4. Begin Your Journey
“Fitness – if it came in a bottle, everybody would have a great body.” — Cher
It is true that everyone would love to have a great body. It is also true that to get a great body takes dedication and hard work. If it was easy to have a great body, obesity would not be an epidemic in this country. Everybody wants a great looking body, but not everybody is willing to do what it takes to get one. Why not? Let’s look at 2 reasons, and counter them with solutions.
I am just too busy. I do not have enough time in my day to workout.
Here is a little secret to starting a fitness plan – a little bit goes a long way. Start off slowly. Can you find just 15 minutes somewhere during your day to take a brisk walk around your neighbor- hood? Walking is arguably the healthiest, simplest form of exercise you can do. It is an excellent low impact, aerobic exercise that your body does naturally anyway. In this case, just walk faster. Do this 3 times a week. You will find that you will begin to enjoy this exercise enough to schedule more days during the week and you will start walking longer distances. You will feel energized. In fact, working out is addicting. Soon you will be on your way to creating a full blown fitness program for yourself.
I hate dieting. Diets do not work anyway. I always gain the weight right back.
Begin changing your eating habits. Do not completely overhaul all of your meals at once. Slow- ly introduce healthier meals and snacks into your life. Be sure to select choices that are both healthy and tasty. It will take some effort, but you can find meals that are healthy and that you enjoy. One of the reasons why fast food is so addicting is because it tastes so good. Replace good tasting junk food, with great tasting healthy food. Over time, your food preferences will change for the better.
5. Reward Yourself (from time to time)
“I just think you should eat less of everything. A little bit less. I don’t want to live a life where you can’t have what you want; it just makes you want it more.” — Drew Barrymore
We talk a lot about all of the hard work and sacrifice needed to reach your fitness goals. Those things are all very important. However, it is also important to reward yourself. Everyone wants to be acknowledged and rewarded for their efforts. So do you.
How can you reward yourself? Treat yourself to your favorite dessert, high calorie fast food combo for lunch, or some other guilty food pleasure. Enjoy it. Remember, if you are lifting weights, eating healthy, and doing cardiovascular exercises regularly, you are constantly burning fat. Your body can and will devour those extra calories without any problems, assuming you continue your fitness routine. So go ahead and reward yourself.
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How can you reward yourself?
Source: Internet
There are dangers in not rewarding yourself from time to time. We all have sweet tooth crav- ings to some degree. Most people love to have a beer or a glass of wine, chocolate cake and ice cream, or a cheese burger and fries. If you constantly deprive yourself of these things, the craving may get to a point of binging. This would be counterproductive to your fitness goals. Set small, interim goals for yourself. Once you hit those goals, enjoy your hard work. Indulge yourself for a moment. Then, get back to work to hit the next goal. Just like with your fitness program, you have to have days where you rest and allow your body to recoup and rebuild. You also need to pat yourself on the back to tell yourself “Great job hitting that goal. I’m going to celebrate tonight over pizza and beer! Then tomorrow, I’m going to get back to work and stay on track.”
6. Mind Over Mastter
“If you’re trying to achieve, there will be roadblocks. I’ve had them; everybody has had them. But obstacles don’t have to stop you. If you run into a wall, don’t turn around and give up. Figure out how to climb it, go through it, or work around it.” —
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Clik here to view.Michael Jordan – Source: Internet
There will be obstacles in life. There will be setbacks. There will be reasons to quit. However, it is not what happens to us. It is how we respond to what happens to us. Achieving any goal requires mental strength and fortitude. You must be determined to not let anything, ANYTHING, stand in your way.
To arrive at success, you must traverse your way through failure. Micheal Jordan once said he missed more then 9,000 shots in his career; lost almost 300 games; was trusted by his team to take the game winning shot and missed – 26 times! He said, ”I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why… I succeed.” For these reasons, Micheal Jordan is, arguably, the most successful and influential athlete of our time. Even in his retirement as a professional ath- lete, his athletic shoes are among the most expensive and best selling shoes on the market.
So how about you? Do you have the mental strength and fortitude to achieve your fitness goals? Do you have the determination to traverse through life’s roadblocks and obstacles to get where you want to go? Reaching your fitness goals is like running a marathon. When you begin, the finish line is nowhere in sight. The only person that will get you there is you! Sure, others along side the road will cheer you on. But you are the runner. You have to put in the work. A personal trainer will show you what to do, and encourage you as you perform every single repetition. But you are the one that has to perform each repetition. If you focus on getting the work done, getting stronger, leaner, looking better, and feeling better, you will soon turn a corner. And there it is; the finish line. Success is not as sweet as you have heard. It is even sweeter!
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(to be continued…)