Welcome

Welcome!

We all know how daunting the world of health and fitness can be.

It's arduous, and results can often be slow at best. Trust me, we've all been there.

No matter what your goals are, however, often times patience is the best virtue. Matched with consistency, patience will enable you to pursue any weight loss or strength gain you set your mind to.

The key is persistence. You just need to show up, DO the work, rinse and repeat.

Obviously that's a very simplified version of the journey we all go through on the road to our fitness goals, sometimes the best thing to do is to simplify it. It's too easy to overcomplicate and overthink the process. Take a step back and break it down into easily digestible components, and you might be surprised by how easy it becomes to set small, achievable goals and reach them consistently.

This is a message to anyone struggling to find the motivation to make the necessary changes you KNOW you need to make. Just take the first step, then it's one foot in front of the other.

Pretty simple, right?

Let's start with diet, because let's face it, this is by far the most difficult place to make sustainable change. The key to this step is to make the changes beneficial, but incremental. This means to make positive change last, the changes need to be of a clear benefit to you, but not be too large as to shock the system into reverting back to bad habits.

An example of this would be to simply replace ice cream for yoghurt, or potato chips for sweet potato chips or another vegetable substitute.

This system is effective because you aren't ignoring cravings, just substituting them for a healthier alternative. This process can be repeated any number of times, it just needs to be at a pace that is sustainable for you're specific body and cravings.

My main issue as a Personal Trainer is diet plans that incorporate massive change upfront. To me, this method, although theoretically accurate (calories in versus calories out), is designed to fail so that clients continue purchasing plans and programs, not fully aware of WHY the system isn't working as it should.

There may not be anything inherently wrong with the program or plan, however the CHANGE was too great to be sustainable for YOUR specific place in YOUR own fitness journey.

Small, smart and effective changes are the key to overcoming this. If your whole day was laid out in front of you, and you were told how many things you do out simply habit alone, you would be astounded. Nearly everything we do each and every day can be broken down into habits which either directly or indirectly influence our actions.

This is the best place to start when looking to make healthy, positive change to your lifestyle. When you wake up, do you look at your phone straight away? Maybe you smoke a cigarette, or go straight for a coffee. Without conscious thought, these things appear to just happen. As if they're just a part of the day.

Tomorrow, try thinking about it first. Then, instead of doing the usual social media check, or reaching for cigarettes, try drinking 2 glasses of water instead, BEFORE anything else. At first, it will require active thought to do this, but given enough time, this act will work it's way into your daily routine, and before you know it, you're feeling more hydrated and energized throughout the day.

Well done, you've successfully manipulated your first habit! The next step is to maintain it. You might feel you need a diary or journal, or an app on your phone, or you might not need anything at all. Tracking these habits can be a powerful tool in ensuring that this incremental change in maintained.

The act of changing habits doesn't have to be complicated, but it does need to be actioned if positive change is to occur. So my advice is to start small, and work upwards from there.

Take the first step, no matter how small it might seem, the impact it can have is exponential in the long run.

Until next time.. D.