Embrace Change

          Welcome to afitnewyou!  This week I want to encourage you to do something that many of us have a hard time doing...and I'm not talking specifically about getting to the gym and eating better; although what I am going to suggest is certainly related.  This week I want to encourage you to embrace change.  While there are a good number of people who love change, I think the large majority of people have a hard time accepting change, and some are even afraid of it.  I believe this is because we are creatures of habit and there are a thousand and one cliches to support the idea that we would rather continue with something that we know we should change, but do not simply because we don't like change.  One example is "The devil that we know."  I don't have a background in psychology to really explain why we tend to avoid change when we know it would be healthier to embrace it.  But I do have enough experience, particularly in the fitness realm where I can see people having a hard time making the changes that they need to do in order to live a healthier life.  While I do agree that many of us would be happier, healthier and benefit from changes with our jobs, careers, relationships, etc., let me focus on what I know more of, and that is changing behaviors that benefit our fitness.  I'm sure almost everyone of us wish to be leaner, stronger, faster or something of the like...so that means we are in fact looking for some change in our lives.  Now you just have to embrace the change to make the change.

          Pretty much every person I know is working out and / or eating healthier in order to see some sort of change in their life.  They want their blood work to improve, quality of living to go up, body to become leaner, gain muscle mass, improve strength.  People focus on their fitness to reach some goal that is down the proverbial line.  While this seems rather obvious, what is inherent behind that thought is that they are looking to experience a change from where they are now; there is this desire for change.  In a post I had written previously, I asked you to fill in the blank, " I train so I could ______."  That blank was often filled in by something that would require the person to have change in their life.  Again, seems common sense.  But if so many people are looking for change, why is it so hard for us to embrace change?  That isn't such a simple question to answer, but as I said earlier, it primarily comes down to the fact that we are creatures of habit and most of us find it hard to make changes that we need.  But the good news is that if you make and embrace needed changes into your life, those changes can be your new norm...and that is how you start a healthy lifestyle.

          Often my advice to someone who wants to have the most dramatic impact on their health and fitness, is to make small changes, not large ones, that can be adhered to and maintained for the long haul.  Because in my experience I know how hard it is for people to embrace needed changes, I know it is more prudent to make simple, incremental adaptations to your lifestyle so that they can become regular behaviors.  I often go back to the example of brushing your teeth.  We are not born with the instinct to brush and floss our teeth.  We have to learn that behavior.  My young children still have to be reminded to brush their teeth because it has not become that second nature behavior yet.  But brushing regularly becomes such an easy way to maintain our health for two reasons.  First, as we get older and get smarter we learn the importance of doing so to preserve our health.  Second, brushing regularly becomes part of our regular routine.  Where at one time, albeit it at a very young age, we found it to be a nuisance thing to do, overtime, it becomes both valued and a regular part of our lifestyle.  You would probably think a lot less of someone who didn't brush their teeth regularly.  And the same should be thought about other changes in your life that affect your health.  Joining and getting to the gym, and shopping for and making healthy food choices might seem like a nuisance thing to do now, but if you make those changes, and embrace and value them, you will eventually do them as part of your regular lifestyle.

          To reach your fitness goals, and live a healthier life, you need to embrace the changes that you know you need to make to get you there.  It is obvious that doing the same thing all of the time will not get your where you want to be if it hasn't done so already...it is the "definition of insanity" and it will simply be you "spinning your wheels" trying to get there.  We all know this, so instead, do what you need to do, make the changes that are required, and even more than that..embrace those changes.  The more value you put on them, the greater the likelihood that you will adapt them into your normal routines.  Change should not be feared.  Change is good.  Sometimes even change for the sake of change is good.  But in it's simplest form, change is needed to get you to a place that you want to be if you haven't gotten there already by doing what you have been all along.  Embrace change.  Make the adaptations to your life that you need to get you to where you want to be.  Embracing change is the new direction you need to reach a fit new you!

