Accountable to My Goals…You Promised to Help!

On July 9, 2020
By Chaya Ben-Shabat
0 Comments

Okie doke…it’s time to stay accountable!!!

A 4-month assessment of my 22-month Nutrition & Fitness Goal

As some of you are aware, back in March of this year, I embarked on a 22-month Nutrition & Fitness goal.

Of course, we all know that staying accountable is one of the not-so-secret super powers of all Superhumans, so I’m going to practice what I preach and share a quick update with you here. Especially since you promised to hold me accountable!

My goals for the 22 Months are as follows:

Eliminate all remaining processed foods from my diet.
Permanently transform my mindset and create a new baseline lifestyle of ongoing health for longevity.
Upgrade my life patterns in the areas of physical fitness and nutrition to “consistency over time” versus only very short-term sprints.
Develop long-term integrity with myself in the arena of nutrition. (I am usually super healthy, but with crazy “cheat streaks”. Makes no sense whatsoever to my long-term life goals!)
Shed roughly 10 – 15% body fat and maintain my new physique as an ongoing lifestyle versus a lifelong roller coaster of weight loss and gain.
Master full pull-ups.
Use an 18-month body-building program as my tool for gaining strength and a community platform to help me increase my knowledge, troubleshoot any challenges, and help me remain accountable to myself overall.

I’ve now completed four months (131 days to be exact), so I figured it’s a good time to stop and assess my progress thus far.

veggie, fruit and protein smoothie for breakfast — **My typical breakfast**

A quick re-cap:

I was already starting off pretty “healthy”, but I wanted to clean up the lingering bad habits that I was ready to release from my diet. So, the first 56 days were focused solely on getting my nutrition solid and remaining consistent with my existing cardio.
On Day 57, I officially began the 18-month body-building program. I’m now in Week 10 of the program.
(Side note: other than training for a marathon, I’ve never stuck with any fitness program beyond 12 weeks. I totally bought into all the programming from the media of all the 4, 6, and 12-week challenges. It never crossed my mind that the reason I was never creating the body I wanted is because I had ZERO long-term consistency over time with the habits that will produce my desired results.)
(Side note #2: getting beyond a mindset of only cardio and all-or-nothing on nutrition is essential for my long-term success!!)

How do I assess my progress thus far?

It’s a VERY good thing I’m tracking meticulously. It’s a game changer. It took two solid months to finally get a good, healthy rhythm with my nutrition, and I never would have been aware of all my days off the wagon if I weren’t tracking. But I promised myself in the beginning I would do two things, no matter what: 1) track like a maniac, even if I don’t like what I have to write down, and 2) keep going even when I’m feeling like a loser.
My scale has barely moved, my measurements are SLIGHTLY smaller in some areas, and I can hardly see a difference in my progress pics. HOWEVER…
I know I’m definitely getting stronger, because I’m tracking my weights, and my lightest weights now have almost surpassed the heaviest weights I was lifting in the beginning.
My mindset has also made a massive shift already. I don’t even have an inner discussion on whether I will work out or whether I’ll eat garbage. I’ve been extremely consistent on my exercise since I started the body-building program, and I’ve been solid on my nutrition since then as well.
Last week I had one major epiphany re why I’m not losing any body fat, and after an experiment this week, I’ve already been able to notice some changes. So, I’m going to keep going…and keep monitoring.

What am I doing right now to reach my goals?

Here’s my daily action plan:

Making a plan and sticking to it is part of staying accountable

Currently I spend roughly 2.5 hours per day on my personal fitness:
- I do a ninety-minute walk every morning, which I call my ESPM Power Hour. (ESPM = emotional, spiritual, physical, mental.) The purpose of the walk is two-fold: cardiovascular health and a specific series of meditations and visualizations that I practice each day. (So, to be fair, this time is a double-whammy where I”m also investing in my personal development, not just my physical health.)
- In the afternoons, I spend a little over an hour lifting weights. (Supposedly, I should be able to accomplish the entire workout in under an hour, but I’m not there yet.) Then, when I have time, I try to finish off with a quick and aggressive 20-minute HIIT run on the treadmill.

Should I be discouraged?

With all of this time and energy invested, it’s tempting to become discouraged with my lack of visual progress over a four-month time-period, but I keep my eye on a few key points:

My goal is the long-game, not the short-game.
I’m working to achieve my goal using VERY different nutrition than what is typically recommended in body-building programs. Most vegans load up on protein powders and tofu, and while I have definitely followed that path in the past, it is not something that will help me reach my ultimate goal of longevity. So, my goal now is VERY different. I’m working to completely rebuild my body using only WHOLE, PLANT-BASED foods. This has required me to completely wipe the slate clean and start from scratch in my knowledge base of how to manipulate my body.
It’s slow-going in the beginning, but I’m extremely confident I’ll get there.
Right now, I just have to stay the course and refuse to be a short-term wimp!

Where do I go from here?

Next week, I begin Phase 2 of the Body-Building Program, so I’m excited to step it up a notch, now that I’ve got the basic foundation in place.

With the exception of slow visual results, I’m actually very happy with my progress.

Happy face balloons to celebrate small wins on the journey

Here’s what I’m celebrating:

I’ve been consistent on nutrition, weight training, cardio, and SLEEP for 10 consecutive weeks!
My mindset is now locked in, and I’m totally focused on the long game.
I’ve moved beyond the temptations to sabotage myself.
I didn’t quit during the first NINE weeks of inconsistency where I was wrestling through start/stop patterns, scheduling challenges, nutrition experiments, and all sorts of other creative excuses
STRENGTH!! I’m definitely getting stronger.
Clarity: I’ve homed in on my desired outcome. I’ve created a visual movie in my head where I do a routine of a certain number of various types of pull-ups, followed by hanging sit-ups, and finishing off with various types of push-ups. I rehearse it in my mind every morning during my ESPM Power Walk. It’s the ultimate manifestation of my desire to rebuild my entire body, mind, and soul.

So…..last but certainly not least…

Why on earth am I sharing all of this with you?

Well, firstly, it’s a great exercise for me to stay accountable! But much more importantly, I hope it will be a source of encouragement for you.

Insights worth sharing:

It’s important to absorb that champions do the hard work even when it’s not pretty.
Total transformation requires sticking with your plan, staying accountable LONG after the excitement wears off.
Sometimes the plan may not even seem to be working! That doesn’t mean we chunk the plan and go back to mediocrity. Rather, we experiment, tweak, seek counsel…and keep going.
Most of the time, creating a complete metamorphosis is very mundane work. We’re likely to get bored with ourselves. This is why the tracking is critical, so we don’t lose sight of our focus.
Rebuilding your identity takes a lot of work and a lot of time. I’ve made some intentional choices to put other areas of my life on the back burner, so that I can dedicate sufficient daily time to accomplishing my goal, and stay accountable while doing so. Twenty-two months is significant. Not everyone would be willing or able to do what I’m doing. And you don’t need to do what I’m doing, because it’s not YOUR goal. But you definitely must ask yourself: does my daily schedule reflect an investment of energy in the goals that I SAY I’m working on?

Does YOUR daily schedule reflect your main priorities, the goals you’re most passionate about, and the outcome you want to create?! And, will you stay accountable?

Wish me luck in Phase 2, and I’ll keep you posted on my progress!

All my love,

Chaya