If I had to pick the most important thing I've learned over the past couple of years, it would be, "No matter how good, how accessible, or how cheap a piece of fitness equipment is, if a person does not 'start' or 'want to start,' then nothing happens. I've even wirtten about it here "
This is why I love a new book to be released this October by Canada's fitness information leader - Kathleen Trotter – as it addresses this very issue.It is entitled, "Finding Your Fit; A Compassionate Trainer's Guide to Making Fitness a Lifelong Habit."
The book answers, "How do we find the inner motivation to go from thinking about a healthier lifestyle to actually adopting one? How do we get off the sofa and out the front door?" It provides you with the practical tools that will allow you to connect the dots between wanting to make a health and fitness change, and actually making it.
If you've read anything by Kathleen, heard her on radio, and seen her on TV, you soon realise that there is something different in her approach – in a very good way. She is driven from a perspective of honesty, health, and compassion. A quick review of her website will make this very clear.
From my fitness blogging/writing/business life, I've seen time and time again that to get started into a fitness routine or healthier lifestyle – as in "get off the couch and out the front door":
* Knowing why you should work out is not enough
* Knowing what to do is not enough
* Having the equipment at home is not enough
* Having the best equipment is not enough
* Having the time is not enough
* Hearing inspirational stories is not enough
* Discussing fitness with inspirational people is not enough
* All of the above combined is not enough
In short, I realised that "it's all on you." You can have everything handed to you to start your fitness journey – but until you decide to start and then you actually start, nothing will happen.
That's where Kathleen's book comes in - it gives you the mental key to "start" and then stay with it.
Frankly, it provides the critical missing link.
Its themes include "10 simple, practical ways to get moving, get healthy and feel great." It clarifies that you should set "fitness goals not fitness wishes." It advises you to develop "a fitness entourage." It shows you how to "set yourself up for health success."
And just to be clear, Kathleen didn't just wake-up fit - she had her own journey that she details in her book. In fact, this segment alone is worth the read. You'll soon realise that she did, and still does, have fears and battles to overcome. So, you're not alone.
Finding Your Fit will stand in opposition to the extreme and unsustainable models of fitness that are so often propagated in the media. Finding Your Fit is the "anti–Biggest Loser" handbook for realistic, lifelong health.
Finding Your Fit is an intelligent and empathetic guide for the reader who wants both information and encouragement on their quest for long-term health and an easy-to-follow program to achieve it.
In only 136-pages and with 50 illustrations, Finding Your Fit is a "go-to" book health book: a motivational handbook with realistic strategies and practical information that helps them not only initiate but actually follow through and adopt a long-term healthy lifestyle.
Finding Your Fit will be released in October by Dundurn and available at Flaman Fitness. It will also be available from your favourite bookseller and even available on Amazon for preorder here. If you're in the Toronto area, you can attend her book launch on October 5th