer is not to start over, but to simply course correct. The first question to ask, before your course correct, is “can I train like this forever or can I eat like this forever?”
If you are on a lifestyle based program that allows for moderation and fluctuation alongside the results, the answer should be yes. If you’re still struggling to see results with that, it’s time to course correct a little bit.
This simply means finding lessons in where things may have gone wrong. Instead of simply saying “that didn’t work” you’ll want to look at the whole picture. Are all of the pieces in place and where are the missing links that you can simply add into what you’re already doing?
Typically there are a few things missing in that big picture and that’s much easier to work on that completely scrapping the program and starting over.
Here are 21 things you’ll want to assess and potentially add in before starting over completely, PLUS get a bad ass body just in time for summer.
- Strength train 3x per week
- Use full body training to maximize your time and your fat loss
- Do some type of sprinting once per week (remember, whatever is sprinting for you is 100% appropriate)
- Drink enough water each day (get 1/2 of your body weight in ounces per day)
- Sleep at least 7 hours per night
- Unplug your electronic screens 30 minutes before bedtime
- Set bigger 90 day goals
- Make sure that goal is something measurable and something that you really care about
- Take that same 90 day goal and set a 30 day and 60 day “check point” so you can measure your progress
- Put those check points on your calendar and when the date pops up, take a few minutes to assess your progress
- Celebrate your wins, don’t just beat yourself up for your “losses”
- Those losses are only lessons about how you can continually improve
- Tell people about your goals
- Make sure your goal is not only about weight loss- pick an exercise that you want to conquer or an event you’re working toward
- Tell at least one person about your goal
- Put your training sessions on your calendar, just like any other appointment
- Find some type of training that you consider fun, that way you will stick with it much longer
- Measure your progress during your workouts and try to get a little better each day (track your weights or track your times on certain circuits)
- Eat some type of lean protein at every meal (chicken, turkey, fish, eggs, protein powder supplement)
- Eat something green at every meal
- Try this DPT fan favorite breakfast smoothie: 1 cup unsweetened almond/coconut or cashew milk, 1 scoop of chocolate protein powder, 1 tablespoon of almond butter, handful of baby spinach, ice cubes….blend up until smooth (this is a great way to get greens, healthy fats and protein in for breakfast)
Take a look at this list and think about what you can add into your program. It’s much easier to add in healthy and sustainable habits instead of trying to just start over and create a brand new program. If your program does fall into the category of “I can’t maintain this forever” then it might be time to look into a program that hits all the categories above.
If you’re ready to get back on track, get your best summer body AND keep that body for life (which lets face it, that’s the hardest part)….then click here to get started in our 6 Week Strong & Sporty for Summer Challenge:
https://durbrowperformance.com/6-week-summer-challenge