Winning At Fitness

Do you ever find yourself wondering what the deal is with fitness? Why are some people successful at it and other people…well, not so much? Why is it it that for some people this passion becomes an obsession, and yet for others it feels more like a nagging, crippling desirably avoidable event? How do you actually go from hating and feeling ashamed by it to craving it?

The answer: they made it a lifestyle.

When we think of fitness and getting in shape, the words diet, exercise program or challenge come to mind. These words are often interchangeable, but they are highly misleading. Being successful and winning at fitness is backed by a change in your lifestyle. If we think of it in terms of being temporary, then your results too will temporary.

So how do you make your fitness part of your lifestyle?

1. Learn to love your body. This might be the hardest thing, especially when we are all so critical of ourselves. At any given moment I can instantly pick out 10 things I wish I could change about my body/appearance. But what I realized is we have to learn to love and appreciate our bodies for what they do and allow us to do each day. From there we can build on that love and take better care of ourselves which will allow us to get closer to the bodies (aesthetically and functionally) of our dreams.
2. Realize that it never ends. Everyday is another step in our journey, although hopefully there will come a day where you feel like its more on auto pilot.
3. Habit stacking. We must identify the habits that we have that are keeping us from our goals and remove those barriers. From there we need to add in more of the habits that support our goals. Once we have our good/supportive habits in place, we need to continue stacking those habits so we have a solid foundation for our daily activities. This balancing and stacking of goal-supportive habits will create the lifestyle that we desire.
4. Understand that there will be ups and downs. From body aches, tiredness, general life, love and work interferences, there’s always going to be something that creeps up trying to distract us. Roll with it, focus on what you can control and know that regardless of what may try to get in the way, that you can’t lose when you’re working on yourself.
5. Routinely revisit, assess and adjust your goals. Keep track of your habits and goals. This will allow you to make changes when needed and see the progress that you’ve made.
6. Celebrate the small wins! Did you make it to the gym today? Great! Were you able to drink a little more water today? High five! Did you push yourself a little harder today? Excellent! Did you listen to your body and give it the rest it needed? Even better! These little celebrations add up to BIG results and give you some much needed encouragement and morale boosts along the way.