Falling Off The Wagon

I have dedicated my life to improving the health and fitness of my clients and myself. I am a disciplined machine when it comes to my training and nutrition, but I am not perfect. Even the most dedicated and disciplined fall of the wagon from time to time. Falling isn't the issue though; what counts is how quickly you pick yourself up off the ground and continue on your journey, whatever that may be.

For various legitimate reasons, I decided to take a break from training early last week. The plan was to continue eating in my regular fashion, recharge my mental and physiological batteries, and focus on getting some important things taken care of. I managed the latter two fairly well, but the former was an entirely different story. Everything was going fine until I decided to consume an ungodly quantity of tacos and ice cream with my girlfriend on Friday night. I used that little binge as an excuse to eat like crap on Saturday, and decided that since I had been a health heathen for two days prior, I might as well culminate the experience on Sunday night with an overdose of pizza.

My problem was that I allowed myself to fall into the all or nothing trap. Instead of taking Friday night in stride, I used it as an excuse to continue my dietary heresy throughout the rest of the weekend. Whenever you're trying to reach any goal, there are bound to be setbacks, but you can't allow yourself to fall into the perfectionist mindset where a bad decision equals failure. You have to be prepared for such events and use them as a learning experience rather than a crutch to justify further regression. Realize that anything worth achieving is an uphill struggle ripe with obstacles, but the rewards are exponentially greater than the effort required to reach them.

This morning I finally decided to pick myself off the ground and get started again. I had my first workoutin nearly a week. My meals thus far have represented what I believe to be optimal nutrition; a far cry from the ice cream, candy, and pizza consumption of the past three days. I am back on the path to Elite Fitness and ideal aesthetics. To move forward though, I must first pull myself out of the hole I dug with my poor choices. I've lost some conditioning/strength and have gained some body fat. I now have to work hard simply to get back to where I was at a week ago. No matter though, I view the whole situation as a pit stop rather than a setback. I now have more motivation, discipline, and desire than I did a week ago. I genuinely feel that the positive psychological consequences outweigh the negative physiological consequences. I am excited to be back on track, and am ready to tackle whatever is thrown in my direction.

Whether you're trying to lose 5 pounds of fat or gain 10 pounds of muscle, get trim and toned or get huge, get fit or just look good for summer, you have to face the fact that there will be obstacles and setbacks along the way to your goal. Your perseverance and mindset will ultimately determine whether you overcome the roadblock and become better for the experience or use it as an excuse to go home. I urge you to mentally prepare for such situations. If your pants are tighter or performance lackluster as a consequence of your choices, use it as motivation rather than allowing it to poison what you've accomplished. After all, you can't move backward unless you've moved forward. Stay positive, stay focused, and keep your goal in sight at all times. When you fall off the wagon, look back down the path you've traversed and congratulate yourself on how far you've come, then jump back on the wagon and proceed forward with a renewed sense of purpose, direction, and motivation.

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