Consistency and gratuitous animal pictures are the key.

Sometimes it's really hard to get out of bed and get my workout done in the wee hours of the AM.  He knows what I'm talking about.

Mom..stop waking me up when you get out of bed.

But getting up early and doing my workout before I go to work is a habit that I formed way back in 2004/5, and that consistency has helped me not only lose weight but also train for those little marathons and duathlons that I do.  In fact, I would say that consistency is key in helping you reach any of your fitness and/or weight loss goals.  But consistency in what, exactly?  Well...

Consistency in eating.

You have to consistently eat real, good-for-you food in order to lose weight and just be healthy in general.  I have had to learn this about 53 times, but I think it's finally starting to sink in, as you can see from my newly-found motivation to food prep like crazy these days:

Chicken Salsa Verde for lunch - FIESTA IN MY MOUTH

Consistency in getting those workouts done anyway you can.

I'm a lucky person that happens to own her own treadmill and a spin bike, so if I can't run or ride outside I have an alternative.  But when I didn't have those things, I still tried to get some workout in (usually a workout DVD) so I could at least say I burned some calories and did my workout duty for the day - and so I could keep up the habit of working out.  I don't know about you, but if I stop working out for 2 or more days, my brain starts thinking that's a permanent thing.


Consistency in post-workout selfies.

If a tree falls in the woods and no one hears it, did it really happen?  If a workout is done and no selfie taken, did the workout really happen?  These are just the same question with different words, people.

Dog-verified post-workout selfie.

Consistency in rest and recovery.

In case you don't know what "rest" or "recovery" looks like, here's a good example.

If you don't ever recover or get enough rest, your body won't heal and then your workouts and races will begin to suck.  And sucking is to be avoided at all costs. 

Consistency in sucking it up, buttercup.

You have to do the workouts you don't want to do.  For me, these workouts are anything that includes the words "mile" and "repeats."  You have to do these workouts because those are the workouts that are usually good for your growth, development, and helping you fine tune your mental "suck it up, buttercup"edness.

Consistency in helping others see they can do it too.

One reason I started this blog was to help me maintain consistency by writing all sorts of facetious garbage on it.  In other words, I started it for myself.  But others have unexpectedly and sometimes weirdly gained inspiration from all this facetious garbage, helping them see that they can do it too.  While I'm always supportive of anyone on a journey to better fitness and weight loss, I think sometimes we have to make that support more intentional.  For example, writing a post about consistency and actually including helpful suggestions rather than just silly things that sometimes include gratuitous pictures of animals. 

Consistency in including pictures of your animals in your blog posts.

Ooops how did these gratuitous pictures of animals get here?!? 

Consistency in ending your posts with stupid non-educational learnings:

• Just in case you were wondering, I did my workouts for the past two days: a bike ride and some mile repeats this morning.
• I had to so suck it up, buttercup, to get those mile repeats done this morning.  Buh.
• Along with a duty to support others in their fitness goals, I feel it is my duty to share pictures of my animals.
• Seriously, consistency is the key.  Although I wish I could workout once or twice, eat a few sprigs of broccoli, get a fantastic body, and then move on my with my life.

Tomorrow's workout: 5 mile easy run.