This past weekend I gave a seminar in Allentown, PA. The seminar was entitled “How to Lose Weight At Will” and for 2.5 hours I went through in great detail the foundational principles of using Naked Nutrition for fat loss. The attendees were great and seminar went off really well. As I was driving home that night (it is about 3 hours from Allentown to State College) I thought a lot about the seminar, the attendees’ questions, and the core message.
I kept coming back to two main concepts/areas. Consistency and methodical changes. If you shaved down the entire 2.5 hour presentation, those two concepts would be what was left. Let’s look at consistency first and in a later article we’ll examine methodical changes.
Consistency
Consistently sticking to your diet and exercise plan is the number one determining factor of your success. If you stick to a bad plan, you will have better results than if you sort of stuck to a good plan. Sticking to your plan is far from a glorious behavior. You don’t get a rush of adrenaline from it and you don’t get any recognition for doing it.
But as success coach and author Brian Tracy says:
“The key is to resolve to do what you said you would do.”
Sticking to your plan is by far the limiting success factor for most people.
It isn’t protein to carbohydrate ratios.
It isn’t nutrient timing.
It isn’t whether or not you have properly activated your semispinalis.
The key is sticking to your plan day after day, month after month. This is NOT a sexy concept (nor an original one). But it will make all the difference. Sticking to your plan is a daily battle that is won via proper goal setting. I recommend that you set long term and short term goals.
Long term goals are things that would take you weeks or months to achieve – losing 30lbs would be an example of a long term goal. Let’s say it will take you 3 months to achieve this goal. How are you going to stay focused for all 90 of those days?
This is where small goals come into play. Small goals are more about keeping yourself honest and ensuring that you do what you set out to do. Small goals include the 90% rule. Each week you should set the goal to adhere to your nutritional plan 90% of the time. You should track this on a daily basis. Other small goals may include – completing all your workouts, getting up at a certain time to ensure that you will have time to workout, taking 2-3 small breaks during the day to get up from your desk and stretch/move around, taking 10,000 steps each day to maximize your non-exercise physical activity levels and calorie burning. These small goals when achieved day after day will lead to you reaching your long term goals – almost automatically.
Every day I carry about with me 4 pieces of paper:
- My Meal Compliance Grid.
- Daily To-do List.
- Goals for the Week.
- Daily Habit Tracker.
The daily habit tracker is a list of actions (similar to what I listed above when talking about short goals) that I set out to do every day. After I complete each item I just check it off. So, just like with my meal compliance grid, at the end of the week I can see if I followed through and was consistent about achieving the small goals that will make the accomplishment of my long term goal automatic.
In the next article we’ll talk about methodical changes and its importance in successful fat loss but between now and then look at your long term weight loss/health goals (hopefully you have them) and see what actions your need to take every day to ensure that this long term goal happens. Make a list and check the items on that list off every day to ensure that you are doing what you vowed to do.
-Mike
P.S. If you want more practical weight loss and health boosting tips as well as strategies to help you stick to your plan become a Naked Nutrition Insider today. Learn more about the membership and the Strong, Fit & Healthy Newsletter Click Here. It only costs less than 2 cups of coffee at Starbucks (but membership rates are doubling next week).
Great "truthful" post Mike, more too often fitness pro's are trying to sexy up consistant work, the reality is as you know it's the grind that makes us or breaks us….
One of the major challenges I face with goal setting is that I will eventually accomplish the goal but often times I extend the completion date because of lack of consistency. I will workout really hard but not eat as well as I should or I will eat really well but slack on my workouts. I have lost 25 pounds in the last three months but have stalled getting rid of those last few pounds because of lack of consistency.
Great article. Thanks for the info.
Skyler,
That happens to the best of us. The most important thing is that you keep resetting your goal and moving to it! Most people won't do that. Keep rocking!
-Mike
?Ah inconsistency, the biggest baddest skeleton in my closet. I can do absolutely anything for about a week and a half. >.<
I'm so sick of myself I've bitten the bullet and hired someone to keep tabs on me for the next six weeks, which I believe is long enough to at least form a good habit. Obviously he's not living in my pocket, so I still have to be the one who does the work, but I am hopeful that a. parting with my money and b. having someone outside my family to be accountable to, will finally push me off my increasingly large keyster and away from the cookie jar. He says I have to ring him on his mobile if I'm going to cheat. Can you imagine? standing at the icecream freezer at the 7Eleven on the phone to your trainer? argh!
Given that he knows my body comp and the entire workout/food plan i'm following, he's gonna KNOW if I lie to him too.
Kara,
Nice. Having that accountability will make all the difference. Having a vested financial interest is a good idea as well. This is a strong motivator for many people.
-Mike
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