When is consistency not a good strategy?  Consistency is a big key to making progress with any goal.  The problem arises when you are consistent with the wrong actions.

You can be consistent eating chips every day.  If your goal is to lose weight, then those consistent actions aren’t going to help.  You need to know what you’re working towards, take consistent action towards it, and measure your results.

Paying attention to your results will help you reach your goal faster!

There are 3 areas that you need to be paying attention to when you’re working towards a goal whether it be building up strength, losing weight, eating better, or managing stress with self care.

1. Pay Attention to Goals

You have to pay attention to your goals and remember why you started.  This helps you stay committed instead of just interested in following through on the hard days.

Write your goal down then keep asking yourself why it’s important.  Goal of losing weight to look better is surface level reason.  Why do you really want it?

Examples could be:

• To live longer for your family,
• To be more active in your life,
• To not miss out on your dreams like your mom did
• To change the healthy legacy for your children
• To be an active grandparent

2. Pay Attention to Daily Habits

When you set a health goal, you know you need to be paying attention to your daily habits to make progress.  This is where consistency can help a lot, but don’t forget to pay attention to #3!

The best way to stay consistent on your daily habits is to start small, tie your new habit to an existing habit, and celebrate after you follow through.  By doing this you harness the power of your brain!  It likes repetition and it likes rewards!

3. Pay Attention to Results

The most important thing to pay attention to is your RESULTS! You have to measure your progress and continue to tweak your actions to get the results.  You can’t manage what you can’t measure.

Keep a journal to record progress.  Notice when something isn’t working  and change your routine to get different results.  Notice when something is working and make it a habit!

• Are you starving when you get home and overeat snacks before dinner?  Might need to pack a protein snack for the drive home.
• Do you have a headache after eating something?  Might need to take it out of your diet for a while.
• Are you too sore after your workout that you have to skip exercising the next 2 days?  Might be a sign to scale back so you can do it every day.
• Do you feel great eating a high protein breakfast?  Meal prep it to make it easier!

I love teaching my clients to follow through on their daily habits and stay committed to their goals.  The secret sauce comes in on personalizing their diet and lifestyle for what works for their bodies.  This involves evaluating the results and making adjustments along the way.

This strategy is so important when you’re changing diet.  The diet industry has led us to believe you have to strictly follow the “diet rules” whether it be Weight Watchers, calorie restriction, keto, Whole 30, Paleo, intermittent fasting, carb cycling, etc.

They all can work for a period of time, but if you don’t start to personalize it the progress will be hard to maintain.

You need to listen to your body to customize your way of eating.

• What foods love you back and which ones cause symptoms
• What ratio of protein, carbs, and fats keep you satiated not hangry
• What timing of eating works for your sleep, hunger, and schedule

Every body is different.  It’s great to start with a plan, but you need to be paying attention to your consistent actions, your goals, and your results.  This will help you craft a sustainable healthy lifestyle that you love!