Stronger, Faster, Better

          Welcome to afitnewyou!  Today I want to discuss something that should be motivating, but may at first appear to be discouraging.  It is the fact that there is always going to be someone stronger, faster and better than you, than me, than everyone in the world.  Even world champions and first place winners eventually get dethroned.  But again, this isn't meant to be discouraging.  This isn't meant for you to hear it and then think to yourself that you might as well give up because you are never going to be the strongest, fastest, and / or best.  On the contrary, this fact should be motivating as it should allow you to see that there is always a goal to strive for, keep you grounded in knowing that it o.k. to be at the place you are currently at, and also show you that you may actually be motivating to someone else.  Striving to be stronger, faster and better is inherently going to lead you to a fit new you.

          This idea of there is always going to be someone stronger, faster and better I first experienced with my other passion...cars.  I would have a goal for the car I owned, and then as I became happy with where I got the car to, there would be another car I would see and / or encounter that was faster, more powerful, etc.  To be honest, it would be a bit discouraging.  But then as I thought about it, even if you owned the most expensive, highest horsepower having, flashy car, there would be a newer model that would come out the following year.  Or, another car maker would top that car with its next model.  And this is where the motivational part comes from; it isn't meant to be discouraging that there was already something else better, knowing that became the motivating factor to make something even better...it drives competition.  And this is true in sports, and athletic and fitness competitions as well.  Just because someone wins the gold medal one year, doesn't mean that someone should just give up, that it is over.  Just the opposite, it should drive you to one day achieve that same level.  I think it is a safe bet that the most motivated person coming out of a competition is the second place winner.  Sports teams are usually driven to win a championship after losing one...its part of the reason why it isn't all that common for a team to repeat as champions the following year.

          The same way that competitors should be driven by a loss to someone else or another team, you should be motivated by the person ahead of you.  If you are at the gym and there are people who are there who are currently in better shape than you, are stronger than you and things of the like, it should not discourage you from wanting to be better.  It should show you that what you want to achieve and where you want to get to is in fact possible.  In the least, maybe there is something you can learn from those already at the next level.  You can ask how they got to where they are.  Those who accomplish great things are the ones who see something being done already and ask how they can top it.  Those who are at the moment stronger, faster and better are the ones that show you it can in fact be done, and are the ones that you should be chasing down.  Once you achieve it, you should be mindful that there will be someone then gunning for you, so you should not get complacent, but instead keep up with what you have been doing.

          Along the same lines, if you know that there is always someone stronger, faster and better than you, that means that YOU are currently someone stronger, faster and better than someone else.  As a gym teacher I was often told early in my career that I didn't need to be the best at every single sport that I taught, I just had to be better than the junior high students I was teaching.  That was a bit of a joke, but there is a good deal of truth to it.  More importantly, in terms of competitiveness, knowing that you are at the moment at a healthier level than someone else, it should motivate you to continue to strive for greater things because there is someone looking up to you.  Maybe someone else is simply motivated by what you have already done, so you shouldn't let them down.  Or, maybe you should continue to be competitive because you don't want to fall behind.

          Knowing that there is always someone stronger, faster and better than where you are currently at with your fitness goals should motivate you to become your strongest, fastest and best.  Although ultimately what is your best might not be the world's best, becoming your best is everyone's ideal goal.  What will get you there is being motivated from the fact that there are people already who have done what you want to do is possible.  You could also be motivated by the fact that you want to challenge and surpass what has already been achieved.  And you can also be motivated by the fact that someone already looks up to what you have done so you should keep pressing on to continue to be a role model.  Staying motivated with your fitness goals can be challenging.  But there are so many ways to keep you striving for your goals on a daily basis.  Something that may seem discouraging at first like knowing that there will always be a stronger and faster competitor can in fact be motivating as well.  Looking to become stronger, faster and better is one of the best ways tto achieve a fit new you!