One of the principles that I teach in my Healthy Habits Course are the Three Seasons of Health and Fitness. Emotional or Mental health is equally important and seasons often coincides with health and fitness seasons. I teach these because it is important to have realistic expectations of yourself. Life gets crazy and you may need to give other areas of your life more attention for a period of time. You may have a big project at work, a demanding semester of college, or a newborn that’s depriving you of sleep and sanity. The seasons can last a couple of weeks, months, or years but when you identify which season you are in, you’ll know what you are capable of consistently doing for yourself. We all know that consistency is where the magic happens. The choices you repeatedly make day after day will lead you to improved (or decreased) health.
Let’s take a closer look at each of the seasons, how to identify which season you are in, and what you should be focused on in each.
FOCUS
This is when you are motivated and your mind is right. You don’t have distractions or you can at least minimize the ones that throw you off course. You have willpower to choose veggies over pasta, say no to doughnuts in the break room, you make time to workout, and take time to plan and prepare meals that nourish your body. Your health is a priority and you put effort into improving yourself and incorporating new Healthy Habits. These habits may be uncomfortable because they are outside of your routine. Changing your old ways is WORK so don’t plan to stay in the Focus season for a long period of time.
MAINTAIN
The majority of your time is hopefully spent in maintenance. You’ll be able to keep up with most of the Healthy Habits you established in Focus but probably won’t add anything new. This is when you are in a weekly routine, make some time for yourself but not a lot. Expect a few slip ups, treats, and days off from exercise but the majority of the time you are able to make good decisions. Like everyone, you are busy but your health is still a priority.
SURVIVAL
Survival mode is when crap really hits the fan. You’re stretched thin and you have more responsibilities than you have time in the day. Getting whole foods isn’t even really a concern and meal plan?! HA! You’re just trying to feed everyone! Workouts are minimal, if at all, and you likely give up a few of the Healthy Habits that you were practicing so well during Maintenance. You probably backpedal a bit, maybe gain a few pounds, and lose some fitness but you don’t go back as far as you did the last time you were here. Try to spend as little time as possible in survival mode!
Think of your journey to healthy living as a skyscraper with your optimal health at the top and you gotta take the stairs! During Focus season you climb, during Maintenance you hang out in the stairwell, and during Survival you’ll go down a few stairs. You don’t have to go all the way back to the bottom floor! If you hold onto a few of your established Healthy Habits and push yourself to Focus on your health when it’s possible, you’ll still make progress toward the top. It won’t be a steady climb. You’ll be going up and down those stairs for years. Sometimes you will sprint up and other times it will be everything you have in you to just put one foot in front of the other figuring out what works for you, what’s feasible in your life, what you hate and never want to do again. Be prepared to climb, know that setbacks will come and expect them. Learn how to be successful in each season of healthy living so you can stop with the “all or nothing” mentality and stop starting at the bottom of the stairs.
Figuring this stuff out is tough! There’s SO much to learn but I promise that once you do, it will be worth it.
