Dry January and setting personal body standards

Only four weeks of dry January helped Ian lose over 4% body fat. Besides clearly noticeable physique differences Ian reported being more energized, improved sleep, better cognition, and simply being happier overall!

Fitness is seasonal

How does dry January relate to personal body standards you might ask? Well, first of all, you have to understand that unless you are borderline neurotic or cruise blasting on a fair amount of steroids, it’s nearly impossible to stay lean year-round. Even more so when you have a business and family to run!
This is why I say fitness is seasonal, sometimes life just gets in the way, you lose a bit of motivation, you gain a few kilo’s and that’s perfectly fine as long as it is within certain boundaries you have set for yourself and overall there is some form of progression to been seen.

Setting personal body standards
In order to not let things spiral out of control, it is important you set standards for yourself! To negotiate with yourself and to articulate where you drow the line. It’s ok to enjoy a nice social life with some drinks, holidays, etc.. But I don’t allow myself to be this amount of weight, this body fat percentage or drink this amount of alcohol. By doing so you start to building a framework for yourself to work within, a framework in which you accept your personal flaws, where you might free yourself from feeling endless guilt and self-contempt over your own eating behaviors, and you might finally build a long-lasting relationship with your body, health and fitness!