Yes, this notion is spurred by some posts I've read lately

Since the 10th of September, I've been putting a concerted effort into losing weight. I'm tracking food, exercise, weight and measurements.
I eat well more days than I don't. I exercise more days than I don't.
For me ... that's pretty consistent. I have done a lot worse. I could do a lot better.

How do you feel about your level of consistency?
How do you monitor how consistent you've been?
How do you feel about your answers to those questions?
What's your interpretation of consistency?

Whoohoo! Good job, Susan! (:

I'm slowly beginning to get back on track with healthy, non-binging eating habits after I got sick 2 - 3 weeks ago, found myself inside more often without much to do, and started snacking on junk food and gained these bad eating habits. D: For awhile I was doing what's called yo-yo dieting, trying to eat super few calories one day, then just binging the next day (unintentionally, of course, but it happened anyways).

Right now the only consistency I can attest to are my unhealthy snacking habits, haha. But hopefully I can become more consistent with eating healthfully and not binging!

Do you have any tips for staying consistent with exercise and eating?

My idea of consistency is not throwing in the towel. I have good days, I have bad days. I exercise religiously. Food is my major problem, sometimes I do well and sometimes I don't.

With food, perfection is unattainable. Even if I only have 1200 calories I end up feeling guilty (they weren't the "right kind" of calories, the salad wasn't "organic," or "I could've eaten even less."). That's my eating disorder speaking, there's always something to obsess about with food. Food is guilt and frustration so no matter how healthy I eat I still feel bad and end up over eating. I'm very consistent about that!

I feel bad when I have those bad days where I overeat... but what can I do? At least I'm picking myself up and moving forward each time I mess up.

steadfast adherence to the same principles, course, form, etc.:

The above is from dictionary.com

And to me that is what consistency is about. Repeating the same behaviors over and over again.

I really, really think that consistency, staying with one's program, is the key to losing weight steadily and well, consistently. Without that consistency there's that constant yo-yo-ing.

Persistence and perseverance, now that's a whole other ball game.

Susan, keep on stringing together those good days. The more you've got of em', the "easier" this weight loss thing will be. Keep up the good work!!!

I'm pretty comfortable with my level of consistency - from the day I decided I was going to do this in May to today I have not had one day where I forgot what I was doing or decided not to do it. I have had days (on vacation) where I have intentionally raised my calories to maintenance level but did not abandon my basic principle (which is "only eat foods that are worth it") and I have had days where I barely ate anything/only ate really disgusting food (I spent a week at my BIL's babysitting my nephew... not a banner food week - mostly string cheese and deli turkey), but I have at no point given up or forgotten or lost sight of what I am doing. Everything I do is intentional. And as a very, very bad binge eater/food hoarder in the past, that is what I need to do. Everything has to be intentional. I cannot allow things to "just happen", because if I let things "just happen" I am back to eating $20 worth of chinese food and $10 worth of burger king in two hours.

I monitor how consistent I am by recording everything (mentally now, I was getting a bit weird about journalling). I thankfully was a dedicated journaller during my binge eating and I read those posts and I say to myself, Denise, you are never more than one step away. Forget, and you're back there.

I'm perfectly satisfied with my answer to those questions as I know what does and does not work for me and I have not felt the need to never waffle on things. More and more foods have been moved to the "not worth it" column for me as I go on. Initially, I thought it would be the opposite - that I would start out slashing things out left and right and slowly add them back in. But no, I've really figured out what is and isn't worth it to me.

I cannot be consistent in anything I`m not enjoying. That`s why my previous diets have not worked for longer than 2 weeks, and I feel the same with excercising. I enjoy running, and I do it several times a week (although not when I don`t have time). I know I should do weights etc, too, but I hate it so I just won`t stick with it. Accepting this took a lot of the pressure away.

I'm consistently injuring myself!!

I've been pretty consistent with my weight loss, even though it sometimes frustrates me. I go to Weightwatchers, and when I see people losing 3, 4, sometimes 5 or 6lbs a week, I get frustrated that, as usual, I'm sitting there with my 1lb gone. But those are the same people who'll gain a lb or two the next week, whereas I've lost another 1lb.

I think it's better to do things gently and slowly, with consistency, rather than quickly, extremely and at a level that you won't be able to keep up. This isn't until you've lost the weight, this is forever!

I've tried to eat more sensibly, or go to the gym a bit more, rather than 1000 calories and 2hrs at the gym every day. It's not realistic, and you won't keep it up.

I'm reading a lot of you to say that consistency is a smoother progress line ... does that sound like what you meant?

Each day, knowing what needs to be done and doing the best you can under the circumstances. Never jumping in at health-threatening depths and never setting the whole plan aside. Knowing that one bout of overeating or one bout of missed exercise is just a blip, not a failure.

Susan, actually for me, it's not always about doing "my best". Especially in the beginning. My best wouldn't have cut it. Nu-uh. I had to do what was required. Under whatever circumstances. Changing the circumstances didn't change the requirement. Doing my best at that point was simply not enough. I had to go ABOVE my best and do what was necessary to get the job done. I had to create a new "best". Not sure if I'm making much sense here.

This has been bugging me. I just want to elaborate here for a sec.

When I say that doing my best was not enough. Well, because it wasn't. I had to step outside of my comfort zone. Go into unexplored territory. It WAS uncomfortable - at first. If I had told myself that it was "okay" to just do my best. Well, I wouldn't have gotten very far. I would have been giving myself permission to stay with what was familiar and known and never ventured into that new arena. It is a little risky, stepping into those untested waters, but once you're in there and you allow (force) yourself to stay in there - firmly- regardless of comfort, you've got to hold onto the fact that the so called discomfort will eventually BECOME comfortable. And it does.

If you don't step outside that comfort zone, if you don't strive to do BETTER then your best, how does one ever grow????????

I try to remember that I become what I practice every day. This is true for all sorts of things--healthy weight included. I agree that (for me) it's not a good idea to do things over the top--like exercising 4 hours a day or eating 500 calories daily. I was serious as I began in June '08 but wanted something doable long-term. For me that meant, no gym, no trainers, no meal delivery systems and nothing that would require anything outside of myself. I will admit I had a lot to learn. The first couple of months I was eating Lean Cuisines twice a day and hungry. I realized there HAD to be another way. I started educating myself and tweaking my program.

Oh, and I agree with what RR is saying about stepping outside your comfort zone. When I first began walking and exercising around my neighborhood I thought people would snicker. I even felt that way when I would be at the store looking through the frozen diet entrees. But, it was time for me to put myself at the top of my priority list. This was WAY outside my comfort zone and in complete contrast to what I had been doing for years.

But it's not about perfection (whatever the H that is).

And your best can get better as you learn and grow????

From one of my favorite Nicolas Cage movies, The Rock (from memory, any errors are mine):

"'I'll try my best.' Your best? Your best?? Losers always whinge about 'their best.' Winners go home and **** the prom queen." -Sean Connery

I think that about sums it up Robin.