Consistency & Adherence

The truth is anyone can be a fitness / nutrition coach on social media or through paying a fee to sign on with an MLM based company. I’m not clueless to the notion that there is a high volume of other people online who do what I do, so I’ve invested thousands of dollars, time, and research into learning about what the current evidence based studies reveal along with seeking updated certification and credentials. This approach, paired with years of hands on experience, are what allow Adaptive to be successful at long-term fat loss and performance improvement.

I do not care about helping people rapidly lose weight for a singular event. Pushing products like detoxes, cleanses, 30-day challenges, 8-minute abs is not good enough for me. Sure, it might be financially beneficial, but all this stuff is gimmicky bs that does not work long-term. It’s a lie. It is taking advantage of those vulnerable and desperate for change by selling them false hopes and dreams.

“In short, it’s what the 95% who are failing at sustainable weight loss are doing.”

I want to help people get into the best shape of their lives, for the rest of their lives. I want to be able to contact clients from 5 years ago and see that they’re in the same shape, if not better, than when I left them. That is a true transformation.

And the only supplement required to achieve these transformations is a steady dose of consistency and adherence. Consistently putting forth an intentional effort in your training and food choices while adhering to a program that is specific to you as an individual. The more consistent and adherent, the greater the success rate and shorter the time required to achieve results.

Now you may be wondering, but don’t you take supplements? The answer is yes, but in specific scenarios and to get a small enhancement AFTER having put in the work being consistent and adherent to my training and daily nutrition. Those products should never be used in place of addressing the “base building blocks” or as a key part of your regimen (aka required). Consider them the icing on the cake. Your consistent efforts make the cake, and “in some scenarios” supplements can help enhance the result.

Before you consider supplements, pre-workout, fat burners, or fad diets, perform a self-check on consistency and adherence. How well are you consistent day to day? If your daily habits are erratic, how can you expect your progress to be on point? Perhaps one day you hit your macros dead on – the next day you double them. You cannot expect any plan to work unless you find some discipline.

What about motivation? How does one stay motivated to be consistent and adhere to their plan?

In my experience, if a client is struggling with consistency it’s rarely due to a lack of motivation. The perceived lack of motivation is just the surface-level stuff, there is usually something else going on. Typically, it’s one of two things (or a combination of both): they believe they are not making progress when they truly are. Or they are under the impression that they need to be perfect and when (I say when because no one is perfect) they are not the self-doubt and feeling of “what’s the point” settles in. Both scenarios can be the underlying cause in a lack of motivation.

As coaches, it is our job to help clients navigate these and many other scenarios along their journey. Often, it is simply a matter of providing an alternate perspective, or approach to viewing current progress.

Some of the more common coaching techniques applied at Adaptive are:

• Providing objective feedback and reminding them of the bigger picture. This is also known as “re-framing.” An example o this is if a client is only focusing on their scale weight. We’ll explain why scale fluctuations happen and why the scale isn’t always a good indicator of progress. We utilize progress photos and/or changes in body measurements. This helps them see that despite a stall on the scale, they are still losing inches on their waist and getting leaner. In short, progress IS happening. This gets clients out of their head and helps them to see the bigger picture which increases motivation and adherence.
• Perfection is NOT required, nor should it be the goal. Consistency on the other hand is. Often a client will have one bad day of eating and tell me they are frustrated because they ruined all their progress. In these scenarios I encourage that a client gets back on track the following day, and often their daily average intake will balance out. Progress is not made or lost in a single day, but rather is the average of what one does constantly over time. We never expect perfection from our clients, we just expect them to do the best they can. A great deal of progress can be made simply by being on track 80% of the time and allowing for a 20% buffer to allot for when life happens.

We are very clear with our expectations of clients even before they sign on. We feel that being transparent and up-front helps ensure the best fit for both the client and coach. We function in this manner because we realize that coaching is a collaboration or “team effort” with responsibilities for both parties (coach and client). Open and honest communication allow us to perform optimally as coaches and helps clients to achieve more.

Where do you find you lack consistency? Contact us to see how the accountability of a coach can help you to navigate and conquer roadblocks.