Don’t Wait Until Next Month to Get Back on Track

September is almost over.

Maybe you had a great month. You got your workouts in, stayed active, ate pretty well, and feel good about where things are heading.

Or maybe it was a little messy.

Work got busy. The kids’ schedules changed. You missed some workouts. Weekends got away from you. The routine you hoped to build never really came together.

Either way, you don’t need to wait for October 1st to do something about it.

That’s one of the biggest traps people fall into with health and fitness.

“I’ll start Monday.”

“I’ll get back to it next month.”

“I’ll wait until things settle down.”

Then Monday becomes next Monday, October becomes November, and before you know it you’re talking about starting fresh in January.

You don’t need a fresh start. You need a next step.

Schedule the workout today.

Take the walk tonight.

Drink some water now.

Make your next meal a decent one.

Go to bed a little earlier.

None of those things are exciting, but they count.

At Adam Clark Fitness in Brewer, Maine, we see this all the time with our personal training clients. The people who make progress long term aren’t perfect. They’ve just gotten better at not letting a few off days turn into a few off weeks.

This becomes even more important when you’re trying to stay fit over 40, 50, and 60.

You probably have a lot going on. Work, family, travel, appointments, responsibilities, and everything else that comes with life. Waiting for the perfect stretch of time to focus on yourself usually doesn’t work.

You have to learn how to keep going while life is happening.

That might mean two strength training workouts instead of three.

It might mean a 20-minute walk instead of an hour.

It might mean making a better choice at dinner even though breakfast and lunch weren’t great.

It all counts.

Progress doesn’t begin on the first of the month.

It begins with your next decision.

So if September didn’t go exactly how you wanted, don’t spend too much time worrying about it.

Make the next choice a good one and keep moving forward.

That’s a much better strategy than waiting for October.