I want to talk about consistency because, based on conversations I have with readers (and even some clients), I get the sense that people don't truly understand what it means.

To help me explain, I'm going to use my client Tia as an example.

I've been coaching Tia for over a year, and in that time she's lost a little over 38 lbs (17 kg).

But a before-and-after photo doesn't accurately capture Tia's journey. So, let's rewind to January 2024, when I began coaching Tia.

Initially, Tia got off to a great start. She would check in every week and was doing the damn thing, and by November 2024, she had lost about 20 lbs.

Then shit hit the proverbial fan. Tia went through a really challenging time — the kind where life shows up, looks at all your perfectly crafted plans, and karate kicks them in the face.

I realised something was off when Tia began missing her check-ins. She was someone who would check in every week, without fail, even when life got busy, so this was out of character for her.

I reached out to her. No response. I reached out again–crickets. Just as I was starting to get worried, she sent me an email and explained what she'd been going through, but she was ready to get back to it.

Except, she wasn't.

The check-ins were sporadic, and when she did check in, there would be large gaps in her spreadsheet. Even though I flagged this, the same pattern continued, and her weight slowly began creeping up.

At this point, I knew it was time to take a different approach.

The gentle nudges weren't going to work. Tia needed to understand what would happen if she kept going down this route.

I told her that I understood things were hard right now. But at the same time, she couldn't keep waiting for things to get easier before she put her own goals first.

Instead, if she assumed things would be a bit tough for the foreseeable future, what could she do to ensure she kept her training and nutrition habits in place?

She still had to eat, didn't she? So why couldn't she try to eat just a bit better? If she was feeling stressed, why couldn't she use the gym or a short walk to decompress in a healthy way?

From there, we put together what I call MVAs — minimum viable actions – the bare minimum habits she felt confident she could do every week.

Could she track just one meal per day? Get in one 20-minute workout? Go for a short walk each day?

The point of MVAs isn't about getting back on track or a magic hack that suddenly has you making progress again - it's to keep some semblance of the healthy habits and routine in place so you don't end up worse off.

And that's what happened in Tia's case. The MVAs helped Tia maintain her progress rather than gain more weight, and as things in her life gradually settled, all she had to do was turn up the dial on the same habits she was maintaining.

The result of this approach speaks for itself:

This is what I mean when I say people don't really understand consistency.

Consistency isn't about sticking to the plan when life is smooth, and unicorns are flying overhead shooting rainbows out their butthole – sure, that's important (obvs), but that's not the hard part, and it's not what determines your results over the long run.

Said differently, it's not what you do on the good days that matters–it's how you handle the 'bad' days, weeks, months.

Real consistency is doing something regardless of what's happening – even when that 'something' feels dumb or pointless compared to the 'perfect' ideal in your head.

But that 'doing something' is the difference between people who make progress in the long run and those who quit, regain what they lost (and then some), and find themselves starting from scratch again in January, wondering why this always happens.

Tia's story isn't unique.

Most people who've tried to do the whole fat loss thing have their own version of it. You start off strong > something comes up > you start backsliding > quit > repeat.

When you strip away the nutrition and training, good coaching is really about stopping you from reneging on the promise you made to yourself. It's why Tia was able to stop the backslide, get refocused and go on to lose 24 lbs.

To be clear, Tia still did the hard work herself — I can't do that part for anyone – but she didn't have to figure out how to navigate the hard parts alone, and I'd argue that's the thing that made the difference.

So, the next time things aren't going as 'perfectly' as you had hoped, maybe focus on the things you can control so you hold on to some of the good habits, and at a minimum, maintain your progress.

I dunno, call me crazy, but that sounds like a way better approach than quitting entirely and wondering why you never make progress.

Anyway, this seems like a good place to put the pitch, I guess – so here we go.

I'm opening up coaching spots next week.

But if you want to get ahead of the curve and save your spot, you can learn more about 1-1 coaching and apply by clicking the blue button below:

–Aa