Ok, so you want to lose a few pounds, feel better, have your clothes fit more comfortably and maybe move around a little easier (like going up a flight of stairs without running out of breath or being able to run for the bus if needed).
I am a firm believer that living a healthy lifestyle doesn’t need to be so difficult. Small changes over time, done repetitively, will lead to huge results. However, there are 3 key things that you need to do to lose the weight, keep it off and live a healthier life.
1. Commit
Have you ever had impressive success with something you have half-heartedly put effort into? You have to want to make a change. You have to want it for yourself, for your own health and longevity, for your own quality of life. You can’t pretend to want it because someone else pressured you into it, because you think it will get you the girl or the guy or some other reason that you feel partially committed to. I recommend looking at your goal and asking yourself why it is important to you at least 3 times (maybe even up to 6 times!). Each time you break your goal down to a new level, ask why that is important. Once you get to the root reason behind you goal, if it’s something you can fully get behind with all your heart, it will be so much easier to stick to. i.e. Living a healthy life so I can be on this planet as long as possible and be a positive role model for my kids is a much easier goal to commit to than lose 15 lbs.
2. Consistency
Once you have committed to a goal you need to work at it consistently. Likely, most things that you have done or accomplished in life took a little while to do and required a bit of consistent effort along the way. Learning a new language, figuring out your new job tasks & responsibilities, building a great relationship with friends or a partner, training your dog, teaching your kid manners and boundaries all required consistency. Take the last example, if you were consistent with your child around manners for a month or 6 weeks and then got tired of focusing on it and stopped doing anything around it for about 3 months, then decided you wanted to focus on it again for another 4 weeks, how do you think that would turn out? Teaching yourself a new skill, a new way of looking at things and new habits takes time and most importantly consistency.
3. Coaching
If you are learning something new doesn’t it make sense to ask for guidance and assistance to help you get there? Most people when learning something new need resources to help them learn that new skill. You don’t necessarily need an in-person coach per say (but I had to stick to ‘C’ words for this blogs sake), you can find information online if you don’t mind doing the research. There is SO MUCH information out around fitness, healthy eating and weight loss. You could literally spend days sifting through it all. Find an online workout program, pick up a book or read some blogs, then commit to it and do it consistently. If you are overwhelmed with the information out there and want someone to sort it out for you you can work with a health coach or personal trainer to help weed through all the information and provide a personalized approach and focus.
So there is it. The three things you need to have to lose weight, eat healthier and live a healthier live. You need to commit, you need consistency and you need to know what you are doing (coaching). A personal trainer can help you with #2 or 3, but most importantly, #1 needs to come from you first. If your desire to get healthy isn’t in your heart you will have a hard time following through on the second two steps.
Marisa is BCRPA personal trainer and a fun-fitness-fanatic living the active dream in beautiful Vancouver, BC. She hikes, swims, runs, bikes, bootcamps & yoga's as much as possible, outdoors when possible, and believes everything is possible. Find her on the web at www.motivatedmovementpt.com and on Facebook and Instagram.