Reset weeks

Get back on track.

Every few months I notice my habits/ behaviours slipping…

Shorter workouts,

More missed sessions,

Lazy nutrition (relying on protein bars),

Going to bed later, waking up later,

Lower mood & lower productivity.

Essentially getting a bit sloppy.

Not the standards I hold myself to & not the actions that are going to produce the outcomes I want.

When this happens this is what I do…

A reset week.

The aim: reset my routine and imbed strong habits.

This is a week where I am pretty tough on myself for a week.

It’s not about flexibility or balance. Rare to hear me say that! - but this week isn’t.

It’s about discipline and proving to yourself that you can set yourself high standards & meet them.

It’s about re engraining habits.

One of the best times to do a reset week is after a holiday.

I really like the pattern interrupt of a holiday and I use it with clients to help reset, refocus and come back with some intention.

A holiday messes up your routine which is often seen as a negative but I like to reframe it into a positive.

Most of us start things (diets/exercise regimes etc) with good intentions and then slowly your behaviours start to sway slightly. Its what is known as regression to the mean (average).

Having a reset week every now and again puts you back on track and post holiday is a great time for this.

Here is my guide to reset weeks:

1) These aren’t meant to be easy or flexible. It’s about being disciplined for a week because after that it gets a lot easier, you’re re building trust in yourself that you do the things you said you were going to do.

2) Set realistic targets - don’t over promise this negates the whole point of rebuild trust with yourself

Use range targets.

3) Imbed a routine - this week is all about create a solid routine which means its pointless to set yourself unrealistic targets that you can’t maintain

4) Use this week as a reminder to live intentionally and curate the life you want.

You only get one.

5) specifically for if you are doing this post holiday - weigh yourself AFTER your reset week NOT before.

Example:

Here is what my most recent reset week looked like (yours will look different as you’re not me & these are based on my goals but it’s here as an idea)

Bed time:
non negotiable: 11.30pm (don’t judge me, this has to be realistic)
optimal: 10pm

Workouts:
non negotiable: 3 workouts over 30mins
optimal: 5 workouts over 30mins

Steps:
non negotiable: 12,000
optimal: 14,000

Diet:
non negotiable: no more than 1 protein bar a day
optimal: 2 per week

To reiterate.. this week is NOT about balance.

It’s a ‘re-setting the standards you expect of yourself’ for a week.

No excuses for a week because you are absolutely capable of that and sometimes you need to remind yourself.

This is why it’s important to set realistic targets…or in other words not to make promises to yourself that you can’t keep.

Realistic range targets take away your excuse to give up when you can’t be perfect because you know that the lower target is well within your reach even if shit hits the fan.

More on range targets here.

I hope this has been useful!

If you want some support to feel your best and lose fat in the process click here