Fit For Life: Consistency = Success

Sunday, November 20, 2016

Matt Espeut, GoLocalWorcester Health +Lifestyle Contributor

Getting to the gym won’t get you in shape. Eating a clean breakfast won’t make you healthy. Packing all your meals and scheduling your workouts in your calendar isn’t going to help you achieve any of your fitness and fat loss goals. What the hell am I talking about?? I tell my clients to do this stuff weekly, what gives?

True, I do tell people to do this stuff, but none of it will work, UNLESS you make it a habit. So today’s topic is consistency. All the things I just mentioned are the perfect formula for getting fit and healthy...prepare, eat clean, and exercise, BUT these are things you need to structure into your lifestyle, and do on a daily basis.

You need to create good habits to follow daily. Doing this stuff 1 or 2 times a week isn’t going to cut it. Exercising and eating clean for a month isn’t going to do it either. Sure something is better than nothing, but you need to practice your good habits daily in order to achieve the success you envisioned for yourself.

I see it all the time. People start out gung ho, and then the workouts and results taper off, and in some cases the results achieved will diminish, due to lack of consistency, and to me it’s a shame to let hard work go to waste. I know it’s hard to stay motivated year round. I also dread working out sometimes, but I make it a priority, and have made a commitment to myself not to miss a workout. And since I am the owner of Providence Fit Body Boot Camp, I can get a structured workout anytime I am free during the day. This gives me no excuse, and I am always satisfied that I got it done.

I dread working out sometimes, but I dread being out of shape and in poor health even more. So decide what would be worse, dragging yourself to the gym, or tacking on a few extra pounds, feeling like crap, and being disgusted with yourself.

Compare working out to getting a new puppy. In the beginning it’s pure bliss, and that puppy is so cute. Your muscles are alive and invigorated. You start to see results, and feel muscles you never knew you had. The puppy keeps you amused, and you can’t wait to get home from work to see it. Just like your new gym membership, you can’t wait to get in there and see some more results. Even if you go in the early morning, you’re excited to get up and conquer.

This is the novelty stage, the beginning, the honeymoon. Fast forward a year. That puppy is full grown now, and the novelty of getting up and going out in the freezing cold to walk it, and bend over and pick up his poop has worn off. The puppy isn’t so cute anymore, but it’s something you need to do. Hell it’s your best friend, and like it or not, you need to care for the little guy. But it’s something you need to do. You do it because you care about your pet, and there is a level of satisfaction involved.

Just like your fitness routine. You “gotta” do it and do it daily, or things won’t change. As much of a pain as it is to prepare your meals and drag yourself to the gym, it needs to be a part of your life. That’s why we try to make things easier on you at Providence FBBC. We design new workouts every day, make them 30 minutes, and give every client a nutrition consultation, and supply them with an easy to follow meal plan. Because we know creating to and sticking to good daily habits is tough, we eliminate every excuse not to.

I was telling someone that I was attending a workshop this weekend, and they asked me if I get anything out of these conferences. Then they said that I’m doing fine, why do I need to keep going to these things. Well I’ll tell you why, it’s because learning is like exercise. You can’t ever stop doing it, and in order to get better and more efficient at things, you need to make them habits and be consistent at following them. I try to make it a habit to read a few pages of something daily. Although a few pages isn’t going to make me a genius, it will add up over time, and the knowledge will continue to grow.

Yes, just like exercise. You aren’t going to reach your goal in one or two weeks, but if you keep doing something positive and take steps every day, you will reach your destination. So, even if you belong to a gym, and shop at Whole Foods, know that you need to make this part of your daily life. Continuously try to create good habits and follow them. If you keep taking one positive step daily, the tasks you dread will become so habitual, you won’t even think about it, you will just “get it done”.

Remember action and consistency = results

Matt Espeut, GoLocal's Health & Lifestyle Contributor has been a personal trainer and health & fitnesss consultant for over 25 years.

Related Slideshow: The 7 Best Health and Fitness Apps

Here is a list of some of the most obsession worthy health apps.

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MapMyRun

MapMyRun is the number one selling running app for a reason: it is easy to use, offers community support if you want it, and tracks and stores your exact routes for you. If you are training for a race or a serious runner, users say that the extra perks in the upgraded paid version are well worth it.

Made for iPhone, Android and Blackberry

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MyFitnessPal

MyFitnessPal seems to be the clear favorite amongst everyone polled. It is helpful not only for the fitness tracking aspect, but everyone polled mentioned how much they loved the food/diet aspect as well. From carb counting for diabetics to recipe ideas to complement your fitness goals, users love this app.

Made for iPhone and Android

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JeFit

JeFit is another fitness app that has rave reviews. It not only tracks progress for you, but offers a huge database of workouts. While many apps offer community support, JeFit allows you to sync workouts with friends who use the app, offering a (real) virtual buddy system.

Made for iPhone and Android

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Strava

Strava gets the highest mark of all the cycling apps. While it is also great for runners, the cyclers seem particularly inclined towards the fierce competition that can be ignited by this app. You can track all of your rides via GPS, then you can compare your efforts to those logged by others in the community on the same stretch of road. You can also join ongoing challenges that can net you great prizes (in addition to bragging rights).

Made for iPhone and Android

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YogaStudio

YogaStudio gets the top vote for Yoga apps. It has a lengthy collection of full class-length videos available at your fingertips. Unlike many other apps, this one also allows you to customize your own video yoga class. All of the poses are done by qualified yoga instructors, and you can find classes suitable for all levels of yogis.

Made for iPhone only

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SimplyBeing

SimplyBeing meditation app offers the best of both worlds. You can choose to run this app as a background for your meditation with soothing music or natural sounds that run for a set amount of time. Conversely, for those of you who have trouble focusing during meditation, you can choose a soothing voice-guided meditation.

Made for iPhone and Android

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Fooducate

Fooducate is an app all about educating people so that they make healthier food choices. Although not perfect, this app is easy to use (you can even take pictures of bar codes to instantly find foods in their database). It gives food a letter grade, tells you the pluses and minuses, and gives you better ranked alternatives. You can also use it as a weight loss tool by tracking your daily calories.

Made for iPhone and Android