If you’ve been following along over the last four weeks, congratulations! You made it! It’s finally time to learn the fourth (and final) ingredient in my secret recipe for six pack abs. So far, we’ve got proper nutrition, strength training, and cardio in the pot and the only thing missing is…can you guess it?
C O N S I S T E N C Y
This one is short, sweet, and to the point, y’all. Each of the individual ingredients before this is of major importance if you are trying to build a strong, defined core. But I mean this when I say that without consistency, your results won’t last.
Consistency is far and away the most important ingredient in this recipe and I will tell you why.
Remember in Part 1 of this series, I admitted to being a recovered crunchaholic? Let’s revisit that for a second.
Before I really understood fitness and nutrition, I was what I call a leapfrogger. I hopped on the latest diet and exercise fad, gave it a shot for four to twelve weeks, and then jumped on board the next trend when I wasn’t seeing results. What can I say? Patience doesn’t come naturally to me.
I tried Paleo, gluten-free, vegan, vegetarian, you name it. After a handful of weeks not seeing results (shocker!), I’d grow tired of putting in so much effort only to still look down at a snack pack instead of a six pack. So I’d move on to the next diet fad.
I tried bootcamp, HIIT training, BBG, Beach Body, yoga, all of it. I’d see some improvements, but not many. So I’d switch again (typically after a couple of months of minimal-effort treadmill running and crunches in between).
Finally, when I realized that leapfrogging wasn’t getting me anywhere, I tried something new. I decided to give consistency a go. After years of not getting results and being really discouraged by my fitness and nutrition, I was willing to settle in for the long haul. That was about nine months ago.
Nine months. In these last nine months, I have learned so much about fitness, nutrition, and our bodies. I have beat back my impatience with an iron fist and promised myself I would trust the process, do the work, and the results would come. And they did! Our bodies are incredible, y’all. With a little consistent TLC, your body can transform. The key then is to stay consistent and not let up once you’ve achieved your goal.
That’s where most people fall off. They work really hard following a new diet or exercise program for 12 weeks, see some results, and think to themselves, “okay now you can relax and enjoy more treats and take more rest days.”
“More treats and rest days” can turn into “lots of treats and too many rest days” very quickly. You’ve heard the saying, “it won’t work unless you do,” and as cheesy as that is, it is the absolute truth. If you want results AND want them to last, you MUST be consistent.
Do the right things more days than not, and the results will come.
Do the right things more days than not, and when you decide to have a cheat meal or take a weekend off, it WON’T destroy your progress.
Do the right things more days than not, and you will fall in love with doing the right things. Soon the wrong things won’t be worth it to you anymore. That’s called a lifestyle change, and that’s what consistency promises.
Eat the right things for YOUR body, improve your strength and cardiorespiratory efficiency through challenging workouts, and DO IT MORE DAYS THAN NOT!
Stop leapfrogging. You have the power to break the cycle, so why are you waiting?! Do it TODAY. And tomorrow. And the next day. And you will get results.
