Consistency – The Secret Ingredient

 

What you see above are two pictures 5 years apart. Through these five years, there have been injuries and illnesses which held me back for longer than I imagined. Through these five years, have also been times when I saw my collar-bone for the first time and saw what it’s like when your quads become muscular. Through these five years, there have been times with long travels and no gym; exams and no gym; lows in life and overdosing of chocolates; finding my comfort in junk. One thing which did not change in these five years, was my consistency. Whether it’s when I lived away from home, away from my country in  much colder and tougher environment or when I stayed at home (busting the myth of ‘I always gain weight when I’m not home’).

It was just today that an eighteen-year-old asked me when did I start of and how long did it take. To which, my reply was an immediate- “how long did what take?”. I still haven’t reached where I want to. And as optimistic I am as a person, I hope I never reach where I want to because this is my lifestyle and my goals change in every step. My first goal was to lose 20 kilos, followed by a goal of being a better runner, followed by the goal of doing super intense home-workouts, and many many more in the middle. For example, my current goal is to be stronger and leaner. And by the time I get close to it, I know I’ll realise I’m not good enough and it’ll change. So it’s not that your goals keep changing, I’d say they evolve. And as long as they’re constantly evolving, you’re in a good place.

There’s not hard and fast rule to weight-loss or fitness. However, consistency is the ultimate ingredient. You may do little, but do something. When I started recovering from an injury and could do light workouts, I did PiYo (Pilates+Yoga)- because something is better than nothing, right?Whats the secret ingredient to a healthier lifestyle? Hands down- consistency. In terms of your workouts, in terms of eating clean, in terms of setting your goals. Don’t give up on your body, and don’t ill-treat your body. Today, I have a lot of short-term goals but my ultimate goal is to live a healthy lifestyle and be free of as many diseases for as long as possible.

Be consistent, set weekly goals of clean eating or no junk, take baby steps- but take them. It’s okay if you don’t want to workout extremely hard one day, do light walking or cycling, but do something, thats the whole idea. You may lose your motivation to substitute your fries and burger with grilled chicken breast and munch on chips instead of nuts, so have it if it’s uncontrollable but get back on track. Your fitness journey makes zero sense if you’re not happy, and the only way you’ll stick by it is if you’re happy. Hence ‘diets exist for 1-3 months’, but a healthy eating pattern exists forever – be consistent and achieve all that you want to!