PERRY BUCHANAN: The first 100 days of a fitness plan

In a recent article, I wrote about the power of changing poor lifestyle choices to healthier habits in 21 days. To really ensure a more successful outcome, the longer you practice certain behaviors, the more likely you will successfully change. If you had begun a consistent fitness plan at the first of the year, you would now be more than 100 days into your fitness journey.

We hear a lot lately about the first 100 days of the presidency. The “first hundred days” was coined way back in 1933 during the term of Franklin D. Roosevelt. Since then, it has been used to measure the achievements of a first-term presidency. It is generally believed that the first 100 days is when the president’s influence is greatest, and any accomplishments can be a gauge of future possible successes.

We, unfortunately, don’t have any control over how a president will conduct his first 100 days, but we do have control in the choices we make that affect our health and fitness. Every journey starts with a single step. Just as every presidency begins with the first 100 days, starting a consistent fitness program and changing lifestyle behaviors also can benefit from a 100-day plan.

What challenges us, changes us. You may have seen different 100-day fitness challenges that seem to be constantly promoted on social media. These can be entertaining and beneficial, but unlike a 100-day fitness challenge, the 100-day plan that I propose is a process that you can carry forward for the rest of your life. The transformational power of a 100-day plan lies in “the 1 percent solution.”

One percent may sound insignificant, but it will add up to a major change in a relatively short period of time if you consistently make daily progress. If you commit yourself to making 1 percent improvement each day, the logical result must be that you will be 100 percent better after 100 days of daily follow-through. In reality, this way of thinking may be exaggerated, but it can be a motivating and effective mindset to have.

The 100-day plan doesn’t have to be about hitting 100 days in a row. It’s tough to maintain a consistent fitness program, if not impossible, with holidays, birthdays and other life events getting in the way.

This plan lets life happen, all the while keeping you focused on the long term. In an average week, your best bet may be hitting six days out of seven, allowing you one day to relax and enjoy time with your friends.

When measuring your weight loss, it’s also important to base it on the days, not the weeks. One hundred days is 15 weeks if you don’t miss any, but by allowing off-days, you will actually extend the number of weeks to reach your specific goals. It doesn’t have to be 100 consecutive days, but keep it reasonable. One hundred days extending as long as six months is OK, but don’t extend it 25 years!

It takes time to get a program to stick. Being fit for the rest of your life is about changing your habits. That’s why crash diets that last two, three and four weeks fail. You go on them and off them. When they’re over, they’re over. Most diets and extreme exercise programs fail due to unrealistic expectations.

The point of a 100-day plan is to slowly get you to change your eating habits, for good, over time, and get you exercising on a consistent basis. After 100 days, hopefully your new habits will stick. It’s like muscle memory. You’re training to be a better you. The first 100-day mark is not the end of your plan; it’s the end of the beginning. When you make it, you’ll have become so used to eating healthier and working out daily it will have become part of your routine. Since it isn’t punishment based, you’ll be more likely to want to continue.

You can begin the 100-day plan anytime, but the best day to begin is … today. Today is the day you set a goal and take step one towards a better, healthier you. Count today as day one hundred and one. Then count down over the next 100 days to become a better, healthier version of yourself. All you’ve got to do is get it together for 100 days. It’s not that long of a time, but it’s plenty long enough to change your life for the better. Give it 100 days and you’ll see a better you.

Perry Buchanan, owner of PT Gym, is certified as an Exercise Physiologist through the American College of Sports Medicine, and Fitness Nutrition Specialist through the National Academy of Sports Medicine. Email him at [email protected]. Follow @ptgym on Twitter.