I was on the phone with a former client recently and we were talking about how she’s been consistent at the gym and with her healthy eating, but not really bringing her A game.
She didn’t feel good about it even though she certainly wasn’t totally slacking off either.
I actually congratulated her and told her that she found the answer to long-term health and fitness, and also, well, everything.
It turns out, when we bring our A game all the time, we have no room for improvement and teeter dangerously on burning out.
Life is a matter of balance, so when you swing high for too long, you inevitably swing low.
When your diet is completely clean, how can things improve when you want your body to change?
When you are crushing it at the gym day after day, where do you make adjustments to improve (and avoid injuries too)?
There is a lot of talk about balance in life, but there are so many messages encouraging us to crush every goal. To be at the top of your game. It can cause fear and feelings of guilt for not being on A game mode at all times.
Really though, life is a marathon and not a sprint. Sprints are meant to be brief. Then they come with long periods of rest and recovery.
Let’s take a closer look at how this applies to nutrition.
If I started every morning with a perfectly balanced green protein shake, salad with wild caught fish and olive oil and vinegar for lunch, and a 4oz grass-fed steak with sweet potato and steamed broccoli for dinner, I’m eating a near perfect diet.
Which is wonderful. But, what happens when my fitness efforts stall, when I want to shred up a little for a beach holiday, when I succumb to 2 slices of pizza and gain 5 pounds overnight?
There is simply no room for improvement in a perfect diet.
We hear a lot about the 80/20 rule in nutrition, which means we eat clean 80% of the time and indulge the other 20% of the time.
I have a different name for it: I call it my B game. 🙃
Also, the idea of committing to bringing your A game day after day can be completely overwhelming. The mere thought can cause many folks to wind up bringing zero game at all.
My B game principles are applicable to not just nutrition and working out, but also work, relationships, finance, and every other part of your life.
So, if you’re bringing zero game at all, just shoot for B! The fact is that you will wind up bringing your A game when you need to and when you want to.
If you’re constantly on your A game, give yourself permission to dip into your C game a little bit. Then come on up to the B squad, where we can sustain success for much, much longer and, with better long-term results.
I think I’ve been on my C game for a bit and am ready to move up to B! Thanks for that encouragement!
You are so welcome! Go get em lady!