The Pace That Actually Gets You There

Have you ever noticed how often we celebrate going all in?

We admire the person who suddenly starts going to the gym five days a week. The one who cuts out sugar overnight. The one who decides this Monday is going to be different.

Three weeks later?

They're exhausted, frustrated, and wondering why they can't stick with it.

I've seen it hundreds of times over the last 20+ years of coaching.

But here's something I've also noticed...

Sometimes we go too far in the opposite direction.

Someone tells me they're "taking it slow," but they're only exercising once a week. They're making one healthy meal every few days, celebrating that occasional win and waiting until they "feel motivated" before doing anything again.

Both approaches have the same problem.

Neither creates enough consistency to move you forward.

Years ago, when I first learned my family has hypermobile Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome (hEDS), someone explained energy to us using the "spoon theory."

Imagine you wake up each morning with 12 spoons.

One spoon goes toward making breakfast.

Another for showering and getting dressed.

One for your commute.

A work meeting.

A workout.

Making dinner.

Helping the kids.

By noon, if you've used all your spoons, the rest of the day becomes incredibly difficult.

For someone living with chronic illness, pacing isn't optional. It's how they make it through the day.  

I think there's something all of us can learn from that.

Pacing isn't just about slowing down.

It's about managing your energy wisely.

But here's the part we don't talk about enough...

Pacing doesn't mean doing so little that nothing changes.

If you work out once a week but spend the other six days sitting, your body spends far more time adapting to being inactive than it does becoming stronger.  The same is true with nutrition.

One healthy meal won't outweigh days of convenience foods.

One walk doesn't erase a week without movement.

Our bodies adapt to what we do “most often”.

That's where progress lives.

As we move through the years surrounding menopause, this becomes even more important.  Our hormones are already changing. Recovery takes a little longer.   Stress has a bigger impact.

Our bodies don't respond well to extremes anymore.

They respond to support.

Support through nourishing food.

Support through strength training.

Support through regular movement.

Support through enough recovery to do it again tomorrow.

Have you ever known someone who works out hard, eats well, and still isn't making progress?

Sometimes it isn't because they're not working hard enough.

It's because they're working too hard.

They're constantly pushing into exhaustion.

Skipping recovery.

Sleeping poorly.

Living in a state of stress.

The body doesn't thrive there.

On the other hand, if we're only asking our bodies to move once in a while, they don't have enough reason to adapt and become stronger.

The sweet spot is somewhere in the middle.

We need:

Enough challenge to grow.

Enough recovery to rebuild.

That’s why pacing for optimal energy is one of the cornerstones I use both in my training and my online program, The Revitalize Method ™.   To give you enough consistency that healthy choices become what you do most of the time—not just when you're motivated.

That's what pacing really is. 

Not fast.

Not slow.

Sustainable.

Because the goal isn't to win this week.

It's to win in the long run - to build a body that still feels strong, capable, and energized years from now.

This week, ask yourself the question, “What am I doing the majority of the time?”

Because your body is always adapting to your majority, not your occasional best day.

And - if you’d like to have a conversation about pacing, I’m here.

Keep shining,

Kim