{Faith and Fitness}: Stick To It

The hardest part when changing something (fitness routine, eating habits, etc) is sticking to it. Last time I talked about making your plan. You figure out what you want, then you come up with a reasonable plan to reach your goal. And then you set out to work. Now here we are. And what I want to know is how's it going?

I mentioned last time that our big family goal this year was to be more active. To get out and ride our bikes, walk, jump on the trampoline, play basketball, spend less time watching tv, or on the computer. And that part has been awesome! But there are other fitness/eating goals that I haven't done as well as I would have liked to. I'm sure many of you may be experiencing the same thing. Sometimes as your plan goes along, you start to lose focus a little bit. You might find yourself taking two steps forward, and one step back. Or maybe you totally fell off the wagon and kind of gave up on your goal because you didn't think you could do it. 

Sticking to it is a tricky thing. It takes an incredible amount of discipline. And sometimes we have difficulty changing because maybe we aren't intrinsically motivated? Maybe we bit off more than we could chew? Maybe we don't have the accountability?

Whatever it is, don't beat yourself up about it. But don't give up either. Find the right motivation-- will power doesn't always work. If you feel like you are taking two steps forward, one step back, just keep going. Because in the big picture, you are still one step ahead of where you were. If you are overwhelmed, scale back. Focus on one thing. Eating or exercising. And once you have one down pat, then add the other into the mix. If you 'fell off the wagon' because you have a hard time accomplishing something on your own... FIND AN ACCOUNTABILITY PARTNER! i.e. a workout partner or an eating partner. Someone who can push you/motivate you/keep you going when you are in a low. Because afterall, reaching a goal isn't easy. If it were, you would have done it a long time ago. 

"Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their work." Ecclesiastes 4:9 (NIV)

"Two people are better off than one, for they can help each other succeed." Ecclesiastes 4:9 (NLT) 

I absolutely love the second translation. Because that's the thing, we each just want to succeed. If you didn't, you wouldn't have set a goal and made a plan. But you will be more successful when you have someone walking right alongside you. Maybe that person is your spouse. Maybe it's a friend. Maybe it's other family members. This is kind of harsh, but several years ago, someone told me (maybe even read it in an article??) that more than likely if your friends are overweight, you will be too. Because you tend to have habits like those you are around most. So surround yourself with people who make you successful. Find someone who has also set their bar high and is working to accomplish a similar fitness goal. Someone who is also striving to be greater! (I'm not saying to get rid of your overweight friends, just choose someone to be your accountability partner who is also working toward a goal).

Bottom line, STICK TO IT!  Even if you need to adjust a little bit. 

To see the previous posts in the {Faith and Fitness series}, go here.

About the Author: Jessica Vick Lewis is a Worthy of the Prize volleyball coach. She was the assistant volleyball coach at Martin High School for 5 years and the assistant volleyball coach at Seguin High School  for 1 year, before she began "staying home" with her boys full-time. Check out her Advocare site for all of your health and wellness needs and follow her family blog to see what her and her boys are up to! Jessica is married to S, a Construction Manager, and they have 3 little boys...c, e and n.