You can expect some turbulence.
Do you remember your first plane ride?
It’s a scary experience for a lot of people.
Especially when you feel some turbulence for the first time…
Do you remember that? Being in amazement that you’re flying through the air on a giant piece of metal and then all the sudden it starts shaking violently and people start to gasp.
You might even think that the plane is going down, and your life is about to end! Airlines typically know how scary this can be for people, so usually the pilot will give you a heads up about how much turbulence you can expect throughout the flight.
This is called “managing expectations”.
The pilot will tell you whether it’ll be smooth flight, or if you can expect a bumpy ride. That way you know that whatever you experience is a normal part of the ride. Not enough people take that same approach when it comes to dieting and fitness, and the results of not managing your expectations can be disastrous to your progress…
When most people start a nutrition or fitness plan they are all in 100%. They’ll never cheat on their diet, they’ll never miss a day and their excitement for the potential clouds their reality that they will, in fact, slip up and fall off track sometimes.
That’s the turbulence in your health and fitness journey, and you should expect it.
Going into any health and fitness plan, you should expect that you’ll fall off track and that it’ll happen a lot. If you go into a fitness routine with rose colored glasses, the first meal you screw up or the first workout you miss will feel disastrous, and you’re very likely to say “Screw it” and give up.
That’s when the negative self talk comes in, and you start to think you’re a failure.
When you go into your health and fitness routine with the idea that you will definitely fall off track, you can treat that like a bumpy plane ride and know that you’re still moving toward your destination.
Turbulence doesn’t stop the flight and send you back home. You are not a failure for cheating on your meal plan, or missing a workout. It’s part of the journey.
You are always one decision, whether it’s the next meal you eat or getting to the gym the next day, from being right back on track.
Expect the bumps in the road, and keep moving forward.
