A few weeks ago I released a blog shaming fitness professionals and workout junkies alike, for shaming other people online and in person for not being as keen on exercise as they might be. Yes, we all know that there are 24 hours in a day. And sure, a one hour workout only takes up 4% of that day. Also, if you want something bad enough then you will do it! Blah Blah Blah……WE GET IT!!!!! You like to exercise. You are in love with the gym. You’re obsessed with your “Gainz”, and You’ve perfected your narcissistic selfies while being able to memorize some motivational quotes. Good for you. But I’ve grown tired of your ridiculous fit living rhetoric and I find your overly enthusiastic “All or Nothing” posts nauseating at the best of times. I’m mad, I’m annoyed, and I’m also a little bit constipated (too much oatmeal lately). But this week I’m going to refrain from unleashing another can of whoop ass on these moronic meatheads. Instead, this week I want to try and relate to the people that truly do have difficulty fitting in their workouts and following a consistently clean diet. I want to provide solutions to help them, rather then lectures to make them feel bad about not being as “perfect” as the cardio queens and iron kings of the world.
There’s Always Two Sides to a Story
As someone who has owned and operated his own Personal Training Company for over a decade, I’ve been lucky enough to be on both sides of the exercise battle. For one, I am passionate about health and fitness, but I am just as passionate about business and finances. I believe it’s important to look and feel good about yourself, but I also believe it’s just as important to be able to take care of yourself and your family, both financially and emotionally. I understand that many of us can make time to fit in a quick training session each day, but I also understand that many of us don’t have that same luxury with our allotted time due to work obligations and family responsibilities. As a Libra (yes, I do believe in astrology), I’m able to always look at both sides of the argument and willing to understand both points of view. So when someone tells me that they don’t have time to exercise, I don’t assume it’s because they are too lazy or too weak. In fact, because I myself, work between 12-14 hours and sleep for roughly 5-6 each day, I can actually relate to them.
Ill-Advised Advice
Now I can’t begin to relate to a single mom or dad who has to work, look after their children and run a household all at the same time. Most of our clients who are parents are fortunate enough to share their household duties with their partner which does help allocate some time during their own day to fit in a quick workout session with one of our trainers. And I can’t understand the stresses and demands, not to mention the time restraints that a CEO or owner of a multibillion dollar company has to deal with on a daily basis. I can however state that we currently work with plenty of higher up executives who will train with us at 4:30am just so that they can be showered and in the office by 6:00am. But not all parents can find the time and/or energy to workout. And not all executives want to waste what little free time they do have from work, working hard on their bodies. So when a narcissistic nimrod trainer who works 3-4 hours a day on the floor and spends the rest of his or her time working out and taking selfies, tells them that they “Need to make the time” then I feel that there is a significant lack of experience and an abundance of ill-advised advice being provided on their part.
Creating Healthy Habits
I’m a firm believer that in able to become successful at anything in life, that the actions you take to become successful, need to be repeated on a daily occurrence. And because I believe this, I also believe that in order to be able to repeat these actions, good habits must and need to be formed. Therefore when it comes to helping our clients achieve their own health and fitness goals, I stress the importance of creating small yet significant changes and habits in their day to day lives. For some people this could be as simple as switching from refined sugar to stevia in their morning coffee. For others it could be taking the stairs rather then taking the elevator up to their office. These little actions, as insignificant as they may appear, can add up over the course of a week, a month and eventually a year. I know this because I’ve witnessed it first hand both with myself and with the people of whom I work with. You don’t need to go from zero to one-hundred in the course of a day. But if you’re eating better today then you were a year ago at this time and if you’re training more frequently then you were even a month ago at this time, then I would suggest that you are succeeding at becoming your personal best. And if you happen to fall off the proverbial wagon for a few days/weeks, don’t beat yourself up over it. There’s no use in regretting something from your past when you can only control what happens moving forward in your future.
Stop Caring
I’m not one to ever offer advice unless I’m asked for it. Therefore I will just leave you with this – Don’t let others thoughts and/or opinions on how you choose to live your life have a negative impact on your enjoyment of your life. We’re not going to be on this earth forever so why waste our time caring about what others think of us? Live your life on your own terms, exercise when you can, try your best to stay committed to a healthy diet and don’t feel guilty or bad about yourself when things don’t go as they should or how you planned.
“The unhappiest people in this world, are those that care more about what other people think.”
C. JoyBell C.
Yours in Good Health,
Nick Cosgrove
Forever Fit Performance