Every week I hear “Dave, I really want to____________” – fill in almost any fitness thing from losing weight to having a six pack. And also every week, I hear ” I used to be so _____________” Again, fill in things like thin, fit, strong and sadly also fill in happy.
Neither of these are fitness realities. These are fitness wishes, goals, dreams, memories.
In order to truly GET FIT NOW, you need to live in your reality. Are you overweight? Seriously overweight? Do you have the eating habits of a 14 year old boy? Do you eat in restaurants often (and I am not just talking about fast food here, many nice restaurants have salads with over 1000 calories)
Look at these things and get familiar with your reality. Accept it. Keep a food and exercise diary — there is a free food diary under links on my 4 fit bodies site — free FOOD DIARY.
Nothing fancy but just print it out — it is one page. Carry it around for a week and write down everything you eat or drink. Check off your fruit and vegetables and water — see where you are lacking on these. And also see the empty calories.
It is truly the only way to see things for real. Anding getting real is the only way to change.
Now, let’s look at your fitness. If I were coming to the gym to do personal training, I would show up a half hour or more early. I would punch out that 30-45 minutes of cardio and then be ON TIME for my session. I would work HARD during my session and LISTEN. If my trainer said in order to meet my goal, I have to do 45 minutes of cardio 4 times a week and do strength training twice, I would actually do that. I would not show up late or fail to warm up or blow off my personal training sessions.
Now, I get that things come up. They do for everyone. It is just that you must weigh whether it is really “critical” vs. “important” Critical things like sick children, broken down cars, big clients in town unexpectedly, job interviews that came out of nowhere, spouse needing you to come get them or your children — those are all critical. But, there are important things that you could adjust for. Wanting, YES WANTING, as opposed to NEEDING to stay late at work is a major reason people blow off their workout. Is it critical that you stay tonight? Or can you come in early tomorrow? Or catch up at home after the kids go to bed…..yes, I know you love your personal time but think about it.
This is not meant to sound harsh, it is meant to help you understand the reality that you live in and that good health and fitness can be a major part of that. And the sooner you get to seeing where you are, the faster you can to where you want be.