As school kicks back into session and kids jump back into learning, grading standards are being issued.  Even if you don’t have children, I am sure you remember what these look like:

A = 90-100%

B = 80-89%

C = 70-79%

D = 60-69%

F = 0-59%

If your child earned 82%, would you demand that they receive an A?  No, you would not.  Be nice to teachers.

This concept translates into salary bonuses for many different professions.  Objectives are set and payout is directly correlated to what % of the objectives were achieved.

If you achieved 71% of the objectives, would you expect 100% of the payout?  You might hope for it, but you do not have a strong case to make.

Yet, when we are only 70% consistent with our nutrition, we still want 100% of the yields.  We want the body composition and scale change that comes with HIGH Consistency.  

What is high consistency?  After coaching thousands of women, we have found that most women yield the best results by hitting their macros within range 7/7 days or 13/14 days.  That is 93 – 100% of the time.

Well, I hit 6/7 every week!  That’s good!  6/7 is 86%.  6/7 is still an outstanding effort, but as our consistency comes down, so must our expectations.  You can still achieve your goals hitting 6/7, but it will take longer.  I have clients that choose to be 6/7 every week because they want one day not to track.  I think it is a brilliant idea if you are willing to accept that it will take longer to get to your goal.  There is nothing wrong with taking more time to reach your goal.  In fact, it is often a better path because every day you spend getting there is one more day that you have instilled the habits to continue in a long term sustainable way of balanced eating.

5/7 of is still good though, right?  I am perfect Monday through Friday!  5/7 days is 71%. 5/7s get dangerous because they open you up to becoming a Weekend Warrior.  You can crush your consistency all week long, take two days off, enjoy a weekend of cocktails and fun and erase all of the work you did over the 5 days.  If you are in maintenance and you can maintain with 5/7 and being more flexible on the weekends, this may be your strategy to still manage your nutrition and enjoy your weekends.  If you are trying to make progress, it is a nearly impossible feat.

Vacations are important.  Anniversaries and birthdays are important.  This is why we encourage celebrating memories over macros!  The message here is not that you cannot take a day or a week off.  You can and you SHOULD!  When you do take time off from tracking, it is imperative to adjust your expectations of progress.

The next time you are feeling frustrated by your progress, consider quitting, or determine that what you are doing is not working, be honest with yourself and audit your consistency. Count how many days you hit your macros in the last 4 weeks.  Divide that number by 28.  Now, you have your % of Consistency for the last 4 weeks.  How does your consistency measure up with your expectations?

The good news is that if you don’t like your consistency %, you have COMPLETE CONTROL over it.  Unlike the scale, you CAN CONTROL your consistency.  You deserve to celebrate your progress every month!  Set a goal for your consistency this month and crush it.  The rest will follow.

Register for the next session of macro coaching with Stay Fit Mom today!