What You Know

          Welcome to afitnewyou!  Today I would like to slightly change directions from what I have suggested over the last few previous posts.  Where the last few posts I have suggested tapping into the mind-body connection to motivate you to keep at your fitness goals, in this post I am going to suggest doing the opposite.  Well, not exactly.  In the previous posts I had suggested how to use your feelings to motivate you so I am not saying ignore what I said.  What I am suggesting you do here is to take your emotions out of it completely.  Sometimes when it comes to keeping on the fitness track, whether hitting the gym or watching what you eat, you just don't "feel it."  We all have these days from time to time.  There are times when what we actually do is not what we know we should be doing.  Those moments where you say to yourself "I know I should be going to the gym, but..." and you wind up doing something else.  Or in a similar situation where you see something decadent on a plate that doesn't fit in your nutrition plan and as you reach for it you say to yourself "Well I know I shouldn't, but..."  This idea of how we do things we know we shouldn't be seems like a no-brainer.  And it is just that...it is us acting without truly considering what is best for us.  Our actions in these situations are usually driven by our emotions or how we are "feeling" at that time.  So take the emotion out of it...just do what you know you should!

          There have probably been times in your life where you needed to make an important decision, an in order to take your emotions out of the decision you used the phrase "Let me sleep on this."  In order to be more confident in your decision you gave yourself some more time to think about it.  Similar to this notion that our emotions can affect our thought process in a negative way is when we use the cliche "let cooler heads prevail."  In both situations the idea is to take your emotion out of it, and let your rational thought help make a better decision.  This is the main idea of what I am suggesting to you...to take how you are feeling out of the equation and do what you know is the right decision.  I am not saying if you are debating going to the gym or need help with making a healthy food choice that you should wait until the next day to come up with a choice.  I am saying that rather acting on your feelings, do what you know is the right thing.

        Some of the "feelings" that keep us from making healthy choices include: "I am not feeling it today," "I don't feel like going," and "I feel tired."  And people will also make unhealthy food choices as a reaction to how they are feeling; think "comfort food."  In these situations, there is usually some internal debate about what they should do before they take action.  However, sound reasoning doesn't win out and people make a poor choice.  There is usually a very quick response after the choice has already been made that they shouldn't have made that move.  The follow up saying of "hindsight is 20/20" applies here.  Although making the choice of whether or not you should hit the gym isn't going to be a completely life changing event that needs days of consideration, it is a decision that is in fact important as it obviously affects your health.  The decision might not be a single big one that dramatically affects your life, but it is an everyday one that cumulatively will definitely affect your life. 

          You don't need a Master's degree in an exercise science field and / or nutrition to have the knowledge of what you should do to be healthy.  Concepts that keep us fit and healthy are usually common knowledge and universally known.  And since we know what it is good for us, we need to act on that information.  It is perfectly acceptable to let your feelings motivate you, but if they are going to hold you back it is best to revert to what you know is good for you.  Acting on what you know is good for you is the smart way to achieve a fit new you!