You have the "Fuck-Its" too? Five things you can do now
Updated: Mar 23, 2020
You're feeling it. I'm feeling it. We're all feeling it.
We've been ripped from our weekly routine whether we enjoyed that routine or not and it's all just feels... different. If you've had goals previous to our current situation you may be dealing with a loss of motivation and lack of desire to hold yourself accountable - which we call the "The Fuck-its".
You may have over indulged one night on take out food, eaten all of the snacks your stored in your home as we hunker down, or missed a few workouts because your gym is closed and can't seem to replicate what you were doing - so you think "Fuck it, I failed, I'll just let everything go". It's also possible you haven't done any of those things and you're just feeling as if there's no clear answers or end in sight to our current situation and working on nutrition or body composition goals seems unimportant - so you think "Fuck it, just do whatever, I'll get back to it later."
You may have been working on maintaining your health: focusing on daily walks before work, increasing soluble fiber in your lunch, and achieving your hydration goals of two liters of water per day.
You may have been working on increasing muscle mass: incorporating more protein in two meals per day, maintaining resistance activity to overload muscles four times per week, and incorporating more marine omega 3 sources (EPA & DHA) from fish.
You may have been working on weight loss: food tracking daily during your meals to understand how calories work and building awareness about how certain foods keep your more or less satiated.
The bottom line is...
You had goals, were presented with a challenge, weren't able to achieve your goals like usual, and now may not care about getting back to achieving those goals. You've been here before! This isn't very different from when we go on vacation, take a break from workouts, and enjoy a few more indulgent meals and alcohol - then come home and need to get back into a routine. Another example could be when the holidays roll around, special events and social occasions take over our calendar and we find our selves eating more than usual at parties and not having time for workout. You have been resilient before and you can be resilient now. Accept that "the fuck-its" happen. Accept that it's ok to make mistakes and that we're never going to be perfect 100% of the time. Refocus yourself and move forward this week - you got this.
What do you do now? Here are five things to think about for yourself:
Get back on track: Forgive yourself. No one you've ever crossed paths with has achieved their goals 100% of the time. In fact, I would argue their goals weren't challenging enough if they have. The point is, one week of being off your goals didn't fuck you up. One week of eating more or missing a few workouts didn't fuck you up. You're good. Your past isn't going to define your future. Head up. Look forward. Move on. You got this.
Make new goals: maybe you're not motivated by your old goals. It's possible you were focusing on body fat loss before, but increasing muscle mass or definition may be a better way to define it. You were trying to do pushups, but now it's time to work on pull ups. Run instead of lift. Cook new meals instead of meal prepping. Track satiety cues around food instead of calories.
Allow maintenance: It's ok not to see yourself achieve something right now other than maintain of your current state. Maintain muscle mass instead of trying to grow it. Maintain the weight loss you achieved. Focus on form of a particular movement instead of increasing weight or speed. Refine a recipe or habit you've been working on. You don't always need to achieve more, something achieving consistency is a more beneficial goal.
Don't set goals... just yet: it's ok to not have goals right now as you figure out new ones. I very believe that in a time of uncertainty it's important to have goals to keep you grounded. Drop your current book and read a completely new one, do a home workout you never would have done in the past, search a topic or hashtag you never have before - just to shake it up and get a different perspective on life as a whole or even to look at something from a new angle. This can help you discover something you want to focus on and goal set around.
Ask for support: maybe your expectations aren't appropriate for you current situation or adapting to a new set of circumstances is overwhelming you. With the out pouring of support from the health and fitness community, support is only a DM, text, or call away. People want to help, just ask. If you don't know what you ask, say that, just start the conversation.
You got this
Ryan