Consistency Beats Speed
Welcome to the Counter Culture Health podcast. I'm doctor Jen McWaters. And I'm coach Kaitlin Reed. We're here to help high achieving women overcome mental blocks, find freedom from anxiety, create an abundant life, and build the body and life that they deserve and desire. In this weekly podcast,
Jen:we'll uncover the raw truth about mental health, nutrition, fitness, and beyond. Let's get to it.
Kaitlin:What's up, friends? Thanks for tuning in and joining us today. Today, we are going to talk about a great topic, and that is consistency. And what does consistency really mean? This is kind of a follow-up episode to our previous one, where we talked about weight loss and, you know, what how much consistency, what does it really take to be able to reach our goals and accomplish what we want to accomplish.
Kaitlin:But this can be well, I'm going to talk more about it from, like, a a nutrition standpoint. This can be applied to anything, workouts, changing habits, you know, reaching a goal, anything. Like, we have to be consistent to be able to accomplish what we want to accomplish. But what does that really mean? You know, we hear all the time of you have to be consistent to make progress or consistency over perfection.
Kaitlin:But what what does that really mean? And I think this is super duper important because just from what I see from a coaching perspective is people don't really understand what consistency really means or how much consistency is really required to accomplish their goals or make change. But, also, people think that they're that they are being consistent based off of, like, their feelings or what they think they are doing. But if we are not tracking or having the data to support that, we don't really know if we're being consistent or not. It's just, feelings or, creating a story in our head.
Kaitlin:And so I really want to break down what consistency really means and how consistent we need to be to be able to make progress. So consistency 80% consistency seems to be a really, like, solid benchmark for most people to see sustainable long term progress, but also have flexibility in their life. I wanna back up a little bit too. I I think this is also a very important topic to talk about as well because people get very impatient with making progress. And so there becomes a lot of frustration of, well, I was I was consistent for a week and nothing happened, so I'm just going to quit.
Kaitlin:Or I ate well for a few days and I didn't lose weight, so what's the point? And kinda getting in in that mindset. So we need to talk about, like, what this actually takes. So like I mentioned, about 80% consistency is, like, pretty solid benchmark for most people to see sustainable long term results and also have some flexibility in their life. So what 80% consistency means what what we want to look at is consistency over a month, not, like, day to day or week to week.
Kaitlin:We want to look at, like, a longer period of time and over the month. So when we think about a month period, 80% consistent over the month is being let me get my calculator out and do the math. So if we have let's just say we have a thirty day month and 80% of that is twenty four days. So if we are consistent with whatever we're trying to do, so maybe that is tracking and hitting our macros, hitting getting our workouts in, hitting our protein, hitting our fiber goals, you know, or whatever, like, kind of behavior change you are trying to do. Doing that twenty four days out of the thirty day month, That's 80% consistency.
Kaitlin:Now 90% consistent is about twenty seven days out of the month if we're talking about a thirty day thirty day month. You know? When we're talking about, like, more more consistent, it gets you will see faster progress if we're in that 90 to a 100% range of consistency over the entirety of the month. But it's faster progress, but a little more restrictive, a little more structured. It can lead to burnout.
Kaitlin:It can lead to, like, perfectionism. And so while, yes, you'll get faster results or progress, it's not as, like, sustainable over a long period of time. So 90% is twenty seven days out of the thirty days. 80%, twenty four days out of a thirty day period. And then anything let me do let's do some math for 70.
Kaitlin:30 times point seven. It's about twenty one days of hitting, you know, your goals that you have for yourself to make progress. Twenty one days out of 30 is about 70%. What I have found is anything under 80% consistency over the entire entirety of the month is where people start, like, spinning the reels, not seeing results, getting frustrated. You know?
Kaitlin:So we have to take an honest evaluation of ourself and what we're doing and and get really honest with ourself and say, have I really been consistent? Have I been hitting my goals and my targets for twenty four to twenty seven days out of the month? If not, you know, that that's where we have to get honest with ourselves and say, okay. What what do I need to do to be able to be more consistent? So I like really breaking down what consistency actually means because for some people, it can be really good news and be a relief.
Kaitlin:And this is often with perfectionist, thinking that we have to be perfect every single day in order to make progress and see results, and then it leads to burnout. It's kind of that all or nothing thinking. This is good news because this means that you have, let's see, three to six days out of the month for flexibility. You know, you can make progress and see results and accomplish your goals and what you want to achieve with only hitting your goals and targets twenty four to twenty seven days out of the month, which means you have three to six days of flexibility. This is really good news because you can make progress without having to be fit.
