First of all let me ask you what does living a fitness lifestyle mean to you? I will tell you that it does not mean going to the gym 6-7 times a week, for 2 or more hours, nor does it mean you have to be on some kind of fad diet limiting your intake on either protein, carbohydrates or fat. It also doesn’t mean you have to jog five miles everyday. If I were to ask 100 people that question I would probably get 100 different answers. So before I start into the heart of this matter let me tell you how Webster defines the word fitness: in good physical shape; healthy. HEALTHY, I like that, so in other words the fitness lifestyle is the healthy lifestyle. My friends you will know if you have read any of my writings that I am a staunch advocate of balance and to achieve and maintain a healthy lifestyle is all about proper balance. You require balance in your training program; the proper amount of resistance, cardiovascular, and flexibility exercises, along with nutrition, supplementation and rest are needed. Balance within the muscles of the body, between the anterior and posterior, the upper and the lower, the left and right side. Balance between the physical aspect of training as well as the mental, one without the other or too much of one and not enough of the other will quickly spell disaster in your efforts. I could go on and on but I think you get my point. My goals are to teach and motivate you to act on the information you have received and transform your life for the better, for as long as you live! Now back to the question how to live a healthy lifestyle? Answer: One day at a time! No folks I am not trying to be a wise guy here I am just being plain honest. I have been in this love-hate relationship (quest for a better body) for over 25 years and talking from experience, you must approach this with that kind of attitude. With this mindset you cannot fail! By taking it a day at a time you are using the time-tested principal of ‘living for today’, yesterday is gone forever and tomorrow is not here yet. The reason I am giving you this information first is that without it I can guarantee failure. It won’t matter that you have all the right ‘systems’ in place, the best equipment, the newest killer diet or whatever. It will just take a few bumps in the road and you will be sidetracked, does that sound familiar to you? That is because we as humans see what we want (lose fat, gain muscle, etc.) and then try to attain it as fast as possible without realizing that there is going to be sacrifice and discipline involved! Sorry there is no way getting around that, if it were so easy everyone would be in great shape and living healthy lives. Let me give you an example, let’s say you have made a conscience decision that today you would do your best to make healthy nutritional choices, but at the company luncheon you couldn’t resist and ate that piece of cheesecake that was offered to you. (I’ve done that and it tasted awesome too!) You start feeling guilty that you’ve thrown your whole diet out the window. By the time work is over your feeling so depressed that you skip your workout, go home and eat some ice cream! (It’s true I have also done that.) Once we come up against a temptation or barrier where we choose the path of least resistance, (I call this phenomenon cracking like an egg) without having this mental approach we start to feel weak and that we can never succeed in our goals. However, when we are living just one day at a time we understand that we can and will fail at times, that’s O.K., because we realize one particular incident is not going to make or break us. It’s just a temporary setback and depending how much damage was done will dictate how far the setback. With that attitude in mind when you do have a setback, which you will, it’s a lot easier to say to yourself that you didn’t wipe out all the good you’ve done, and from this moment on you will be back on track. So now that you understand why it’s so important to take it one day at a time, you must also understand the reason WHY you want the fitness lifestyle. This works hand in hand with taking it one day at a time. With a strong WHY it will be easier to stay on track with your program. The stronger the WHY the better chance that you will stick with it. For example: I’ll use trying to quit smoking, since that addiction is so hard to stop. Without a good strong WHY, (I want to feel better, or I know that smoking is bad for my health, is not strong enough for most people), it will be next to impossible to quit. Now if your doctor told you that if you didn’t quit smoking that you would be dead in less than a year, you would probably quit! By the way that was a true story of a gentleman who had been trying to quit smoking for years and couldn’t, until he got the news from his doctor. He quit that day and has never touched a cigarette since. So you have to have a compelling WHY for yourself. This will help to ensure your success of living a fitness lifestyle. I have just given you a very brief but powerful overview that will put you on the right direction towards your personal fitness goals. With the right mental attitude and the unshakable reason WHY, you have the potent 1-2 punch to make any sound fitness program last for a lifetime. Until next time, have an awesome abundantly God-filled life! ©Copyright 2010 Fitness by Example LLC
