Just one way to attack your resolutions and goals at HCF
Mac and I have learned a lot and are continually learning on our fitness journey. We're always doing our reading about nutrition and programming and technique and recovery and anything else fitness related that we can get our hands on. We certainly believe in goal setting which is another crucial piece of the puzzle, not just in fitness, but in life. And like everyone else, we're still trying to understand goals, how to set them, and how to reach them.
Truth: Setting goals is important! Myth: setting goals is so important that if you don't set goals, you're a lesser human. Picture your childhood, senior year in high school, grandpa is all like, "what are you doing with your life? you better make a plan! quit wasting your time." Cool it gramps!// When you walk into HCF, there is a goals board with the names of many of our athletes and some goal next to it. "Muscle-Ups" "Double Unders" "Handstand Push-Ups". WTF is a Muscle-Up? If you don't yet know all of what you might want to be able to do, then don't feel bad if you don't have a skill goal or a benchmark goal. It's ok to just show up for a couple of months and then decide what it is you'd like to be able to do.
Myth: Not reaching your goal makes you a failure. Truth: We fail to reach infinitely more goals than the ones we successfully reach. You're only a failure if you don't learn from your failures. Ask yourself, "Was my goal too hard?" "Is this goal really something I want?" "What made this goal a failure?"
When we make resolutions or goals, we typically get amped up and really gung-ho and excited. Not bad things! Enthusiasm is important for attacking goals. Our need for instant gratification though burns us out. "I want to lose 20lbs" You can literally lose 20lbs in two weeks or faster. But it's not healthy, not sustainable. You'll feel like crap. And what do you do when you feel like crap? welp, I eat everything, and I'm guessing you do too.
What lesson can we learn from the resolution rollercoaster? COOL IT! "I'm going to eat 100% paleo from now on." "I'm going to work out twice a day every day!" "I'm never eating sugar again!" Language like this is just setting yourself up for failure and to continually live in seasons of ups and downs. And chances are that your seasons of "being good" will be just as unhealthy as the "F*&$^ it" seasons. What have Mac and I learned? Patience// language like "from now on" "everyday" "never again" is far too daunting! This is not a moderation lecture though. I don't believe in moderation either. "I'm going to eat 100% zone from now on." is just too big. How about, "I'm going to eat 100% zone...today." or "I'm going to weigh and measure my food for...this meal."??? Today is do able. This Meal is like so easy! SO EASY! I know you can break it down as small as today! Don't let "forever" infiltrate your goals.
"My goal TODAY is to eat enough food to support intense training, but not body-fat and to make it into the gym." I'm not worried about tomorrow, tomorrow has nothing to do with the food or training that is right in front of me (it actually has everything to do with it, but for my brain's sake, it doesn't). When our nephew Tyson's birthday party rolls around this Saturday, I'll have a beer (or two), a burger, a piece of cake, but then I'll worry about Sunday on Sunday. If my mindset is, I'm only going to eat 100% Paleo and set a pr in the gym every day, and then I accidentally eat a crouton at Tyson's party. Bam! I'm back in rehab! World Over!
Worry about 1 day or 1 meal or 1 training session. Before you know it they'll stack up. I don't even want to say this next part because it's almost too daunting and might get you too excited and set you back on the rollercoaster, but if you stack enough days and meals and training sessions, you might create a habit, and then you'll see changes.
