By John Valentik, MS, CSCS, NASM-PES, FMS

If you’ve been a reader for the past year, this title might bring a little Deja vu. Paige and I are pleased to share that this is our 53rd blog posting, meaning we have published something new every week for the past year! While we might recycle a relevant blog post every now and again, we plan to continue bringing new content to you! But, for the start of our second year of writing, I thought it was appropriate to repost our very first article on consistency. Enjoy!

Want to lose 30 pounds in 30 days? How about gaining 10 pounds of muscle in 10 days? Sound too good to be true? Unfortunately, more often than not, these types of messages being drilled into our brains through social media and television are exactly that. Losing 30 pounds in 30 days or gaining 10 pounds in 10 days may be remotely possible, but far more detrimental to our bodies. These outcomes, while occasionally possible, are very rarely going to lead to long term, sustainable results. In fact, most of the new craze weight loss programs lead to what is called a yo-yo effect. This is where the individual loses the weight quickly, but then puts the weight, and sometimes more, back on over time. This process starts all over again with either the same style plan, or another one that someone spotted on TikTok. 

Now, don’t get me wrong. I understand the appeal of getting results quickly. The results being marketed jump right off the screen at us. Not to mention, these individuals’ bodies look like they’ve been created in a laboratory! Why not listen to a completely toned and tan man or woman, whose muscles have muscles, tell you what to do in regard to fitness or nutrition. No carb diet? I’m in! All liquid? You got it! Eat your pet’s food? Why not?! 

The problem is that these plans don’t generally have staying power. A no carb diet sounds great until these personalities forget to mention that your body’s primary source of energy is carbohydrates, or that the only way your brain functions is via carbohydrates. They also fail to mention that the carbohydrate molecule contains water, so when you eliminate this macronutrient, your body will tend to shed water weight fairly quickly. So drastically limiting your body’s primary energy source while also shedding water weight is a sure fire way to watch your energy plummet in addition to your short term weight loss. 

While not nearly as sexy or as easy to market, making small and manageable changes consistently over time will lead to the largest, longest lasting results. Eliminating certain macronutrients, fasting 18 hours a day, exercising twice a day, are not sustainable methods for results for the overwhelming majority of the population; myself included. But, cutting out a second late night candy, drinking an extra 8 ounces of water per day, doing a lap around your office building at lunch, are much more achievable. Upon doing these smaller, less intimidating actions for a couple of weeks, you do a few things…
1. You begin to create a consistent habit.
2. You begin to build confidence.
3. You begin to feel the results, which leads to more adherence and more confidence.
Then, you’re ready to build on that success and take the next small step forward: add a vegetable in with your lunch, make it 12 extra ounces of water daily, how about 2 laps at lunch or maybe even a gym visit once a week?

These consistent actions done week after week, month after month, year after year, will lead to astonishing results. Don’t believe me? How about adding 500 steps to your daily step total? One year later: 182,500 extra steps, which is about 91 miles. Cut out one Coca Cola a day? One year and 51,100 calories later, you have created an almost 15 pound deficit. Not a soda drinker you say? How about your daily 5 ounce glass of wine (or 2)? 43,800 (2 glasses = 87,600) calories and a 12.5 (2 = 25) pound deficit. This doesn’t mean you have to eliminate these habits. It’s showing the significance of small changes done consistently, even if you just cut these numbers in half. 

Exercising twice a week for the next year is 104 workouts that I promise you your mind and body won’t regret. Working out twice a week is a much easier pill to swallow for most compared to 6 or 7 times per week. The ironic part is for those all-or-nothing goal setters, the likelihood of discontinuing such a high frequency goal is pretty high after only 2 to 4 weeks, or a total of 14-28 workouts. Just starting with the slow, steady, and consistent goal would lead to a 3 to 7 fold increase in the number of workouts in a year. That is to say that this lower frequency individual didn’t increase their confidence enough to progress the goal to 3, or even 4 days per week at some point over the year!

The key is to select manageable behaviors that you feel you have a high likelihood for success. If you manage these behaviors consistently each day, you will maintain the results you’re seeking. This doesn’t stop with fitness and nutrition. Stash $20 away in each paycheck. Wake up 15 minutes earlier each day. Reduce screen time by 5 minutes a day. Do 1 minute of deep breathing each day. That’s $520 saved in a year, 1 hour and 45 minutes of free time given back to you each week from an earlier wakeup, over 30 hours given back to you at the end of the year for reducing screen time, and over 6 hours of “meditation” in a year’s time. You wouldn’t bat an eyelash at these initial numbers because they seem meaningless. But, if you do these things consistently over time, the results speak for themselves, especially because you are much more likely to still be doing this behavior after 6 or 12 months. I don’t know about you, but I would rather find a weight loss plan that offers sustained weight loss over 12 months versus one that has my weight moving up and down like a yo-yo. 

While the word consistency might not turn as many heads as ‘30 pounds in 30 days’ or ‘make $1,000,000 in a month’ over time you will be taking some huge steps forward with any desired goal or behavior you have. Start small, feel good about your success, take small steps to build on that success, and watch that interest compound! Since I’m a big fan of quotes, here are a few that you may or may not have heard. Thanks for reading!

“Small daily improvements over time lead to stunning results.” – Robin Sharma

“Small disciplines repeated with consistency every day lead to great achievements gained slowly over time.” – John C. Maxwell

“For changes to be of any true value, they’ve got to be lasting and consistent.” – Tony Robbins

“Success isn’t always about greatness. It’s about consistency. Consistent hard work leads to success. Greatness will come.” – Dwayne Johnson