It’s not a program….It’s a lifestyle!

Hi, hope you are doing great! I had a client that was moving away ask me what was the last piece of health and fitness advice I was going to give them. This got me thinking, what if I could only write one more blog post, what would I say?

In the book “The 7 Habits of Highly Successful People” by Steven Covey, he says that you should begin with the end in mind. Think about what it would mean to you to be healthy and fit later in your life. You will be able to run around and play with your grand kids. You will have lots of energy to be able to do what you want. You will have a much higher quality of life. I know people now that are in their 80′s that still drive, go to the mall, and do public speaking and still ride a bike! They get up every morning and work out and do their cardio. It is very inspiring to see people like that have a very high quality of life! It’s great to want to look good for right now, or for your wedding or vacation. But it won’t stick unless you make it part of your lifestyle!

1. It’s not a program, it’s a lifestyle…. I was lucky, I grew up playing sports and being very active, so it is very easy for me to make fitness part of my lifestyle. I always ask my clients what they like to do for fun. They tell me things like hiking, biking, camping, and so on. I’m like great, this is going to be easy. Then I ask, when was the last time you did any of that? The usual answer is,  “I haven’t done any of that in years!”

You have to make it fun. We were meant to have fun. If you can make fitness fun, I guarantee you will do it more often. Make it a priority to do the things you used to do. Who ever said you had to stop riding your bike or go hiking, or ice skating. Learn to be more active and have fun again. If you can’t learn to do this working out is going to be a chore and be very hard to make it part of your lifestyle. 

You have to be consistent. You can’t sprint to being healthy and fit. You have to take it one day a time. It doesn’t do you much good if you workout really hard for a week and then take two weeks off.

You have to make it part of your routine…. Try to do something active everday. You don’t always have to work out with weights or get on the treadmill. Just try to be more active. Most people these days have office jobs and are not very active at work. The first thing they do when they get home is sit down in front of the tv. They are mentally drained from work and don’t feel like doing anything. Going for a walk during lunch or as soon as you get home is a great way to re-energize yourself so you will have more motivation to do more when you get home.

Did you know that most people start and stop their workout programs in the same week? It’s true. Most people don’t even stick with a program long enough to even feel the results let alone see any! Do me a favor and promise yourself to give your fitness program at least 90 days so you can experience what it feels like to be on a path to health and fitness.

I couldn’t imagine going through life not being active or exercising. I know what if feels like if I miss even 3 or 4 days of working out. Most people don’t know how good it feels to be fit. So give it 90 days, see how good it feels to be fit and I promise you will never want to go back!

It is much easier to make fitness a part of your lifestyle if the people you hang out with are fit and like to do active things. I get this all the time, “None of my friends like to work out, all they like to do is go to the bars and hang out.” I tell them they need to get new friends. It’s the truth. As we get older our priorities change and we may not have as much in common as we used to with the friends we grew up with. Well you know what, you are not too old to make new friends. I had no idea that when I started my boot camp that all the women would become really good friends. They are running during the week together and also going dancing and getting massages. Boot camp is a great place to meet other like minded people to help you make fitness a part of your lifestyle. If boot camp is not for you there are a ton more options, you have running clubs, hiking clubs, walking clubs, sailing clubs and so on.  You can go to meetup.com and find a group for just about anything!

So if your old friends are dragging you down and don’t want to be the best person they can be, come to boot camp and get in the best shape of your life and find that kick butt workout partner! So to sum it all up…..There is no “program” to being healthy and fit just the “lifestyle”. And it’s a pretty good one if you ask me!