Why people fail with their fitness and nutrition. It’s not what you think.
In this day and age, information is constantly available to us.
“Siri, what is the population of Iceland?”
Want to know the average salary for baseball players in the 1970s? Google it.
Looking to find the name of an actor or actress in some obscure movie? It’s just a click away.
You can ask, and find, answers to the most random questions in seconds.
Yet, despite having all this knowledge instantly available, most people are not able to be more successful in achieving their fitness and nutrition goals.
There is no shortage of diets and workouts on the internet, so why do people struggle so much?
The reality is that knowledge does not equal results. Seeking out more information hoping to find the “one thing” that you are missing will only delay you actually reaching your goals.
While I am a big proponent of education and knowledge, at some point you have to actually apply the knowledge and do something. Anything.
Action, even if it is not perfect, will serve you better than just learning more information.
So, why do so many people fail?
1. Too much too soon.
You have a goal you want to accomplish which is great. You now need to work backward to come up with smaller goals (monthly and weekly goals).
Each of those goals should be broken down into smaller actionable items that you can work on each day. I would suggest focusing on one thing for at least a couple of weeks (no less than a week).
These are the key to your success. If your first actionable item fails, you will ever get past it to work on anything more.
You will be frustrated and discouraged and wrongly assume that you can’t do what you are trying to do.
What does this mean as it pertains to nutrition? Look at the picture below.
If you are currently at the top left and try to make the jump to the bottom meal over the weekend, that will fail.
Focus on making small changes that lead to consistent progress.
The progression through that pic will takes weeks, maybe longer. And that is ok.
What about exercise?
If you are not currently exercising, try to go from zero days to five days per week is not the best approach.
This is bad from a physical standpoint but also from habit-forming and sustainability perspectives as well.
But, what if you started at three days a week for about 30 mins and ramped up the program over time?
Now, your muscles and joints can adapt and progress to five days per week and you can properly develop the habits and behaviors needed to sustain training that frequently.
2. One. Thing. At. A. Time.
This one picks up where the last one left off. When you start a fitness or nutrition journey, there are some things that you will not be willing to part with at the beginning.
Maybe you love the vino.
Maybe you are not, under any circumstances, going to stop eating bread.
Maybe Friday night is pizza and beer night.
Maybe you want to exercise but do not want to give up your Thirsty Thursdays.
Do not start your journey with the most difficult thing. Save those for when you have some momentum.
Instead, pick one thing that you are at least 90% confident that you can accomplish. And just work on that.
Once that is rolling, add something else to work on that you are 90% confident you can accomplish.
If you start to string together some of these small victories, it will be easier to tackle the big scary vino monster later on.
If you look back to the small changes pic, you see how this works. From the starting point, you only change one part of the meal. Not the whole thing.
Once that is rolling, you make another small change. By the time you get to the final meal, you have developed habits and behaviors along the way that will make eating this way much more manageable and sustainable.
Now that is how you nutrition.
3. Your environment is controlling you.
You want to make your actionable items as easy as you can. Sadly, this usually means you have to do some things that take you out of your comfort zone, which actually ok.
If you want to change your nutritional habits, throwing out everything and starting on a restrictive diet WILL NOT get you where you want to go.
Not only are you changing way too many things at once, but you have failed to address any underlying habits and behaviors which are how to truly create long-term change.
One of the biggest hurdles with nutrition, specifically, is your environment.
Can’t seem to kick the PM ice cream and cookie routine? Don’t keep ice cream and cookies in the house.
Having trouble getting enough veggies? Buy pre-cut veggies at the grocery store and keep them in the fridge.
Surfing the internet keeping you up too late at night? Get rid of the internet at home. Whoa, whoa, pump the brakes. I know it sounds crazy, but you get my point.
Friends always taking you out for pizza and beer? Talk to them about your goals. Explore other options for socializing. And look for opportunities to develop new friends, too.
You can immediately change what’s around you. This includes things like:
✔Your daily routine
✔What tools you have available to you
✔The people you interact with
✔What foods you have near you (or far away from you)
Control your environment - do not let it control you.
4. You are your own worst enemy.
When it comes to making life changes, you may hear a lot about the importance of “mindset”. How you look at the world can shape the way you approach problems and view your experiences. And this happens both consciously and unconsciously.
Notice the latter part: many of our assumptions and worldviews are unconscious. We aren’t aware of them, even as we’re thinking them.
If you fail to spend time becoming more “aware” of these assumptions and behaviors, mindlessly following a diet or exercise program are never going to allow you to achieve the long-term, sustainable results you deserve.
These assumptions will often sabotage your efforts and keep you in a perpetual cycle of starting and never finishing because the program or plan never helped you become more aware of how you are doing things.
5. Your life is a roller coaster.
Part of what makes roller coasters enjoyable, if that is your thing, are all the ups and downs. If your consistency resembles a roller coaster ride, you will find achieving any level of sustainable results difficult.
If you cannot be consistent, you will not be successful. Now, this does not mean you have to be perfect. Far from it.
But, you have to be on your game more often than not.
This also includes being good during the week and coming unglued on the weekends. If you want to achieve something, you have to reel in the weekend nonsense. Or don’t. But you cannot have it both ways.
This idea of consistency ties back into the other ideas I have talked about. If you have a plan, with smaller actionable items and realistic expectations, this will help you maintain your consistency.
If your plan revolves around restriction, willpower, and winging it, you will be chronically frustrated.
Knowledge and planning alone don’t translate into behavioral changes.
Small changes are sustainable and help to create long-term success. If you are struggling to get your fitness or nutrition on track, EBM can help.
EBM offers both 1:1 and Online Personal Training.
EBM’s Nutrition Program is designed around habits and behaviors instead of restriction and willpower.
You will learn how to eat better in any situation without focusing on what you can’t eat.
All programs are customized to your starting point and are adjusted along the way to ensure your success.
If you are tired of wasting your time and want to finally reach your goals, let’s talk about where you are now and what you want to accomplish.
Click the link below to get in touch so we can talk about how to get you where you want to go. No obligations. No sleazy sales tactics.
Until next time,
Dr. Tom
