It’s super hard to remain motivated and confident when you aren’t getting results as quickly as you would like AND you haven’t yet come close to your final goal. It’s hard to remain motivated when life is stressful.

Yet we rarely, if ever, PLAN how we will keep ourselves going when times get tough.

For instance, if you know May is a busy and stressful month at work, while not plan you diet and exercise program around that?

Why not realize that it will be impossible, or at least add way more stress, if you maintain the same program you’ve been on during that month?

Why not cut yourself some slack so that you don’t end up suffering a setback during that month EVEN if it means potentially slower progress?

Why not MODIFY your program so that it is EASIER during that month instead of trying to force a program that you won’t be able to maintain and will lead to binges?

Honestly there is no reason WHY NOT!

We can’t always force the same dedication to our goals. Sometimes we need to ease up a bit and give ourselves a break.

And if we PLAN to give ourselves breaks, we are way more likely to stick to our program overall and keep moving forward even if at a slower pace.

When you know life is going to get busy, plan your diet and exercise program around that.

Make meal prep easier. Or find some healthy dining out options. Your diet may not be as perfect as you usually like but it will be way better than flying by the seat of your pants when you are totally stressed out and hungry!

When you know you’ll be working long hours and all you’ll want to do afterwards is go home and skip your workout, why not plan in some shorter workouts?

Draft up a few quick workouts that will at least keep you active. Heck even make them home workouts so that you don’t have to make an extra trip to the gym when all you want to do is go home.

No these workouts may not keep you moving forward as quickly as you would like. And the modified program may not even be as perfectly tailored to help you reach your goals.

But it is still movement. It is still SOMETHING.

And SOMETHING is always better than NOTHING.

And even if you design workouts that have nothing to do with reaching your goal of a 300lbs squat, they will at least still keep you healthy and active and in the habit of working out.

They will keep your body moving and help you MAINTAIN most of the progress you’ve made.

Whereas if you just end up skipping workouts altogether because you are busy, stressed out and didn’t plan ahead, you will probably lose some of your progress and may end up getting injured because you try to jump right back in after not being consistent.

Sometimes you need to focus, not on moving forward, but MAINTAINING what you currently have as you take care of other areas of your life. And then once things are settled, you can get back to moving forward.

Life is about balance. Sometimes you can be focused on your health and fitness goals and other times they may have to take a backseat. But they NEVER have to be forgotten.

When you know things are going to get stressful, do you figure out a way to balance life with your health and fitness goals?

Do you PLAN AHEAD for stressful times?

Do you ADJUST your program to fit your life?