Kaitlin:And this is what makes it realistic and sustainable over the long term. Now for some people, we can look at this, you know, people that are frustrated for not seeing progress or results or feel like they're spinning their wheels or saying, I'm doing everything, and I'm being consistent. Nothing's working, you know, feeling like they're broken. We can take an honest evaluation and say, are you really being consistent? Are you hitting your goals and targets?
Kaitlin:Are you implementing, you know, this thing twenty four to twenty seven days out of the month? And if the ants and that takes honesty, you know, looking at ourselves, our habits, our behaviors, all of those things, and taking an honest evaluation of ourself and what we're doing. And if we can if we say no, that's why we're not seeing the results and progress that we want to see. So then it's about, you know, what do we need to do? What do we need to change or implement so that we can be more consistent and hit that 24 be more in that twenty four to twenty seven day a week range.
Kaitlin:What I hear from a lot of people, like, what what kinda gets in the way of being consistent is having all or nothing thinking or black and white thinking. This can really get in the way of people making progress. And it's kind of that mindset of like, well, if I can't do it perfectly, I'm just not going to do it at all. And that really, really keeps people stuck, and it it it makes people give up. And going back to what consistency means, like I said before, like, it you don't have to be perfect every day.
Kaitlin:You have the three to six days out of the month, you know, for flexibility. So you can go on trips. You can, you know, you can go out to eat. You can celebrate a birthday or work event or whatever and still make progress. So kind of getting rid of that all or nothing black and white thinking.
Kaitlin:The other thing I see is lack of time or for some people, time management. You know? We have busy life schedules, family work, all of these things. And so it's it's setting yourself up for success and creating, like, realistic goals and having systems in place and thinking about planning in advance. Right?
Kaitlin:Not trying to wing it every day, but having a plan and a schedule and then following through, keeping the promises you make to yourself, keeping following through with what you say you're going to do. The other thing I see is, like, vague or unrealistic goals. And so things are very unclear and don't have a timeline. And so that can that can can help us, or it it makes us lose direction in what we're trying to do. And so, you know, saying, I I'm just gonna use an example.
Kaitlin:I want to thinking about a goal and putting a timeline on it so then we have, you know, very clear, nothing's vague, and we have something that we're actually working towards. The this one I see a lot is that gets people really frustrated is not seeing quick results. And so people give up and get frustrated and get discouraged, and quit. We know that progress takes time, and so you have to be patient. I always tell people the sooner you can accept that progress takes time and is not instant, the better off you are going to be.
Kaitlin:The sooner you can accept that, the easier things are going to go. And then also, you you enjoy the journey, you know, the the journey along the way, and then you're just not so, like, outcome focused as well. Having a lack of a system or routine. I always say systems and routines create freedom, not restriction. And this is so important when, you know, we're we're trying to change habits and change behaviors.
Kaitlin:Having a a system and routine that will help set us up for success. Another one is emotional triggers and stress, you know, like stress eating, emotional eating. You know, you have the best intentions, but no coping plan or coping skills in place to help you with that or I call tools in your toolbox to help you through that. And so this is where support and accountability can come into play. So you have a coach or community or someone checking in on you to help you have coping skills or a plan or put systems and routine in place or kind of help you get back on the path if you drift off.
Kaitlin:So support and accountability is so, so, so important. And then, of course, we don't wanna try to change too much at one time. That can feel very I see this a lot because when people start something new, they're very excited and motivated. And so they wanna do everything at once. But over time, it becomes very overwhelming and can lead to burnout and feeling discouraged and quitting.
Kaitlin:So I like to pick, you know, pick one small thing that you're going to change and work on. And then once that becomes system in in routine and, like, second nature, then we can start to add other things called habit stacking. So then, you know, you've got one thing down, you add another, you have that thing down, you can add another, until all of a sudden, like, all of these things become second nature, and it's just a lifestyle. It's just who you are, how you operate, and how you live your life. So when it comes to being consistent, we have to have data.
Kaitlin:We have to track and have data so that we actually know that we're being consistent. Because without data, without tracking, then it becomes based off of feelings. Well, I think I'm doing this. I feel like I'm being consistent. And that doesn't it doesn't work.
