We’ve just passed the six week mark into the new year, and I’m re-evaluating my health and fitness goals for the next six weeks. I got to thinking about how pace and consistency are two keys that I’ve found helpful in my journey. And how when I didn’t apply these principles, I’ve failed miserably. I’m sure I’m not the only one, so I thought I’d talk about it today.

Pace is so important when starting a healthy lifestyle journey. If you go too fast or set out to do too much in a short period of time, almost always you are setting yourself up to fail. I’m currently doing a push-up challenge for the month of February. The challenge started at 10 push-ups but will end with 100 by the end of the month. Now had it started at 100, I would not be able to complete that. I had a hard time doing the 10 push-ups when I started on Day 1! But now on Day 12, the challenge is 50 push-ups for the day, and I was able to knock out 25 this morning like a breeze. Why? The pace allowed me to build endurance instead of setting the bar to something unattainable. When setting your goals, consider your starting point, and try to raise the bar slightly from that point. As you master that pace, pick it up a bit, and as you meet each small challenge with success you’ll be surprised at how far you’ve come.

If you move at the right pace, the more consistent you will be. As your maintain consistency with your diet and exercise, you will find that your body will adapt and build up endurance and stamina. Your confidence will also improve and motivation will grow as well. Scheduling and planning is also a part of being consistent. It’s very difficult to stick to a meal plan if you don’t PLAN! This is huge for me. If I plan my meals and have healthy food on hand, I can stick to my meal plan like a pro. But if I don’t have it all worked out, which is what got me rebooking at my diet today, I fall by the wayside simply because I’m hungry.

Remember, don’t give up. Just start over if you’ve gotten off track. Choose a pace that works for your lifestyle to set reasonable healthy goals, and then consistently work towards those goal. Once you’ve reached a goal, raise the bar for the next goal to reach.