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Summary
On episode 643 of 40+ Fitness, Coach Allan continues his three-part series on why we fail to reach our health and fitness goals, covering the second reason: we let life get in the way.
Recording while traveling through Europe for a month to celebrate his 10-year anniversary, Allan uses his own trip as a live example of what he calls a “detour,” a period when you step off your normal routine, whether planned or unplanned.
He lays out how to prepare for a detour before it happens, how to plan your way back onto track once it ends, and why resetting your expectations mid-detour matters as much as the plan itself.
Links
- https://40plusfitness.com
Key Takeaways
- The second core reason we fail is letting life become an excuse to quit. Allan calls interruptions “detours,” a temporary off-ramp from your health and fitness path, and says the real failure point is treating a detour as a reason to stop entirely.
- Planned detours (travel, big events) can be prepared for in advance. Before his own month-long trip, Allan researched what gyms, tracks, and activity options would be available on the cruise ship and in each city so he wouldn’t be caught without options.
- You also need a plan for re-entry, not just for the detour itself. Allan describes blocking calendar time for workouts after he returns and lining up a coach for accountability so the transition back to normal life doesn’t stall out.
- Unplanned detours (illness, family emergencies, injury) require faster adaptation with less notice. Allan says the process is the same as a planned detour, just compressed: quickly research what food, gym, or activity options are actually available in the new situation.
- Resetting your expectations during a detour is essential. If a goal was to lose 20 pounds in two months, a month-long disruption may mean it takes three or four months instead, and that’s fine as long as you’re still moving forward.
- Some progress during a detour beats stopping completely. Allan says scaling back from six planned workouts a week to two or three, rather than zero, keeps momentum alive even when circumstances aren’t ideal.
- Most people quit specifically when life gets in the way. Allan points out that since life is always going to throw something at you, treating every detour as a reason to stop means never actually reaching your goals.
- Having a coach for accountability makes navigating detours easier. Allan mentions he’s considering hiring a coach himself for when he returns from his trip, specifically to hold him accountable and push him harder than he’d push himself.
“Some progress is better than none.”
Coach Allan
Another Episode You May Enjoy
Episode 150 – Health and Fitness Foundations
Episode Notes
Podcast: 40+ Fitness
Episode: 643
Published: 2024-05-21
Host: Allan Misner (aka Coach Allan), author of The Wellness Roadmap
Guest(s): —, our co-host, Coach Rachel
Listen & Subscribe: Apple Podcasts · Spotify · YouTube (audio only)