Going from zero to hero when embarking on a diet or fitness regime is more often than not a complete recipe for disaster. So if you have been struggling to stay on track with stringent rules and zero flexibility then it’s time to ditch the “All or Nothing” approach right now! Aiming for “Something Better” even if just 1%, done consistently over time, will yield far greater and positive results in the long term, and the bonus is that you won’t feel like you have deprived yourself getting there. Life is about balance and enjoying the journey even if it takes a little longer to reach your goals because the reality is that there are no quick fixes that are sustainable.
Let’s play a numbers game: If 100% represents total perfection and 0% represents complete failure, trying to aim for 100% and falling short of this will most likely be perceived as being inadequate and falling below your expectations.
But how about flipping your perspective and starting from 0% to paint a brighter picture? If 0% is total failure in terms of nutrition, fitness and health, start by figuring out what percentage you are at now?
Everyone’s percentage will be relative to them but I will use myself as an example – for me, my 0% would be as follows:
Nutrition – total binge eating every day adding no beneficial nutritional value to my body
Exercise – doing zero exercise whatsover
Health – inflamed joints, severely overweight with a weak immune system and barely functioning
My 100% would be something like this:
Nutrition – being 100% consistent every day for the next 2 months to reach my goal weight
Fitness – Running half marathons and cycling 100km races catching personal bests consistently, weight training consistently to improve body fat composition, and stretching consistently to avoid injury in between all my other training that i do
Health – permanently inflammation and injury free, lean body fat composition and at goal weight, 100% energy all the time feeling on top of the world that I can achieve absolutely anything and never getting sick
This for me personally would never be sustainable long term as much as I can dream about it, but instead I aim for 70-80% finding my ‘happy space’ where I am still achieving a fair amount, constantly making progress and most importantly feeling healthy, happy and balanced.
So define your own 0% and 100% extremes and then decide where you are at right now along the continuum. If your ‘right now’ is 55%, how can you make slightly better choices to move forwards to say 70%, aiming for ‘slightly better’ consistently rather than perfection?
Precision Nutrition uses the analogy of “Running From A Bear” – as long as you are just a little bit faster or better than the slowest person, then you are still winning. So just keep aiming for a little bit better more often.
Think about it? Have you struggled with yo-yo dieting and falling off the wagon on a restrictive diet or exercise regime trying to aim for perfection only to crash out after 2-3 weeks ending up back where you started or in a worse off situation? Does this sound familiar?
Shifting your mindset to rather thinking along a continuum will help you to make progress that is more sustainable. If you are currently on average at about 50-60% along the continuum, just aiming for 70-80% consistency over the long term with balance and some flexibility will move you towards your goals. It does not have to be perfect. It may take a little longer, but you will get there without feeling deprived along the journey.
At the end of the day, “Something Better” and consistency will always triumph over perfection. So keep showing up an celebrate the small wins along the way.
This is one of the key principles that I coach my clients through when learning to change habits.
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