So you go on a health and fitness kick, such as a diet to lose weight, full-on for several weeks then fall off the wagon, you feel like a failure, give up completely and quickly revert to where you began and then find yourself worse off - heavier than ever. How can this be prevented?
Start your journey to better health and fitness with the right mindset. Let's face it, human beings are unpredictable and sporadic at the best of times and, unless you have a full-on obsessive-compulsive personality, the odds are that you will never stick to your plans day in - day out, week after week, year long. Besides its just not healthy to be doing the same old thing without at least a little break every now and then. Body and mind thrive on variety and unpredictability. Its the human condition. We are not lab rats, nor are we like cows standing about in the paddock, content to eat the same old grass for a lifetime.
A good athletic coach knows all about "Periodisation", the art and science of scheduling workouts and competition so that the days, weeks and seasons are divided into a series of peaks and troughs of volume and intensity, including complete breaks, with the final goal of producing the perfect performance on the one day that counts. A well constructed programme ensures the athlete never falls into the traps of monotony and excess that lead to under-performance and failure.
When you come to me for health and fitness advice and guidance, I may refer to the 80/20 Rule of Thumb, as well as periodisation. My advice is to do the programme I give you at least 80% of the time and do not fret, or feel like a failure, if you fall off the wagon now and then - you will be a success over the long term if you stick to the programme about 80% of the time.