Have you ever said this before?
I’ll start my diet on Monday.
“I’ll start on Monday” is probably the most common excuse or form of procrastination there is when it comes to diet and exercise.
Maybe you’ve been thinking about losing weight, lifting weights, or getting in shape…
But for whatever reason, you don’t want to start *today.*
Maybe you had 2 donuts this morning for breakfast, so today already feels like a failure.
Or maybe you have plans to go out drinking this Saturday and you know you’re going to eat way too many calories this weekend.
Or maybe you’re just feeling tired and lazy and you want to start fresh with a new week.
The point is, you probably have some EXCUSE for why you can’t start NOW.
All or Nothing Thinking
The problem with excuses like this is that they are a form of “all or nothing thinking.”
In other words, people tend to think about diet and exercise in black or white terms.
You’re either on a super-restrictive diet, or you can eat whatever you want.
You’re either working out 7 days a week, or you’re a couch potato.
You’re either healthy, or you’re unhealthy
And I probably don’t need to tell you that this way of thinking about diet, exercise, nutrition, and fitness…
Is not a healthy one or a useful one.
You Do NOT Have To Be Perfect
Life is complicated, and everything has shades of gray. Diet and exercise are no exception.
And here’s the good news: this means you do *NOT* have to be perfect.
I have managed to lose over 40 pounds of pure fat while making HUGE increases in my strength and lean muscle mass.
And guess what? I’ve had days when I missed workouts. I’ve had days when I overate. Days when I drank too much. When I didn’t get enough sleep. When I hit the drive-thru instead of making a salad. I’ve had days when I stepped on the scale and realized that I gained 5 pounds over the past week.
In other words, I’m not perfect, I haven’t been perfect in the past, and I’m not going to be perfect in the future either.
But I still managed to completely transform my body. And you know why? Because I stuck with it. I hit some bumps along the road, but I didn’t stop, I didn’t make excuses, and most of all…I didn’t wait till Monday to get started.
Just Do Something
The take-home message here, guys, is that you don’t have to be perfect…you just have to do SOMETHING.
You have to take a step in the right direction. Just one step is all you need. And then…another. And another.
Keep taking those steps, one at a time, and sooner or later you’re going to look back and realize you’ve come a long way.
So what I want you to do, right now, is decide on ONE THING you can do TODAY to get better, get healthier, get stronger and leaner.
Maybe it’s going to the gym. Maybe it’s going for a walk. Maybe it’s having a side of vegetables with dinner. Maybe it’s having a tea instead of a soda.
Decide on ONE THING, and do it today goddamn it…not Monday.
And if you want to help put some pressure on yourself, give yourself a little social incentive to actually ACHIEVE your one thing, add a comment below and let me know what your one thing is. Make a public commitment to do something TODAY.
Because guess what guys? Monday never comes.