I woke up an hour early today-wide awake- not the type of wake up you can ignore and fall back asleep. My first thought was “you need to stay Kate.” This thought is in response to me begging and pleading with my husband last night to take an extended weekend getaway in Miami mid November. Can we afford it? Yes. Could we set up our businesses to run smoothly while we are gone? Yes. Then what is the problem you may ask.
Well, sometimes when we want to escape the most is the time we need to stay. Consistency is not easy. That is why any typical 9-5 job in the US has not only vacation days but sick days, personal days, and holidays. It is TOUGH to be consistent. It’s really easy to work 70 hours one week and then 20 for the next three weeks. We may even get “sick” after working that type of schedule. I had an old boss who would do exactly that. She was a very hard worker but would ignore any balance she needed in her life and work herself until she was laid out for a week and couldn’t get out of bed. Her body just needed a break. It would have been more efficient for her to work 4productive 45 hour weeks instead of two 60 hour weeks, one week with no work, and then catching up the following week with 40 hours.
It is more fun to sprint and then coast. Sometimes we need that, but consistency will ALWAYS produce better results. Our body craves consistency. It is more productive with fat and weight loss to maintain 1600 calories over the course of a month than to have 1200 Sun-R and 2600 F and Sat. Why? The math works out the same; doesn’t it?
We waste energy getting acclimated to both extremes. Our bodies are all thrown off by the overindulgence and the restriction. We waste time flushing out the “alarm” system of inflammation after two food infused days on the weekend. Our bodies don’t repair from workouts and recovering adaquately at night while fighting this inflammation. We never get ahead.
What about the mental aspect? Consistency builds character. Sure I would love to run away to the beach for 5 days instead of grind and maintain my business while helping my husband develop his new gym. Is that what I need? I don’t think so. I think I need to embrace the pain of consistency. I need to work through the grind and build something we can both be proud of. Consistently be there for my friends and families. Consistently reengage our CrossFit Grandview members so they do not get stale and burned out. Consistently track my food to be lean and strong. This is the fruit of life. This is where results happen in all aspects of life: consistency. If we are consistently there for our friends and loved ones we will grow closer. If we consistently work hard in our careers we will prosper. If we consistently fuel our bodies right and workout at the proper intensity and frequency; we will get stronger, leaner, faster, and more resiliant to injury and illness.
This is why MOST people fail. They THINK they are consistent but in reality they are always seeking the next mental and physical escape with their diet and workouts and are only consistent 60% of the time. Consistency is 24/7 not 24/5:)
