How To Start Your Health & Fitness Journey

Today Is The Day!

The beauty of a health and fitness journey is that there is never a better time than right now to start again. Our bodies do take a knock when we do not look after it properly, but are also very grateful when we do, and we reap the rewards in the amount of energy we feel, the extra zest in our step and an additional twinkle in the eye are some of the tell tale signs of a healthy body.

One of my clients always jest when she says her husband once said that she looks like a 35 year old, but she walks like a 50 year old!

“Steve, if I can just get my body to walk like a 35 year old again I would be happy!” She laughed.

Another client, when asked during an interview what he learned from his fitness journey, answered, “That consistency is key. In the past I would go to gym on and off and I would not eat properly for a while and then get on the wagon again.  Now that I am consistently showing up at the gym and planning my workouts and meals, I can at last see the results.”

One of our biggest challenges in our fitness journey is to get our minds and our bodies in sync. When I look at my clients I do not see only their fitness plan in front of me, I see a whole person. I know that there is a family life waiting for them to return to, I understand that there is a work environment where they play an important role, but most importantly, I know that there is a multifaceted person sitting in front of me. I take everything into account when we work on the health and fitness program that he/she is about to embark on.

Every one of us has a health and fitness history, and many are still caught up in the “when I…” memory of it. That however is in the past. I am concerned with your now and your tomorrow. I want to help you become the best you can possibly be; I want to help you achieve your goals.

What sabotaged you in the past?

Was it:

• Impatience?

Health and fitness is a lifestyle. It sounds clichèd, I know, but it does not detract from the   truth. The truth is simple and does not need to be complicated. There are no quick fixes   when it comes to achieving your goals. If someone promises you a quick solution I have  one word: Run! No, make it two words: Run away!

Slow and steady does it. We will set micro goals and will celebrate them big time!

• Lack of planning?

Fail to plan and plan to fail.

Plan to train, plan to eat, plan what to eat, when to eat and how much to eat. Plan to sleep. Have a plan. I will help you plan, but only you can follow that plan.

• Support?

I use the ‘Trainerize’ app and as you train you enter the workouts into the app, this is emailed to me the moment that you push the ‘Complete the workout’ button. You can send me an email telling me how your workout was, what you liked, what you did not like, how you felt and how you are progressing. We are a Mastermind group, you and I. You can rest assured that you have my support.

What are your steps forward?

Do not wait for Monday, or the first day of next month, or New Years Day. Today is all you have. Do not put off for tomorrow what you can do today.

The following tips will help you make a strong start.

• Do not be afraid of the space between your dream and your present reality.

I have a client who was a competitive cyclist in her younger days. During races when she was faced with the uphills she would take one look at where she needed to go and then she would look down at either her pedals or the wheel of the cyclist in front of her. She would focus on her breathing and on keeping a rhythm with her pedal action. The secret, which is not a secret at all, is to keep going. Just keep going.

If you do the hard work today, you are already further in achieving your goal than you were yesterday, and if you put in the hard work tomorrow you will be further than you were today.

Just.Keep.Going.

• Have a plan.

Urgency is a very cruel tyrant. Do yourself a favour and google the Four Quadrant System of Stephen Covey. Urgency is the thing that demands your attention now, and very often it is not even your urgency but some one else’s. Your health and fitness is IMPORTANT, but if you neglect it, it will become URGENT, and the moment that it becomes URGENT it will call for serious medical intervention.

Please make time for yourself. You really do deserve it. When you take the time to look after yourself, your loved ones will benefit from it as well.

We will sit down and map out your journey. Contact me to see how we can do this. We will look at:

– What are the things you have to plan for?

– When and how you will get your exercise

– What foods you will eat and how you will ensure that you have access to those foods

– How you will arrange your schedule so that you get at least 7 hours of sleep each night

Have a strategy. Have a plan A and a plan B. What will you do when a certain situation presents itself? Be prepared, and it won’t take you by surprise.

• No one can whistle a symphony. It takes a whole orchestra to play it. -H.E. Luccock 

Be accountable. Have someone you are accountable to. Be authentic. Be honest – do not lie to yourself. Accumulate people who are not scared to tell it like it is; people who care enough to ring you in the morning when they know you have to go and exercise; people who will take one look at your lunchbox and say, “TimTams? Are you for real? Let’s rather throw that out.” Sometimes tough love is what you need. Surround yourself with people who will have your back and who will say, “Well done, mate! I am so proud of you!”