3 Rules for Staying on Track

"We are what we repeatedly do.  Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit." ~Aristotle 

Today, for the most part, I would say that I have a harder time not working out, than I do working out, so I had to ask myself, "Where, and when, did this shift happen?"  I have been overweight for the majority of my life, and I was never any good with nutrition.  It certainly was not over night that this shift happened, but instead, it happened gradually as my lifestyle change became habit, and those habits began to turn into natural behaviors.  However, for the newbie, who's looking to stay on track, who needs some place to start, and needs some guidance, it's impossible to say, "Here you go.  Just do it regularly, and eventually it will happen for you too!"  It would be nice to think that we all have that focus and motivation, but it's just not the case.  For this reason, I'm going to boil it down to three factors that helped (and still help) me stay on track day after day, month after month, until one day I woke up and the idea of eating crap and not working out was just an absolute turn-off.

1.  Have a Plan and Show Up

I don't care if it's hiring a personal trainer and coming up with a schedule, or ordering a program that tells you what DVD to put in that day, you absolutely have to have a plan in order to succeed in your fitness goals.  Actually let me reword that; you absolutely must have a plan in order to succeed with any goals in your life.  Period. End of story.  Need some help with this?  Look into Chalene Johnson's 30-Day Push Program, it has the potential to change your life.  Putting your wishes and dreams out there into the great abyss doesn't accomplish anything. Write down your fitness goals, the steps you are going to have to take to achieve them, and then SHOW UP!  Oh my goodness people, just show up.  Don't feel like working out?  Show up.  Long day and you're tired? Show up.  Favorite show is DVR'd and you really want to watch it?  Show up.  You'll have good workouts, and bad workouts, but either way both of these are better than no workouts.

2.  Nutrition

At least 80% of how we look is determined by what we put in our bodies.  Wouldn't it be delightful if all we had to do was workout five days a week for 30 minutes on the treadmill and then we could get a Big Mac and a large fry and stuff our faces, and still lose weight???  Well, we can't.  Much like working out, you absolutely must have a plan. Know what you're eating, and when you're eating it.  And, don't tell me you don't have time to eat.  Lame. Lame. Lame.  And, total excuse.  Learn how to plan your meals, and learn how to plan your days.  A lot of programs come with nutrition guides.  There are apps for almost everything in the nutrition world.  Educate yourself about how your body works, even if it's on the most basic, elementary level.  Google why hydrogenated oil is bad for you, and what it does to your body.  Once you find out, you'll rethink stuffing your face with fried food.  Utilize your resources and stop making excuses.  One last thing I want to address here is the alignment of diet and exercise.  I've run into this myself, and had friends discuss it with me also.  Why is it that when we work out, we are super conscious of what we eat, but if we skip our workout we'll have no problem eating crap?  Don't let this happen.  Weight loss and maintenance comes down to one thing: calories in vs. calories out.  Pretty simple.

3.  Accountability

Shout it from the roof tops!  When I finally decided that I was going to become a personal trainer, worked on my goals, and created the steps that were going to get me there, I didn't just sit on these pieces of paper.  I posted notes everywhere in my house.  When people used my bathroom, they saw notes on my mirror that said,  "People who succeed have goals, and people who have goals succeed."  I told my mother, husband, friends, co-workers, and of course launched all my new goals and dreams into the Facebook world. When we are accountable to someone other than ourselves, when we have put ourselves out there and there are other people watching if we fail, it makes succeeding a much larger priority.  Plan your weight loss journey with a spouse, family member, or group of friends. Create an accountability group.  In the Beachbody community we create private Facebook Challenge Groups where we share our successes, failures, nutrition tips, etc.  Whatever your avenue, be accountable to someone other than yourself.  This is part of the reason most people want to hire a personal trainer.  Yes, they want someone who knows what exercises to do, in what order, and when, but for the most part, it's that someone is checking in on them to make sure they're staying on track.  When other people are watching us, we feel the need to perform at our best, and we desire to succeed.  

If you do these three activities daily, I promise you that one day, you'll wake up and they'll be second nature.  It won't be something you think about, or struggle with.  You'll wonder how you ever lived any other way.  That slouched, slow-moving, snail-paced life that you once lived will seem like a different person in an alternate universe.  We must first create habits and then turn those habits into a lifestyle.  It can, and will happen.

Keep Strong.  Keep Moving.  KEEP PUSHING PLAY!

Maria