I recently read a statistic in the North American Health Journal that stated that 4 out of 5 people who start on a diet and exercise weight loss program usually quit and give up within the first 3 months. I for one was shocked when I read this because from what I’ve seen over the years it seems as if the majority of the population tend to give up on their health and fitness goals within the first 3 weeks from when they first got started. Sure there are the select diehard few that make it until the very end but that’s because in my opinion to them (and to myself) there really is no end. These are the people who have decided to incorporate healthy eating and physical exercise into their daily routines. Exercise to them has become a permanent lifestyle change instead of some “4 Weeks to a Better Beach Body” fitness gimmick. But rather then focusing on how theses fitness gurus and gym rats are able to maintain a somewhat restrictive and disciplined lifestyle, let’s take a look at the obstacles that get in most peoples’ ways when it comes to becoming fit, active and overall more healthy.

Obstacle #1 – “I don’t have time to exercise”
Considering that there are 24 hours in a day the “I don’t have time to exercise excuse” is a hard sell. However I’m going to give this popular excuse a pass and list it as an obstacle as some people really are on the go 24/7. We work with many clients who have demanding and stressful careers, I even have one client who flies back and fourth to Japan from Vancouver twice a month! I often wonder when, if at all does he ever sleep. Regardless of how busy our clients are most of them seem to have found time to fit in 3-4 workouts in each week, some with us and some on their own. Rather then give our clients who struggle to find time to exercise the generic happy go lucky suggestion of going to bed 1 hour later and waking up 1 hour earlier I’ve come up with another solution for this ever so common lack of time problem. When faced with the struggle to find time I simply ask our clients to think about how much they get paid to do their respective jobs. Then I ask our clients to rate their quality of life on a scale of 1-10 (with 1 being poor and 10 being fantastic). Believe it or not, the ones who are generally making the most money seem to have the lowest quality of life ratings. This sometimes can be a huge awakening for most people. It’s a great feeling to have alot of money however it will be of little of no use to you if you die at a young age from an early heart attack, suffer a stroke or develop a deadly illness due to having a weakened immune system. Moral of the story – Money might be able to buy you some happiness but it won’t buy you back the 20-30 years of your life that you spent dedicated to making it.

Obstacle #2 Family Obligations
No matter what’s going on in life, family is and always will come first for most people. New parents get little to no sleep for the first few months when their newborns arrive. The famous “Dad Bod” term has become popular over the past few years and this term almost seems to justify fathers for gaining weight and getting out of shape because they have children. It’s difficult for me to relate to what new parents must go through because I myself do not have any children. I do however believe that it’s important for parents to set a good example for their kids from day 1. Watching your parents snack on chips and cookies at home while making macaroni and cheese for dinner is not setting a good example nor is it being a good role model and someone to look up to. For our clients who do have children my recommendation is to try and incorporate exercise into family activities that are both fun for kids and parents alike. This does not have to be gruelling workout sessions at the gym. It can be something as simple as swimming or hiking or even going for a 30 minute walk after dinner. If you are a workout enthusiast and your kids are still too young to start exercising then hire a sitter to look after them for an hour or two. If your parents live close by drop your kids off at their house for a few hours. Kids love getting spoiled by their grandparents. I don’t think it’s selfish for a parent to take some personal time to go and get their workout in. In fact, I believe that they are doing a service for not only themselves but also for their children. Teach good habits from an early age and those habits will stay with them for life.

Obstacle #3 – Goalless Goals and/or Unrealistic Expectations

The third and final obstacle that I believe gets in most peoples’ way from achieving their health and fitness goals is not actually having a goal in mind to achieve or setting a completely unrealistic goal that deep down they know they will never ever achieve. Let’s start with the ladder of the two. Over my ten years of training I have heard some pretty crazy and in my opinion unattainable goals being made from individuals who have no clue as to what their getting themselves into when starting on their new fitness journey. Sure, it’s easy to say that you want to lose 30lbs in 30 days and maybe you might even be able to do it. Chances are though that if you do accomplish this particular goal you’re going to do so at the risk of causing some possible long term damage to your body. Not to mention that the faster you take off the weight, the faster it will come right back on (and even more some at times). Then there are the people who have no goals when it comes to their health and physique. These people just go into the gym with no real purpose except to maybe lift a few weights and run on a treadmill which is completely fine. However in my opinion everything we do when it comes to training our bodies should have purpose. Having a reason to do something will help keep you grounded and committed to completing the task at hand. This is just one of the reasons I constantly tell clients to keep setting new goals and strive to make each workout and training session better then the last. If you are always trying to keep the internal fire burning then you’ll never stop putting wood in the furnace to let the flame die out.

These are just some of the obstacles that I believe get in people’s way when it comes to achieving their health and fitness goals as there are many others. But at the end of the day if you don’t make time to exercise, you’ll probably get sick more often. If you use your family as an excuse not to exercise and eat properly then your kids will probably grow up with a few minor and possibly even major health problems due to the poor diet and exercise habits that they’ve learned from you. And finally if you’re not realistic with yourself or if you find yourself wondering aimlessly around a gym trying to decide on which exercise to do next, then you will most likely quit working out fairly quickly out of frustration, boredom and ultimately lack of results.

So rather then look for new ways on how to surpass these obstacles first you should ask yourself do you even want to surpass these obstacles. Because chances are that if you don’t really want it, then you most likely won’t ever strive to achieve it

Yours in Good Health,

Nick Cosgrove