Don't Let the Summer Holidays Derail Your Progress

Every summer, I hear the same conversations.

"I'll start again in September."

"Everything's gone out of the window since the kids broke up."

"I'll get back into a routine once life settles down."

As a coach, I completely understand why women feel this way. The summer holidays often bring a complete change to daily life. School routines disappear, childcare increases, holidays are planned, social events become more frequent and suddenly the structure that made exercise and healthy habits feel manageable is gone.

The mistake many women make, however, is believing that a change in routine means they've failed.

The reality is that life was never designed to stay the same. There will always be holidays, birthdays, busy periods at work, family commitments and unexpected challenges. If our health only exists when life is perfectly organised, then we're setting ourselves up for disappointment because life is rarely perfect for very long.

One of the biggest lessons I've learned from coaching women over the last ten years is that lasting progress isn't built during perfect weeks. It's built during imperfect ones. It's built when you adapt instead of giving up, when you fit in a twenty-minute walk instead of an hour-long workout, or when you simply make the next positive choice rather than waiting for Monday, next month or September.

I often describe this as the positive snowball effect. One small decision has a habit of leading to another. A walk improves your mood, better mood leads to better sleep, better sleep gives you more energy and more energy makes it easier to move your body again the following day. Before you know it, you've created momentum without completely overhauling your life.

The opposite can happen just as easily. Missing one workout can quickly become believing you've "fallen off track". Guilt creeps in, motivation drops and suddenly one missed session turns into weeks of doing nothing—not because you weren't capable, but because you convinced yourself you'd already failed.

The truth is that your progress isn't defined by one holiday, one barbecue or one missed workout. It's shaped by what you do consistently over time. Health and fitness should fit around your life, not compete with it.

So if your routine looks different over the next few weeks, that's okay. Maybe your gym sessions become family walks, trips to the park or a quick workout while the children are occupied. Maybe your meals aren't perfectly planned every day. None of that means you've lost your progress.

This summer, try replacing perfection with consistency. Give yourself permission to enjoy the memories you're making without feeling guilty, and remember that every positive choice—no matter how small—is still moving you forwards.

Because lasting progress isn't about never being knocked off course.

It's about becoming the person who always finds their way back.