By: Mandy McCollom

There’s something about back-to-school season that feels like a second New Year.  The alarm clocks get set a little earlier, calendars start filling up again, practices, homework, meetings, lunches, drop-offs and pick-ups suddenly have a place on the schedule.

Somewhere in the mix of getting everyone else back into a routine, you realize: oh yeah, I need a routine too.

If there’s one thing I want you to know as you settle into this new season, its this: Your routine doesn’t have to look like it did before in order to be successful.  A new season usually requires a new routine (or a couple of them). One of the biggest mistakes we make with fitness is believing there’s one “right” way to do it.  Maybe you had more time to work out during the summer, or maybe summer was complete chaos and you’ve been waiting for school to start so you can finally get some structure back. (And for the record, both of those things can be true at the same time.)

Either way, your schedule has changed.  Instead of trying to force your old routine into your new life, take a look at what your life actually looks like right now.

Here are a couple of questions to help you get there :

Where do you realistically have time to move?

Where can you make time?

When can you prep a few meals or proteins for the week?

Which days are packed and what is your bare minimum on those days?

Which days give you a little more breathing room?

What can you do consistently without feeling like your entire life has to revolve around your fitness plan?

Then you can begin to build your routine.

Don’t wait for the perfect day!

We have a tendency to create routines based on our best days.

I’ll work out for an hour.

I’ll cook every meal at home.

I’ll get 10,000 steps.

I’ll drink all my water.

I’ll go to bed early.

But then one meeting runs late or one person oversleeps, and it all goes awry.  When your routine hinges on your best day, one hiccup can send it all into a tailspin. This is where I want you to change the way you think about consistency.  Don’t only create a plan for your best days, create a backup plan too.

This is where my comment above about finding your bare minimum comes in. If you can’t do the 45-minute workout, can you do 20? If 20 isn’t happening, can you walk for 10? If dinner didn’t go according to plan, can you make the next choice one that supports your goals? Its truly about 2 things: 1) not giving up after one hiccup, and 2) just doing the next right thing.

One of my favorite reminders, that has become a catch phrase of mine among our clients, is that fitness doesn’t have to be all or nothing. It should be all or something.

There will be days when you can give 100%. Take advantage of those days!  There will also be days when you have 50%, or 20%, or what feels like 5%.  If you show up and give it what you have on THAT day, you can be proud of yourself and take the win! In fact, I think those are the days that make you better! Consistency isn’t doing everything perfectly every single day, its showing up whether you wanted to or not.

The beautiful thing here is that you can get a reset during this back-to-school season, along with the kids! Its an opportunity to take a look at how you can refresh some old habits and drop some of the bad ones! Look at what’s possible and doable for you in this season. And if it stretches you a little, that means you are growing! Be okay with doing someting imperfectly while you build. Real life isn’t linear and your path to health won’t be either.

Start with where you are, look at where you want to go, and form those routines to get you there. Sometimes it will be all and sometimes will be something, and both are moving you forward!