How to Start Any Program With Consistency

*This is a transcript from the video for those that need subtitles or prefer to read* 

Hey friend it's a new year and so many are asking me, "How do we start a new wellness program?"

Maybe you're in that boat too! And so today I wanted to talk about that, but I also wanted to talk about how we can stay the course. How we can stay consistent, make this a part of our lifestyles, make it a routine, so it's not something that we have to, kind of, struggle with.

And so we have seven really great ideas today that you can put into practice in your own life. We're going to go into a little bit of detail about that.

So the first way that we want to talk about is to find something you enjoy. If you don't like it, you're not going to do it. But, here's the thing - so often we advertisements that are saying to get into a gym or get into a studio, or do things at home, or do things that maybe you don't like.

You're not going to know unless you try. And so definitely every person is an individual and your needs, your likes and dislikes, are unique to you, so try new things until you find something you like.

That may be going to a gym, that may be taking a Zumba class, that may be doing online yoga, whatever works for you will work for you. As long as you enjoy it.

If you don't like it, you're not going to do it, and that's not going to help anybody.

Second way we can look at building a wellness routine for you is to start small and be realistic.

Once or twice a week done consistently over the course of a year is going to do much more for you than doing seven times in a row once and never doing it again.

Those small changes over time make a huge difference. There is no "get rich quick", "Get slim get fit quick", thing that will ever work long term, that will ever be a part of your lifestyle.

So, find something you're interested in doing and then try something small. Right? Once or twice a week, done consistently, even maybe when you don't always feel like it, that's the next step, but those small things done consistently - 15 minutes done twice a week, over the course of a year, will add up to way more than if you did seven days in a row for an hour every day, and then never did it again.

Start small, be realistic. 

Number three is give yourself grace, but don't make excuses. And this can sound kind of harsh, but the fact is, there are going to be days when that inner four-year-old is like, "I don't wanna do it!" and you have kind of a mental temper tantrum. That's ok.

They key here is to understand that there are going to be days that you don't want to do it, and try and do something anyway.

Days when you're sick, days when you're sore, days when you're very, very tired or stressed, you may need to reduce the amount that you're doing, right? Instead of an hour, do fifteen minutes. Instead of fifteen minutes, do five minutes. Right? Give yourself grace to be human, that's ok, but don't make excuses. You can rest, but don't quit.

If you're sick, yeah, take a day or two off until you're better. If you're super, super stressed or injured, absolutely you need to take time off until you're better.

But, if you injured your leg, can you still do something with your arms? If you injured your hand, can you still do something with the rest of your body? Right? Give yourself grace, but don't make excuses.

Number four - slow and steady does it.

If you are starting something new, you're not  going to be amazing at it. It's going to take time to adjust and get into it.

If you haven't been active for many, many years, or you've never been active, don't start trying to run a marathon the first day. Not gonna work.

You're gonna get hurt, you're gonna feel cranky, it's not going to be a good time. So, start with beginner classes. Start with low weights, low repetitions, low numbers of sets. Do a beginner class.

Do half a class. Right? This is where doing something online can be really, really helpful, you can pause, you can pause the video if you need, which is great. But start small, slow and steady. Build the foundations, right?

Good foundations take time to build. That's ok, again, you're doing something slow and steady, you're building good foundations, and you'll have a better chance of succeeding and staying the course.

Number five, celebrate everything. And this is so under recognized, and so under utilized. If you are doing a good job at something, you need to congratulate yourself.

You need to celebrate. Maybe not by giving yourself a giant feast every time you do a workout, but pat yourself on the back, literally and figuratively, there is science behind that, but celebrate everything.

You finish a class, you did part of a class, you didn't fight yourself to put on your running shoes or your exercise clothes.

That's a huge thing! Take a moment to acknowledge in the moment that you are doing something good for yourself, and that you are doing something that is worth celebrating.

This is huge, that positive reinforcement is so incredibly important. We do this for kids, we do this for pets, we also need to do this for ourselves.

So celebrate everything. Everything! Everything! It makes a huge difference.

Number six, Focus on how you feel. Put that scale away, I don't want to see it, I don't want you jumping on it every day, every week or every month, unless you have been told by a doctor who is helping you with weight loss because of a medical need - even then, you should not be on the scale every day.

Focus on how you feel. Do you feel confident? Do you have more energy? Do you feel a little bit stronger?

Can you walk up a flight of stairs without running out of breath? Can you finish a full class of whatever it is you choose to do without having to stop?  That's what we need to focus on. Maybe focus on how your clothes fit, sure that's great. I'm not really interested in weight loss. Right? I can help you lose weight if you need, but that's not really the main issue here, is it?

We want to be consistent, we want you feeling good, we want you being able to spend time with family and friends and be active in your everyday life, and feel good about it!

That's what we need to focus on, and that's also what we need to celebrate, which is the step previous to this.

Finally, number seven, change it up sometimes.

It's great to be in a routine, and do similar classes on a regular basis. Or similar movements, or similar running routines or whatever it is that you're doing. To do similar things on a regular basis, because you can accurately gauge your progress with that.

If we constantly change things up every single day, you're not going to notice if you are progressing very much, and you may actually get frustrated. But if you do the same thing for a long period of time, you're probably gonna get bored.

And at that point, yeah! Change it up! Try a different type of Hatha yoga, try a different type of yoga. Try a different type of fitness class, try a Pound class, try a pole class, try a Zumba class.  Try something! Aquafit! Whatever it is! Try something new - Variety is the spice of life. 

And when you try something new, you create new neural pathways, you make your brain happy, you make your body happy!

Which means you're going to want to keep going. Very important, and it helps you stay consistent. 

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