How to get through that quarter year slump!
It is March/April. The sun is starting to come out, the weather is slowly getting nicer, but you start to feel discouraged with where you’re at, fitness-wise. I’ve been where you are, and I still find myself from time to time becoming discouraged with my body because it is not “where I thought I would be” by now. I have all the tools in the world telling me to ditch this mindset, and I still fall victim to this, so stop beating yourself up! Here are a few ways that have worked for ME that help me reevaluate my goals, my mindset, and where I’m at, fitness-wise.
First, your fitness journey takes time. A lot of people think they can shred their abs in three months before summer, but that is probably not the case, unless you have been working toward this goal for an extended period of time. Your body doesn’t have to look a certain way for you to be a valuable friend, partner, spouse, lover, mom, dad, parent, ANYTHING! You are valued through way more important things than how many defined muscles are on your stomach. With that in mind, if you have a fitness goal, stick to it! Because our bodies take time to change, it does matter whether or not you are being consistent with your goals. Life happens, yes, but building drive and internal motivation through pushing yourself during the hard times and getting up when you’ve been knocked down leads to a more positive mental AND physical state of mind. If you can focus on your consistency, you will start to find wins that don’t include how many pounds you have lost this month, but wins that are centered around good habits, listening to your body and what it is telling you, and how you have been able to overcome struggles in your life that you may not have been able to overcome before, no matter how major or minor.
Second, it is never too late to “begin again”, for all of my Swifties. If you have found yourself falling off your motivation train because you had the idea that by March you would be a shredded muscle mommy, and you aren’t, it is never too late to readjust your goals and move forward. That is what my clients and I work on the most, adjusting goals that we set and recognizing when we need to focus on something else to be able to successfully hit that big goal we had for the year. As we all know, situations and events can come up in life that you think completely derail your goals, but this is just an opportunity to adjust what we originally planned and side step to be able to come back to those goals and reach them. Just because a goal is not met doesn’t mean it isn’t a good goal, we just may need more time.
Lastly, find something that works for YOU. When you have quit your journey because it has been too hard, you didn’t reach your goal in the time you thought you would, events came up that took your priority away from your fitness goal, that doesn’t mean you failed. It means you need to find the right thing that works for you. Everybody and every body is different, so what worked for your neighbor, shedding 20 lbs, may cause you to gain weight or not be able to lose the amount that you wanted. Being able to be flexible and find things that you enjoy doing creates a LOVE for fitness. The worst thing I could hear someone say is how they have to “punish” themselves at the gym later because some event happened they weren’t happy with: I went on vacation for a week and didn't’ workout, I ate a piece of cake at my kid’s birthday party, I took the day off yesterday and felt super lazy, and the list goes on and on. Fitness is not punishment. It is a way for you to be able to do the things that you love for longer. It is the means to be able to get on the ground and play with your children, grandchildren, nieces and nephews for the longest possible time. Fitness is a way for you to fully enjoy your life and not wish you would have kept yourself in shape more so you could go on that hiking vacation or watch your family’s children and spend quality time with those we love.
The sun is coming out, the birds are chirping, the weather is improving. Now is the time to start your daily movement, your weekly workouts, any sort of fitness that allows you to enjoy your life in the best possible way. I challenge you to find one type of movement that brings you happiness and add it to your weekly goals so that you are doing something that not only has a physical benefit but a mental benefit to your week as well.
“Never let the fear of striking out keep you from playing the game,” Babe Ruth.