The Dial Approach

I like to think of our fitness and nutrition efforts as a dial. There are times when we want to dial our efforts up, and times when we want to dial them down. But we never want to turn the dial off completely.

For example, if we had a deadline to train for an event or were concentrating on a particular goal, our fitness dial may be turned into a 9 or 10 out of 10. Channel 10 means we work out every day. Every meal is planned and carefully considered. So right now we turn the dial to a 3-4 and adjust and have no guilt about adjusting the dial lower. What's most important is that dial is still set to "on." I get it. It's easy to discount the lower channels. Especially when you've done more in the past.

Our manta/approach will be to embrace imperfection and do something every day. The thought process is what can I manage (physically, emotionally, mentally) now?

We're always going to be doing the best we can with what we have. And that's okay. We can still make progress towards our goals and still improve our health and our fitness -- whatever's going on in our lives. My goal is to help us be healthy and fit in the context of our real lives.

1. Try the dial method.

Think of your fitness like a dial that goes from 1 – 10. If you were to dial it up to “10”…

• What would your workouts look like?

• What would your nutrition look like?

• What other actions/habits would you practice in that scenario?

If you were to dial it down to “1”…

• What would your workouts look like?

• What would your nutrition look like?

• What other actions/habits would you practice in that scenario?

-Giving thought to your life right now, where is your dial set? -Would you like to make any adjustments? -Could you move the dial up a channel, or even half a channel?

2. Aim for a little bit better.

An all-or-nothing approach usually doesn’t get us “all”. It usually gets us “nothing”. What typically works is small improvements done consistently over time work. This might mean adding 2 servings of veggies a day, nailing your water intake, getting adequate sleep/rest, or getting 10,000/steps per day. It can involve picking up pre-made food, having ready to drink protein shakes on hand, or a carryout you know you can pivot to help align with your goals even when things become chaotic.

3. Anticipate, strategize, and plan

Since we already know that stuff is going to go wrong, the best thing we can do is anticipate and make plans for how to deal when they do. A simple way to do this is by answering two questions:

1. What’s likely to get in the way of what I hope to accomplish?

2. What is something I can do today to help me keep going when I face those obstacles?

For some people, that might be a Sunday ritual where they meal prep so they won’t be scrambling for healthy meals on busy weeknights. For others, it might mean having a healthy meal-delivery service or scheduling 30 minutes of strength training vs 60 minutes.

Don’t be surprised and dismayed when things go haywire. They will at some point. Just arm yourself with the best tools and strategies so you can stay in the game when you’re thrown a curveball.

This will help us navigate our environment when life becomes chaotic and our environment changes. I don't want to feel ever completely off or completely on. We want to think of adjusting the dial so I can continue heading in the right direction.