Easing Into Consistency

A friend of mine completed his first marathon a few weeks ago. Leading up to it, he was super on top of his training routine and up every morning at 6 to run and cross-train. He did awesome at the marathon and felt super accomplished.

And then he got back to real life. As soon as he didn’t HAVE to work out every day and squeeze in dedicated workouts, his training and sleep schedules went back to lazytown. Our 7am run this week was his first re-introduction to the early-morning wake-up call in weeks. It did not go well.

When you get into a good groove of working out, eating healthy, sleeping, and self-care, it can super-suck to lose the groove. Changing the routine for 1–2 weeks to accommodate the craziness of life can make it tricky to get back to the way things were.

I know. I am currently stuck in the space of trying to get back to a productive morning schedule. Back when I lived in DC I was up at 5am every day to coach group exercise classes and squeeze in a workout before work. I also rocked a daily meditation practice and weekly yoga/physical therapy sessions.

That gloriously overprotective schedule fell to pieces over the last 2 months as I paused my workout regimen and relaxed my nutrition to handle a cross-country move, a new time zone and climate, my sister’s wedding, and a series of work trips. Life hit hard. Now I have to work my way back to what was previously my baseline.

Heading into the holidays, there is an added need to find some consistency in exercise, meditation, recovery, and nutrition to survive the upcoming temptations for overindulgence. My goal for now through the end of the year is to develop consistency in my schedule and diet.

I believe there are two ways to get back to a routine — either dive straight in like it’s the deep end of the pool, or gently toe in like a delicate 4-year-old. Since I am a very tall child at heart, the latter method is my jam.

Also, having attempted the dive-in method every other time that I’ve fallen off the wagon, I’ve finally learned that extreme changes aren’t sustainable. When I previously tried to dive in, I would set an ambitious timetable— wake up at 5am five days a week to, meditate, write, work out, shower, and work. I could do this at one point, and all of those overachieving “highly successful people” seem to accomplish all that and more before 8am, so I feel like I SHOULD be able to pull this off.

But I can’t.

Without a solid foundation, I burn out quickly and lose my rhythm.

But realistically, setting a routine is like setting up your diet. Drastic changes usually aren’t sustainable for the long term. The trick is to make small, regular, incremental changes to which you can gently adapt. Being gentle and in tune with, yourself to stick to your goals and ensure a successful transition.

My methods for achieving consistency are to:

1. Set reasonable, specific goals: Instead of trying to accomplish ALL THE THINGS before 8am, I set smaller goals. I wake up 30 minutes earlier than usual. I meditate for 10 minutes and do gentle yoga. Every week I adjust this to wake up just a little bit earlier and add a few more minutes of meditation and writing until I’m back up to speed.
2. Set protocols for accountability. I make plans to met a friend for early-morning runs so that I am obligated to get out of bed on time. I started a Bullet Journal to track my habits. I articulated my goals for training to my friends and family and asked them to call me out when I start slacking off. Knowing that “the universe” is aware of my goals and habits makes me much more likely to stick to them.
3. Have a back-up plan: My schedule is going to be nuts over the next few weeks. When forced to prioritize spending rare time with friends and family over doing a workout, chances are more than likely that the workout will get dumped. However, I plan to ditch the gym in favor of social + physical activities like hiking, yoga, curling (yup!), and even bowling. These low-intensity days will also include a trade-off on calories — there’s no way I feel like my best self if I skip exercise AND spend very night touring the night life. I’m much happier (and healthier) when I limit alcohol and rich food in the absence of my regular exercise regimen.

This all may sound pretty low-impact, but it’s what works for me. I’m much better at acquiring habits at a slow and steady pace. It also allows room for me to reflect and adjust as necessary. For example, when I am traveling 10 of the next 15 days, my goals for consistency are to wake up at 6am (no matter what time zone I am in), meditate and write for 10 minutes, and include a physical activity each day. These are all reasonable, specific goals that I am publicly declaring, and will now have to make good on.