Proactively joining a gym, fitness studio, running in your neighborhood, eating and thinking healthy is directly connected to success in every area of your life. One successful act leads to another. Living a healthy life must be deeply rooted to or connected to a cause and purpose in your life. Or chances are, you will fail at the attempts, and become emotionally empty, depressed and insecure as a result of failing yourself. This leads to trite attempts to cover your shortcomings with gurdles, make up, plastic surgery and yo-yo diets. I have trained MANY in my career as a health and fitness coach, and of the hundreds, few have been completely successful and inspiring to me as a trainer. The common factor that these clients possessed were reasons, emotions and a purpose other than "It's a new year" to value themselves enough to stick to their goals. Here are 6 qualities you must posses to make it happen:
1. You must have Self Love
It is vital to get to the point where you can love yourself enough to fuel your beautiful and important body with the wholesomeness of fruits rather than donuts. Or to push away from the table when you know you that you have reached your point of fullness and satiation. Loving yourself is knowing how to meet your own needs. But first, you must know WHAT your needs are. You must know that - and when your body needs the replenishment of delicious and redeeming fruits, rather than the false and short lived high, of the diabetic and fat feeding promise of an empty-caloric processed doughnut!
2. You must find a reason outside of yourself to reach your health and fitness goals.
Being healthy and fit should serve others as well as ourselves. We are here to serve. And the love that you express to your self by deciding to lose weight, tone up, or eat and think better should flow to those around us. We should aspire to make these changes in our lives to inspire others to be great and to motivate them to do the same. Feeling better and having more energy, is a catalyst to treating our husband's, boyfriends, children, co-workers and even strangers- much better. When someone has witnessed the work that you've done, they will be inspired to follow suit!
3. Do not allow an attachment to a past
experience be your motivating factor to change your lifestyle.
Getting back at an old boyfriend, a high school bully or to fit in an old pair of jeans, are not good reasons to attempt to launch a healthy lifestyle. Your old boyfriend, and mean classmates aren't worth attaching yourself to waisteful negative feelings. Besides, they could probably care less about what's going on in your life right now, and those all jeans are probably out of style by now. We should always remain present; letting go of the past, aware of the present to build an amazing future. Clinging to the past brings depression, and the only way to cure depression is to LIG it! Give it zero energy. Think of how you would feel in the present moment if you had more energy, if you looked your best, and how that would affect the goals that you will more easily obtain by embracing your new healthy lifestyle- today!
4. Take full responsibility.
The first step to recovery is admitting that you are an addict! You must identify the patterns, habits and triggers that resulted in this misrepresentation of you. If this all happened once you got a promotion to the new position that had so many demands on you, then this may be a result of time management, and finding balance. Or when you had that horrible break up (that now you're glad about), and you resorted to self pity instead of sublimation. Dig deep to figure this out first so that it doesn't happen again!
5. Accept the the process of getting fit as healing from the neglect that you have allowed to happen.
Being delicate and loving to yourself is key. Life takes all that we have at times and we have to refuel physically, mentally and spiritually. If you're not eating healthy, exercising and feeding your spirit with the benefits of health on a daily, then you are on a downward spiral to depression, illness and even death. So forgive and accept yourself, water your flower daily and patiently watch it grow in its own season ;)
6. You must be more than willing to invest and make the sacrifice of your time and finances.
Fitness is not one of the fastest growing industries in the world because it is cheap. The advice, expertise and time of a health and fitness professional is valuable, and you should honor that. If you're looking for a discount or deal, this clearly represents the value that you equate to yourself and your success. You get out what you put in, and you get what you pay for. If finances are an issue, (and trust me I do understand this), between Google,YouTube, and simply asking the right questions, you can get GREAT results if not the optimal results that you desire if you put your mind to it. So don't be lazy and cheap, if you believe in yourself, play to WIN!
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Love,
-J