Defining Progress

Advancement
Development
Closer to reaching the goal
Underway
Growth

Progress can come in very small increments like logging your food for 3 days straight or it can come in a bigger block like losing 40 pounds in six months. Making progress is an adventure and it shouldn’t be taken for granted or dismissed no matter how small.

On the flip side…stoppage, a decrease, or hitting the dreaded plateau can completely destroy our growth, which generally leaves people discouraged, depletes motivation, and makes it hard to stick it out.

It Takes Time

Weight loss, exchanging poor habits for better ones, and having a new outlook does not come in a matter of minutes, hours, days, or weeks. It’s compiling day by day, month after month and year after year, where these changes become cemented into our daily routines.

Progress isn’t just handed out, it’s earned the old fashion way. The issue isn’t setting lofty goals or celebrating the big milestones; the issue is starting with thinking small.

Start with picking the low hanging fruit: walking everyday, lifting weights twice a week or logging your calories for a month straight. Progress shouldn’t always be measured in the end result; it really starts with the small incremental increases towards change.

Think Small

The easiest way to make progress, as I said, is to start thinking small. You can have the goals of losing 30 or more pounds, decreasing your blood pressure and cholesterol, or even getting ready for an event like a wedding or running your first 5K. All of these are great goals to have, but that’s you crossing the finish line.

To get to the finish line we need you to think of checking the box “yes” for just today that you walked, did your squats, and didn’t reach for something unhealthy when the you know what hit the fan at work. For just today, that is a WIN and just like any sports team you need to collect as many wins as you can to be successful. It can be a long season and some days will without a doubt be better than others. It comes down to simple math, pile up wins and the end results will be you crossing the finish line reaching your goals.

K.I.S.S.

The best tip I have for you to make progress is this - don’t make it complicated. Nothing will stop your progress faster than complication. People like to make things difficult when super easy works just fine. Complicated diets, exercise programs, and the latest fitness fads are more about the sale and less about the bottom line. Do not go down this road. Complicated can leave you vulnerable to so many problems, which usually ends up with you not finishing the job that you started.

Simplicity is your ally. Simplicity is easy to follow, simplicity is easier to execute, and simplicity will get you there faster!!

What Does Simplicity Look Like?

It’s moving every day
Logging your calories
Not overeating
Sticking to a simple exercise routine
Eating real food
Incrementally making your workouts harder
Showing up everyday to do the work

Progress is the point, it can come quickly or it can take months. Don’t shortchange yourself because you have made small gains. Every little bit counts!

Image Credit: Paul Dufour via Unsplash

I can help you make progress 310.251.7420

What The Basics Aren't

The basics aren’t sexy.
The basics don’t grab the headlines.
The basics, quite frankly, can be boring.

But, the basics produce results!

People have a hard time believing me that when it comes to fitness, all you need to do is stick to a few basic principles and you get results.

Complication

Now complication looks sexy, shiny, fun, and all the cool people are doing it. The fitness and supplement world is littered with this junk:

program hopping
infomercials of ab rollers with ripped models (who by the way did not get those ripped abs by doing the ab roller)
Shake Weight
vibrating platforms
diet pills that sound to good to be true
fancy machines at the gym
8 min abs/buns
Power Balance bracelets with a special hologram to improve balance (my personal favorite)

All hype, all snake oil, all totally crap. But these companies do know one thing, they know how to sell. They know how to reach that emotional trigger to get us to buy their product or to try their cutting edge workout programs.

But trust me on this, focus on the basics and you’ll get the results you are looking for, without wasting a bunch of money and time on junk that you’d wind up selling at your next garage sale

What do the basics look like?

Consistently eating well
Not over eating
Moving every day
Avoiding sugar
Doing squats
Jogging, running, riding a bike
Incrementally making your workouts harder
Sticking to one program
Setting a goal and sticking it out until you hit that goal
Let’s not forget the most important thing of all…you have to put in the work!

If you'd like to get back to the basics, call on me 310.251.7420. I offer tailor made fitness & nutrition programs.

Image credit: Ben Warren on Unsplash

Erik's Weekly Fitness Tip | How To Make Progress