A page out of the “You are a Badass” calendar recently had a very good message. It read, “the number one thing that holds people back is resisting change.”
That is true in so many ways and my mind automatically drifts to how it relates to health and fitness.
Many people join a gym because they want to feel or look better in some way.
What often holds people back in making progress is their reluctance to let go of behaviors and habits that don’t align with the goals they have for themselves.
People may express that they want to have more energy in their daily lives, but don’t make the effort to drink more water or eat more fruits and veggies.
People want things to be better and still try to accomplish their goals by trying to winging it each day, but don’t take a few minutes to plan some things out.
I myself have been in this boat too. I remember signing up for the gym and making the effort to get into a consistent routine of working out…but wasn’t making the effort to eat better.
I have tried to figure out my day as I go along “hoping” I’d hit my goals for the day, only to come up short.
I can likely give you a multitude examples of how this applies in various aspects of my life.
Through some self-reflection we have to consider, “what part of me do I have to let go?” For me, it was letting go of the part of me that wants to eat Ben & Jerry’s three nights per week. My love for ice cream is still there, but it certainly wasn’t a habit or behavior that was helping me live a fuller life or feeling like my best self.
Coach Kathie loves the quote, “choose your hard.” Yes, it is hard to change long-held beliefs and habits. However, sometimes doing the “comfortable” thing (staying the same) ultimately makes things harder. Giving yourself adequate time to focus on “choosing the hard thing” which might mean modifying your habits, such as starting to exercise, or starting to eat better. No doubt, it is easier to do nothing and sit on the couch or to just eat convenient foods but ultimately, that makes life all that much harder. Maybe not now in the present day, but in the future when your health is compromised.
One of my coaches, Coach Bruce, likes to emphasize the quote: “you can have excuses or you can have results, but you can’t have both.” It’s tough love, but also the truth.
My encouragement for you is to reflect on a change you are resisting. A follow-up to that is to ask yourself “why” five times. Continually asking “why” will help you get closer to the real reason behind not wanting to commit to that change.
Tough love moment here: change is hard. Anyone who tries to tell you it’s easy…is lying to you. It requires real work, but it is worth it. Accept that it will be a bumpy process and you won’t have a perfect upward trajectory. Giving up completely will guarantee failure. On the other hand, persistent efforts will produce success in the long run.
At our gym, we take pride in meeting people where they are at in their willingness to make change. Some may not be ready to modify their eating habits yet and want to work on the habit of showing up at the gym, and that is OK. We are all perfectly imperfect and we like to emphasize, “we start where we start and we go from there.” ; )
Your friend in wellness and fitness,
Coach Candice