Seems a bit negative doesn’t it? I agree.. I don’t like to start off on a bad note, but I’m not holding back this time. The majority of us are all a bunch of lazy, pieces of.. (ok ok, hold back Chaz). My wife would tell me to calm down, she was once apart of this blog, so out of respect for her, I’ll chill out a bit.
As an in-person and online trainer over the years, I’ve pretty much heard every excuse in the book. My kids got sick, work has been busy, hitting my protein goal is hard, I didn’t have anything healthy in the house to eat, and on.. and on.. and on.
You know though.. These excuses are all pretty valid. Getting in shape is very challenging. If it wasn’t, everybody would look great. The amount of inconvenience you have to adhere to in order to get the body you want can be second to none.
The problem is… I’ve grown accustom to hearing these excuses, which has honestly left me a bit numb to any compassion for it. Don’t get me wrong, I understand the struggles and challenges. I just force my clients and myself to focus on the solutions instead of focusing on the problem.
Either you want it bad enough, or you don’t. My kids get sick, my work gets busy, hitting my protein goal can be hard, and sometimes I don’t have anything healthy in the house to eat either.
I know what you’re thinking..
“Oh great, he’s going to go off about how if he can do it I should be able to do it too. Another one of those posts. I’ll just exit out now.”
Go ahead, I’ll see you back here in 2020 when you’re still trying to figure out how to get in shape…
………. 😉
Alright, enough with the jokes..
Here’s why getting in shape can be so challenging for the majority of us:
1. The amount of excitement you have in the beginning will turn to discouragement when progress is slower than you anticipated.
This stuff takes time! You aren’t going to be where you want in a week, a month, or even a couple months. You’ll have random mishaps that will slow down progress, family outings/nights out that will make you slip up a tad, and just in general fat loss and muscle gain will take a solid 3-6 months to get you to a point where you have made a considerable transformation. In some cases it could be even longer. The majority of people end up quitting early because of this. Are you able to deal with progress being slow? Or are you the type to just quit because it’s not happening as fast as you’d like it to?
2. You haven’t yet realized how hard it is to stay committed to a nutritional goal when everyone around you doesn’t give a sh*t that you are dieting.
This may be the hardest part of all. The world could care less that you are on a “diet.” Your significant other, your parents, your grandparents, and your friends don’t have the same goals as you. Quite frankly, it’s not their problem that you are trying to get in better shape, it’s yours! You’ll have to find a happy medium of pre-planning dinner dates , staying in an extra night or two on the weekends, and telling grandma no for the 100th time when she asks if you’d like a second serving at Sunday dinner. With a bit of experience and knowledge it’s possible to make all this work, but nobody likes the person who tries to change everyone else’s plans because of their selfish “diet.”
3. Last but not least, your “all or nothing” mentality is going to screw you over in the long run.
Jan 1, 2019 shows up and you have dedicated yourself to not put a single “unhealthy” thing into your body, hit the gym 6 days a week, and smash this whole fitness thing by being super hardcore. Well, great idea, and on paper it seems like it should work, but I’d put A LOT of money on the fact that you’ll burnout, realize what a pain in the arse all that is, and you’ll eventually just give up on it all together. By the end of February you’ll be left with a 12 month contract at a gym you never go to and a bunch of health foods in the pantry that go to waste.
Alright, my point has been proven I do believe.
I want you to ask yourself one question, have you made any of these mistakes in the past?
If you have and are planning to “get back on the horse” in 2019 I have one last question for you..
Have you learned how to overcome these problems so that you don’t end up in the same boat like the last time you tried?
Look, I want you all to reach whatever goals you have in 2019. That’s why I put out all the content on Instagram I do and share blog posts every now and again. There’s nothing that excites me more than when I recieve a random email or DM from someone saying they enjoy my stuff and it’s helped them in one way or another. But a common trend I see in the fitness world is people trying the same things over and over and expecting a different result. Do you know what the definition of that is??
INSANITY.
If you are serious this year about making a change, I urge you to find someone that can help if you aren’t confident in knowing what you’re doing, and really teach you the basics to make this whole fitness thing simplified and easier to maintain. That someone can be an online trainer, a trainer at your gym, a YouTube channel, an Instagram page, etc. It doesn’t take 6 days a week of workouts, only “healthy” food options, and a hardcore mentality to get the results you want. It takes consistency, balance, and a bit of dedication. But most of all, it takes creating a plan that fits into YOUR personal lifestyle so that it’s not so damn annoying to stick too.
Cheers to all of you and enjoy the upcoming holidays and new year!
Happy Lifting!
Any questions please leave them below in the comments or send them to [email protected]
For coaching inquiries to help you kick start the new year off without anything to chance, you can check out my options and application here.
