February - Make It or Break It

We’ve all heard of the witching hour.  I believe that February is the witching month.  Many people start their new year off with resolution to lose weight, get in shape, and solve world hunger.  I put the three together because all are damned hard.  The good news is that the first two are within your control.  January is typically a month of strong willpower because the memories of our Holiday overindulgence are still fresh.  Then comes February, the month of broken promises and a return to our old ways.  January sucked so HARD with all the changes we made.  Our minds wander back to the “good old days” of indulgences and leisure time.  Of course, this analogy applies to any “second month” of a major life change.

I’m at the beginning of Year 2 on my fitness journey.  I remember distinctly that February was a tough month for the reasons above.  At first I pushed through it, but it continued to get worse.  I was lucky because I was so convicted in my goal, I continued to push through it.  But I’ve had many moments in the last year where it just seemed too hard.  My guess is if you are new to your “healthy” commitment, this month will be your first true test. 

If you are dealing with this phenomenon, then I recommend a counter-intuitive approach to “fixing” it.  Immersion.  Sit down in front of the computer and begin reading about health, diet, exercise.  If you are doing Crossfit, this is REALLY easy.  You can go with the “official” reading of the Crossfit Journal.  Or if you want some different perspectives, there are a ton of Crossfit spin-offs that use the same basic foundations from diet to workouts.  The point being is the more you read, the more convicted you become about the positive changes you are making.  The other point is:  it doesn’t take a whole lot of hard work :D and so you have NO excuse to avoid it.  Give it a try.

The next thing to focus on is you have about 3 months before “summer” and associated clothing arrives.  You can significantly impact your body in 3 months.  You can lose 30 lbs and build a ton of muscle and cardio health.  BUT, you can’t do that if you have a major false start in February.  Recommitting in March actually puts you TWO month behind versus staying committed in February.  You will lose ALL of the progress you made in January and the opportunity to get better for February.  It isn’t a 10 lbs swing, it’s more like 15 – 20.  DON’T lose February AND January.  You’ve come too far.