This year has been all about tips and tricks to stay motivated and consistent with your workouts. I’m here to offer you a new strategy, and although it won’t work for everyone, it will give you a chance to shift your perspective. The reason for writing this, came from a question I got about “how to stay motivated with fitness during a pandemic”. My first thought was don’t rely on motivation. My second thought was to give yourself some grace. And then my mind went to the way we meal plan.

Indulge me...Consider your last family dinner. Did you find a recipe? Make a shopping list? Have to go to the store and then prepare a multi-step meal? Or maybe dinner was an old family favorite, made with pantry staples? If it was takeout, was it a go-to favorite, or did you scroll Grubhub searching a bit for a new spot? Maybe it was a combination meal where you bought some veggies already prepared, but fixed the main dish?

My point is that, no matter how you got that meal, the outcome was the same. You wanted a meal, and then you made it happen. My other point is that I bet you don’t always reach that outcome the same way. My assumption is that some weeks you have extra time and feel extra motivated, and those weeks you might take more time in selecting recipes and actually going to the store. Other weeks you might be short on time and do a combination of grocery delivery, meals that require no recipes, and maybe some take out.

Are you still following? Well, if you’re struggling to stay consistent with workouts, maybe you take that same approach. Maybe instead of having the same expectation for yourself each week and failing, you plan your workouts like you plan your meals. The only time I would say, the approach might not be effective is similar to if you have serious fitness goals and all you eat is takeout. That just doesn’t work. But, if your goals are a bit more flexible, then similar to how you eat, a varying weekly approach might be just what you need to stay consistent with fitness during a pandemic.

So, how do you plan your workouts like you do your meals? 

Weeks that you’re short on time and energy (weeks you’re favoring take out): These are days where your workouts should be the most convenient and less intense. If walking is easiest for you, plan to do that. If jumping in your regular virtual class is best, that’s your move. Whatever it is, it should take minimal planning or thought. It also should energize you and not exhaust you, so monitor the intensity that gives you that best boost.

Note: maybe one day during this busy week you have a little extra time, so like you would search for a new take out spot, maybe this is when you add a bit of a twist to your convenient workouts. Try a new walking route or a new virtual class. Keep it convenient, but with a little bit more effort.

Weeks that you’re feeling super motivated (weeks you're searching for new recipes and taking the time to go to the store): These are the days you want to be more ambitious with your workouts. Perhaps you’re finding a new fitness studio to try or you’re adding an extra workout in that week. Maybe these are the days you’re increasing your training volume with more sets, reps or resistance. Take the overall motivation you’re feeling and roll it into fitness.

The last note is that if you operate better with more of a schedule…meaning you do your grocery shopping on the same day each week, or plan meals out ahead of time, or perhaps sticks with Meatless Mondays, Taco Tuesdays and so on…you’d probably have more success and consistency if you approached fitness that same way. You could pick one day to plan your workouts for the week (or have someone do it for you) and just stick to the script. This means you don’t even have to stay motivated, you just follow your plan. 

I’m hoping you found this perspective interesting and some of you may find it a helpful strategy. I think at the very least it allows us all to realize that fitness is a lifestyle and you look beyond the short term. One day or one week isn’t going to throw off a lifestyle. By planning workouts like you do your meal, it allows you to manage the ups and downs of life during a pandemic, with a bit more flexibility and acceptance of uncertainty. If you’re on a motivation rollercoaster and feeling inconsistent in your workouts, I’d say stop resisting and see what happens if you treat your workouts like you do your meals.