The Tortoise and the Hare

Being healthy is a marathon, not a sprint. It is maintaining a pace and sticking with it. Consistency wins every time. Can you adhere to basic dietary guidelines such as eating adequate protein, consuming quality carbs, and avoiding sugars and processed junk 90% of the week? If you can, then you will beat the person who is 100% strict but falls off the bandwagon completely for days or weeks at a time.

The same thing applies to training. The person who consistently trains will do better than the person who does an all out insane blitz regime but then bombs out completely exhausted and doesn’t train for weeks at a time.

However, to be consistent means that sometime you are going to have to just start the workout when you don’t feel like it. By doing so, you are already ahead of most people when it comes to training. Many will only train when they “feel” like it. But if you only train when you feel like it, how often would any of us train? I enjoy training immensely, but there are plenty of occasions where I could come up with any excuse not to; tired, busy, stressed, angry, sick and the list goes on.

By maintaining an exercise regime, you are building habits that will stick with you forever. You are maintaining lean muscle mass and bone mass that unfortunately decrease as we age. Imagine what you will look like if you consistently train for 1 year, 5 years, 10 years? Now compound that consistent training with some consistent healthy eating, and the possibilities are incredible. You will beat the hare. Trust me. An old Greek source, commenting on The Tortoise and The Hare , stated that "Many people have good natural abilities which are ruined by idleness; on the other hand, sobriety, zeal and perseverance can prevail over indolence," which means laziness.

One caveat, this only applies if you are honest with yourself. The tortoise won the race because he persevered and actually was consistent, he didn't just try to convince himself he was.