Kaitlin:So now we can have data to support what we're actually doing rather than just, like, thinking or feeling what what we're doing. Feelings and just kinda thinking about what we're doing, it doesn't work when we're trying to make change and and make progress. We have to write things down, track things, have the data to support what we're actually doing. So with that, of course, I have people use Cronometer to track their nutrition and their macros. We use Trainerize to track workouts so that we know that, you know, how many workouts a month are you hitting?
Kaitlin:Are you progressing in your workouts? How many days a month are you hitting your macros? Things like that. So we have to have, like, systems and tracking devices so that we have data to support what we're actually doing. Now are you being consistent twenty four to twenty seven days out of the month with these things or not?
Kaitlin:You know, how can we become more you know? And if not, that's why we're not seeing progress. So what can we do to, you know, be more consistent in having data is necessary in this process? Also, what along with the apps that I use, I love using a consistency calendar. This works so well for so many people.
Kaitlin:And so there's nothing special about it. You can, like, you can print out a get online, print out just like a regular paper calendar. And at the end of every day, you can circle the day if you were consistent that that day. If you, you know, did your workouts, if you hit your protein goals, if you hit your macros, if you hit whatever your goal is. If you did that that day, circle it.
Kaitlin:If you did not, put an x through it, and we track our progress, our consistency over the entire month. So at the end of the month, we can see how many circles we have, how many x's do we have, and then we can see, you know, was that twenty four to twenty seven days out of the month of circles, or do we have more x's? This is I know it seems like like childish or but it works so well, and it's so simple. All you have to do is print off a calendar or use one. You know?
Kaitlin:If you already have, like, a paper calendar that you use for your schedule, use that. At the end of every day, all you have to do is circle an x. This is very important too because I have found that people look at, like, consistency over a week rather than over the entire month. So say for example, if we if you were con and this is like, people get frustrated here. This is like, I hit my macros four days out of this week, Or I'm hitting my macros four days out of every week, and I'm not seeing progress and, you know, frustration comes in.
Kaitlin:But when we zoom out and look at it over the entire month, if we're only hitting our macros four days out of a seven day week, and then so that's three days of not hitting your nutrition goals. Right? So over the entire month, that's three six nine twelve. That's twelve days out of the month that you're not hitting your nutrition goals. So that's definitely under that, like, 70%.
Kaitlin:Right? So twelve days is much more than the three to six days that we have of flexibility. So that's why we wanna look at it at over the month time period rather than week to week of, like, yeah, four days out of seven days is hitting your macros more days than not when we look at it week to week. But when we look at it over the month, you're definitely not being consistent. That's three days every week.
Kaitlin:You're not hitting your nutrition goals. That's twelve days over the entire month. That's definitely below that 80% that we need to see change in progress. And so that's that's why I like to really break break this down of, like, what does consistency really mean and bring a lot of clarity to that because it really it it really helps people go from being frustrated and not seeing progress to really understanding, like, what it takes to see progress and, like, how often we need to implement these things. You know?
Kaitlin:We can't just be consistent for a week. We can't just do it every once in a while. Right? It takes the consistency over a long period of time, months, years, you know, to accomplish what we want to accomplish. So, hopefully, this makes sense.
Kaitlin:Hopefully, you guys enjoyed this episode and, like, really have a a clearer and better understanding of what consistency actually means and how consistent we need to be to be able to see change and make progress. So take an honest evaluation of yourself. How consistent am I actually being? Make adjustments from there. Make your consistency calendar.
Kaitlin:It works. I swear. Go get yourself one and implement that. And take an honest evaluation of, you know, how consistent am I actually being? Do I need to kind of make some changes?
Kaitlin:Do I need to be more consistent, or can I relax and not put so much pressure and expect perfection to to have to be able to make progress? So hope you guys enjoyed this episode and makes sense and brings a clear understanding of what consistency actually means and and what it takes to make change and implement new habits and behaviors and see the results that we want to see and accomplish what we want to accomplish. So thanks for tuning in this week. Appreciate you guys. Love you guys.
Kaitlin:Like, share, and we will chat with you next week.
Jen:Thanks for joining us on the Counter Culture Health podcast. To support this show, please rate, review, and share with your friends and family. If you wanna be reminded of new episodes, click the subscribe button on your preferred podcast player. You can find me, Jen, at awaken.holistic.health and at awakeningholistichealth.com.
Jen:And me, Caitlin, at Caitlin Reed Wellness and caitlinreedwellness.com. The content of the show is for educational and informational purposes only. As always, talk to your doctor and health team. See you next time.
