Change Takes Longer Than You’ve Been Told

It takes as long as it takes. (Shortcuts sometimes make it take longer.) Keep going.

We're just two weeks out from Memorial Day, and yet I'm still seeing messaging about "getting ready for summer" and "getting your summer body." 

First of all, your body in summer is a summer body, so starting with the summer solstice on June 20, congratulations, you'll have a summer body! Love that for you. 

Second, I know that's not what you meant. So if you had aesthetic goals you were hoping to hit before official pool season and you're just now getting started, I hate to break it to you but it's not going to happen on the timeline you want. Not even with one of those magical and expensive 10-day, 14-day, 21-day, or 30-day programs. 

Most of you know by now that I hate short-term programs because they're generally extremely restrictive,  they charge you entirely too much money to tell you not to eat food, they're predatory and misleading, and they're typically only going to give you short-term results. 

Another reason I don't like them? They teach people that short-term results are not only possible but normal, which tends to make people really frustrated when things take a normal amount of time. 

Things take as long as they take, usually longer than we've been led to believe, and if you keep starting and stopping and restarting, they take longer. 

I was thinking about that this weekend when I was deadlifting, the weight was moving really well, and I realized it's taken just about a year rebuilding my strength and getting close to my max again (not there yet!)

No one wants to think about things taking a year, but they take as long as they take, and when you consider that I've been deadlifting regularly for about ten years, it's a blip.

It's also been a full year since my ankle injury -- it was right after Mother's Day last year that I realized something was not right -- and it was only a few weeks ago that I felt good enough and was brave enough to try tuck jumps again. 

If I hadn't continued lifting throughout various injuries over the last year, or prioritized my workouts even after starting another job and working long hours, or kept up with my physical therapy exercises, or done modified BODYATTACK when I was allowed to do so...it probably would've taken a lot longer. I probably wouldn't feel as strong and capable as I do. 

Yeah, it's depressing when your body isn't cooperating the way you want it to. I absolutely validate that. 

And no, it's not fun thinking that it might take six months or a year or longer to reach a goal or hit a milestone or see some different changes to your strength or your aesthetics. 

So I recommend not thinking about it. Don't worry about the time frame.

It's going to take as long as it's going to take, but staying as consistent as you can with a regular movement practice and solid nutritional habits is going to help you stay healthy and feel good for a long time, even if you don't see the results right away. 
 


If you're struggling to find the exercise routine or nutrition plan that you can stick with long-term, email me at coachjustineh@gmail.com and let's chat!