Spoiler alert: this isn't going to be a cute "believe in yourself" post with a picture of a sunrise. We're going to talk about realities. And, I'll warn you, it might be a little demotivating. Or motivational. It depends on how you prefer to be shaken up.
Let's get straight to the point?
Healthy eating and exercise are not your spring detox. Nor your post-summer plan of attack. Nor your January penance after French toast.
It's habits. Like brushing your teeth. You do it every day (I hope), don't you? You don't just brush your teeth for three months to impress someone and then give up. Yeah.
The cycle of the dog chasing its tail
History repeats itself: “I’m going to eat well until I lose 3kg”, “I’m going to train every day until summer”. And then what? We stop everything, go back to square one, and wonder why it never works in the long run. It’s almost poetic… if it weren’t so frustrating.
This cycle is very similar to a dog chasing its tail: it runs, runs, runs... but never leaves the same place. And that's exactly what happens when we treat health as a temporary project rather than a permanent base.
Being healthy ≠ restrictive diets and unsustainable workouts
And now, let's get one thing straight: "eating well" doesn't mean living on lettuce leaves and grilled chicken without salt. It's about knowing how to balance the game, including all the nutrients (even the emotional ones) and respecting your body - physical and mental.
Eating well is taking care of yourself. Working out is taking care of yourself. Doing this only when you have “summer goals” is not taking care of yourself — it’s seasonal marketing applied to the human body.
Chronic > Acute
If you brush your teeth chronically, why shouldn't you treat your training and diet the same way?
Yes, you can train hard and focused on a specific goal. But true success isn’t just about achieving that goal — it’s about maintaining a solid foundation of habits over time.
And now?
If you've read this far and thought, "Man, this is tough but it's true," then mission accomplished. Because the goal of this article is just that: to give you a (loving) reality check. And to remind you that the secret isn't in a magical plan, or in a miraculous phase. It's in doing, even if imperfectly, but doing for life.
And if you want to start with something simple... start today. It doesn't have to be perfect. It just has to be consistent.
Rita Gomes
Personal Trainer BMS