Don't be Perfect. Be consistent.

What does consistency mean to you? Truly take a minute and write it down. “What does consistency mean to me?” Getting a clear picture and understanding of what you define as consistency is an essential part of your journey. It also helps put things into perspective.

Think about something that you worked really hard for. I don’t mean work on it occasionally, I mean, tears coming down your face type of hard work. What did you work for? Did you mess up? Did you have to start over? I’m guessing you did but what was the one common theme to what you worked so hard for? I bet that you were consistent with it. The same thing goes for your nutrition journey. Staying consistent is the key to success.

When it comes to nutrition we are not always going to be perfect, nor should we be! We often see people on social media or compare ourselves to others thinking its “so easy” for them. Well, I’m here to tell you it’s not! What you see is a habit that someone has created and consistent behavior that has taken over.

Here are some examples of what causes us to not be consistent…

• “I’ve been good for a week, I can have one cookie”. Absolutely, having ONE cookie will not completely throw you off your goal. However, what is often found is the one cookie leads to two, then two to three, and you know how the rest of the story goes.

• “I’m just going to eat the entire pint of Ben & Jerry’s so it’s out of my house” then the next day comes and you think “screw it I’ll have the pancakes for breakfast, mine as well, I had the ben & jerry’s last night”.

• “I had a hell of a workweek, I deserve this beer”. This leads to you later feeling less in control of your choices and being more upset with yourself for not holding yourself accountable.

These examples are often known as the “Snowball Effect”. This occurs when we let one small decision allow us to completely go off the rails and get us back to old habits of not holding ourselves accountable, continuing to make negative choices, or view your new lifestyle an “all-or-nothing” principle.

If you have an off day then beating yourself up WILL NOT solve the problem. It will only lead to guilt. There is no pass/fail when it comes to building a healthier lifestyle. The best thing that you can do in order to achieve your goals is to stay consistent and get right back at it. Messing up is how we learn! Focus on what you have control of and remember being consistent overall is what truly matters.