Procrastination

“The action of continuing to delay or postponing something”

Lets be honest, when it comes to our exercise and nutrition I think we have all been guilty of this during the COVID-19 lockdown, right?

How many of you have started, failed, restarted, failed and so on?

That universally recognised thought process of “I will start on Monday” is probably one of the most common actions right now.

Does the following sound familiar…?

“This weekend I am going to enjoy myself, eat shit food, and have a drink (or 10) and then I am going to get back on track with everything from Monday”

You go to bed on Sunday night and set your alarm to wake up early to have a workout. Monday morning your alarm goes off and you snooze (PERMENANTLY). You then tell yourself as you roll over “ Sod it ill enjoy having a lie in, I’ve got the rest of the day to get my workout in”

Throughout the day you put your workout off until its finally to late. You then tell yourself ‘Sod it (again), there is always tomorrow’. BUT you know full well you probably won’t do anything simply because you have already started your week off with a failure.

Unfortunately because of this an all too common side effect to this is……..yes you guessed it, your nutrition/diet goes down bank too!

I don’t know about you but from my personal experience and from coaching hundreds of clients over the years, exercise and nutrition habits go hand in hand, side by side and when things are not on point they both behave like a pair of Bart Simpsons on steroids.

The above scenario is of course a worse case scenario that you may be able to relate to in some degree. I am sure many of you (including myself) have started your week off well. You get to Wednesday and everything is going well but then a trigger hits in your head that send everything down bank. Because you have had a good start to the week you treat yourself to that chippy tea and a glass of wine which inevitably for most people turns into a bottle (or 2). You wake up the next morning with a loaded belly, stinking hangover and what does that lead to?…Shit breakfast, shit lunch, snacks, snacks snacks! Because it is Thursday you think! “Oh well I may as well carry on like this until Sunday BUT I will start again on Monday!”

Now before you start thinking this guy has been watching my every move, I know this because for a large part of the lock down I have struggled with consistency and motivation when it comes to exercise and nutrition. I started off on week 1 full of enthusiasm for the new challenge, I was running, doing home metafit classes, family walks and was even using the field at the back of our house to do hill sprints and because of this my nutrition was pretty good although far from perfect. Being at home all the time makes it impossible not to venture over to the kids sweet box a little more frequently than usual. But I was feeling good in general.

Unfortunately the novelty wore off some what and I started skipping workouts, pretty much due to the fact I wasn’t particularly looking forward to yet another body weight workout. The fact is I’m missing that whole gym environment, I miss the weight training, my classes, my clients and generally that whole environment that inspires and motivates me every day. It is no coincidence that the workouts I look forward to the most during the lock down are the two live classes I do because I know I am in the company of like minded people and the fact I am being watched so I know I have to push myself.

So what have I done to get back on track and most importantly STAY on track?

I set myself realistic goals using the 3 stage goal setting formula myself and Kell have designed.

Setting realistic goals you can follow each week will make a huge difference to helping you get back on track and stay there. It will give you more clarity and prevent you from getting overwhelmed. You will go to bed on a Sunday evening with a clear understanding of what needs to be done rather than just hoping you will do ok.

You have 7 weeks worth of evidence to base your goals on so I strongly recommend you download our free goal setting formula between now and the weekend to set your goals with a view to get started on Monday.

And remember to make them realistic! Be honest with yourself as to what you feel you can get done and be sure to include a few treats in there.

I must also touch on perhaps the most important aspect of regular exercise, your mental health! I know without a shadow of doubt how much better I feel in myself when I am exercising regularly. I feel less stressed, more focused with work and more confident. If you are struggling with any of these then here is your chance to do something about it.

Ultimately we are in unprecedented times and I cant imagine too many people including myself being perfect with their nutrition or exercise BUT that being said I strongly believe it is important we find some kind of structure to follow so it doesn’t get completely out of hand, otherwise when everything does go back to normal you will be left with a lot of regret.

Lets get started folks!

Kev 😊