Baby steps, relentless baby steps

Well it's been a week and shock, horror, gasp...it's a new blog post!! 

*Pause for dramatic effect*

January can be a tough one from a fitness point of view. Some find it easy to ditch the chocolates, mince pies and alcohol, others not so much. The approach which is absolutely awful for progress in my opinion is the "I'll just finish this..." angle...ooof.

I definitely fall into this group if I'm not 100% mindful. I HATE waste so at the time of the decision, the logic is sound.

"I'll just finish this packet of mince pies and then they're gone and I can get back on track!" 

"I'll finish those beers then that's it...done!" 

January becomes February becomes...you get the idea.

I definitely have to make conscious decisions and relentlessly stick to it till it becomes habit. This generally takes around 2-3 weeks and then it's just automatic, part of the new software in my brain.

An approach that many people take at this time of year is just "All in, balls to the wall, restriction!" Now while this can have fantastic results, it comes with it a very high risk of burnout.

We all joke about the gyms being empty come the 1st February but it's a real thing. Heading into a fitness journey, all guns blazing can be disastrous if you haven't done the work in your head and you're relying on motivation alone. 

What I mean by this is setting a goal. A real one. Don't set out to lose 100kg in a month and be disappointed when it didn't happen. Baby steps, tiny, relentless, baby steps. 

Things are going to get hard, that's the point! THAT'S where you make progress, when you feel like you're done, you've had enough and want to tuck into the biscuits. Go AGAIN!

I heard the following on a podcast recently. It was regarding addiction but I think it very much applies to fitness as well. I'll take a bit of artistic license here but it was along the lines of... "If you walked into a forrest for 10 years and then turned around, would you expect to be home in 10 minutes?"

Powerful thought right? I really think this way of thinking can be used in a very positive way when the going gets tough.

When those results you were hoping for are taking a while, think "how long did it take me to get here?" and then get back to it with a smile that you're making progress by simply keeping going! Baby steps...

It must be said that the journey back doesn't take as long as the journey out, so don't panic! I'm not saying that because you have never run a step in your life, that it's going to take 30 years to run a 5km! 

A better example would be something like a goal weight. Let's say in this scenario you would like to lose 14lbs/1 stone/63.5KG (delete as appropriate). Now before you go steaming into it, take a moment and check the reality of the timeline. This with help you to not get disheartened or surprised when that doesn't happen in the first week.

Ok buckle up we are going to get a little nerdy but it's worth it!

Ever wondered why the advice is a 500 calorie a day deficit? Where did this number come from?

Well 500 calories a day over 7 days, yup no cheat days here, adds up to 3500 calories.

Would you like to guess how many calories are in 1lb of fat? I'll wait...

Congratulations! Yes it's 3500 calories! 

I know I have presented this in a very simple way but this is powerful stuff. 

Armed with this knowledge you now know that your body is likely to shed 1-2lbs a week on 500 calorie deficit a day.

Let's go back to the goal - 14lbs.

At weight loss rate of 1-2lbs a week - you should achieve that in approximately 7-14 weeks.

I say approximately because everyone is different. Some will lose more, some less, it all depends on where you started and how realistic your goal was. 

There are many other factors for weird weight results and fluctuations but I think I'll leave that for another post. 

The main points of todays ramblings? Stay strong, keep your eyes on the goal, keep it real and most importantly... Baby steps, relentless baby steps. 

As always, thank you so much for reading and I'll try and keep to another goal I set myself, posting (at least) once a week!

Love and high fives,

Cardiosaurus