Hey there. If there’s one piece of advice I hope sticks with you, it’s this... build your fitness foundation first. I’ve seen it too many times. Someone gets fired up and jumps into a really restrictive or extreme plan. They rearrange their life for it, they go hard for a couple weeks, and then they fall off. Maybe you’ve done that too. I know I have.
The thing is, there is a time and place for challenging yourself. There is a reason to push beyond your limits. But if you don’t have a foundation in place first, all you’re doing is trading one extreme behavior for another. That’s not progress. That’s just another version of yo-yo dieting.
So how do you build that foundation? You take a look at what you’re doing now. What are you already consistent with when it comes to eating and exercise? Write out a plan that you know you can stick with for life. Not every single day, but most of the time. The kind of plan that, if you miss a day, you don’t beat yourself up. You just pick it back up the next day like it’s no big deal.
That is the sign that you’ve built something sustainable. You’re no longer caught up in the all-or-nothing loop. You’re not constantly “starting over” after every missed day. You’re just living your life and doing your thing.
If you’re wondering how long to follow your foundation before jumping into anything advanced, my recommendation is three months. That might sound like a long time, especially if you’re used to chasing quick results. But if your first reaction to three months was “I could never do that,” then you’re exactly the kind of person that needs to slow down and build this properly.
You’ve probably been conditioned by diet culture to expect fast results. I get it. But real progress takes time. And more importantly, it takes consistency.
Any plan can work if you stick to it. That’s the truth. But sticking to it long enough to see results only happens when it fits your life. That’s what the foundation is. It’s your easy fit plan. And once you’ve got that down, then you can test more advanced stuff and really see what your body and mind are capable of.
If you want help figuring out what a solid foundation looks like for you, let’s talk. I’ll ask you a few questions about what’s worked before and what hasn’t. Then we’ll put something together that makes sense for your life.
And if you’re ready to lock in your foundation and build real consistency, join The YLF Experience. We’ll work together every step of the way.