Setting goals is a big part of getting in shape. So why is it the closer you get to your goals, the less likely you are to hit them? I call this "the sabotage of success."
Meet Jane. Jane is just like you. One morning, Jane sees a tagged picture of herself on Facebook or walks by a mirror and is surprised at how out of shape she has become. "How did I let myself get like this?" she asks herself. She thinks back to the last time she felt good about the way she looks and the way she felt. She vows she is going to get back to being as fit as she was 5 years ago. She knows she has 10 (ok, maybe 15) lbs to lose before she can fit into the dress she wore to Stacy's wedding and she is determined to do it.
Jane starts exercising regularly with a personal trainer, begins logging her nutrition, and is determined to lose weight. After a few weeks, she starts feeling better! She realizes she didn't get out of shape overnight, and that getting back into shape will also take time. In 6 weeks, her trainer does her measurements again and she's lost 6 lbs and dropped her body fat percentage by 4%. She's ecstatic! The 6 weeks of dialed in exercise and nutrition is paying off. Tonight, she is going to reward herself with a slice of her favorite dessert, cheesecake.
The next week Jane goes out with her girlfriends for happy hour one night and they start complimenting her on how she looks and they notice that she is trimmer and toner! After all, Jane has been sticking to her plan of exercising at least 5 days a week and eliminating sugars form her diet. Even though she told herself she would only have wine once a week and she already had some last night, she decides to have a few with her friends tonight. After being out with her friends a little later than she intended, her alarm clock seems seems extra loud the next morning. She decides that she's going to go ahead and skip the gym this morning because, well, she's already lost 6 lbs and people are noticing that her efforts are working.
Soon she skips two days a week. Then she forgets to prep her food for the week but that's ok, she'll hit up a drive thru on her lunch break, just this once. Before she knows it, Jane gains back 4 lbs and loses motivation to hit her goal. She's lost 2 lbs total and decides that's good enough.
Sound familiar?
For a lot of people, being good keeps them from being great. They make progress, forget about the original goal and become complacent and content with mediocrity. In the end, that always leads to failure. So how do you hit and stick with your fitness goals? Read this blog post for the answer.