Relapse

Are you at the stage in your fitness program where you’ve been doing pretty good and feeling like this health thing is a good thing, up until yesterdays slip up?
Most people start exercise and nutrition programs gung-ho up until they have a slip up or start to feel burned out. Here are something’s you can do to stay feeling gung-ho without the feelings of guilt when you fall. Also, looking to your past can help better prepare for future slips.

Most people start fitness programs feeling good about themselves because they are about to make a change for the better. A healthy diet combined with exercise makes the best formula for success. Now that you have been following your routine for sometime, have you experienced the relapse phase yet? In other words, you’ve slipped up with your diet and now your ready to throw in the towel? If so, here are something’s you might want to think about to help put yourself in check. Just about every person I’ve ever trained has gone through the motions of relapse or slip ups. Studies show that 4 out of 5 people experience relapses with exercise programs. If you’re experiencing a relapse phase, don’t give up! In fact, you should plan for relapse and don’t spend a lot of time beating yourself up. Start by forgiving yourself and move on. One cheat or slip up with your exercise and diet program doesn’t mean you should throw in the towel. If you give up completely the effects can be damaging to your health. Pat yourself on the back for the good work you have done and allow that to motivate you and keep going! Learn from your slip-ups and allow that knowledge to guide you to help avoid reoccurring relapses. If you keep visiting the same rock in the road, try going back to when you first started your fitness program, what was your mindset and why did you start on the journey to better health. Also ask yourself why should I give up, do the pro’s out weight the khans? And be realistic about your fitness goals. Making a goal of 5lbs a week is unrealistic. Lastly, allow yourself to be your teacher. Learn from your relapse, what triggered it, and what should you have done. This will better prepare you for future slips.

Everyone at some point has come to a struggle in their fitness programs, but the real winners are those who don’t give up. Even if that means that you stop and reevaluate yourself but avoid beating yourself up. Learn from that relapse and better prepare in the future. Sometimes being a bit of a looser often makes for the best winners;-)