Falling Off the Fitness Wagon

Have you ever known someone that was working really hard to reach fitness goals, reached them and then fell off the proverbial wagon all to end up back where they started? You want to run up to them and ask what happened, but generally don’t because you know that they are likely to feel pretty upset by it being brought up.

As a personal trainer, I’ll bump into people where this has been the case. They are usually embarrassed or ashamed and will often try to avoid me. I don’t let them off the hook that easily. “We’ve missed you at the club.” “What have you been up to?” At that point they will usually fill me in on what upset the cart. It often is a very understandable event that threw them off and then the inevitable, “I’ll get back to it soon….”

This is the important thing to note, we all fall off the wagon at one point or another. That should be something for everyone to expect (although most do not). It will happen. But, don’t wait until you feel like you can stick to it before you start back up. Start back up again as soon as you can. Don’t worry about how long the attempt will last, just get back up on the wagon. The number of times you try and fail doesn’t count against you. In fact, you will be far better off by repeatedly trying, learning from your mistakes, making new plans, and trying again, than waiting until the situation is perfect before you restart. What’s past, is past. You can’t change it. Don’t worry about it. Don’t feel guilty about it. Learn from it and move on. Start as often as you need and you will eventually succeed. Best wishes, Mark Nutting

Mind Mapping Your Fitness Plan

I use mind maps for various projects, i.e. presentations, book ideas, creating events, etc. It’s a way of getting all of the information, questions, and issues all in one place so that you can see “the big picture”. To map out your fitness plan, start with your idea, your goal, in the center. (You can […]

Vision Quest

You want to lose weight, get in shape, get stronger, etc. You daydream about what it would be like, but have you actually ever written down your health/fitness vision. Research has shown that people that write down their goals are more likely to reach them and that, the more specific those goals are, the even greater the chance to achieve them.

Let’s go through an exercise. 3 years from now you have reached your ultimate health/fitness goal. Close your eyes. Take a moment and “see” yourself.
How do you look?
How does having reached your goals make you feel?
What do the people you care most for think about you in your vision?
How is your life different?
Write the answers to the previous questions down and be very specific.

Hold on to the vision. Is reaching this achievable? What will it take to make it happen? Is the amount of work that it would take worth the results? Why?
Write the answers to the previous questions down as well and again, be as detailed as possible.

Congratulations. If you have written this down, you are on your way. Now take this, your vision quest, and put it somewhere you can see it daily. It will be a constant reminder as to how reaching your goal will feel, how important it is to you, and what it will take to achieve it. If you think of other reasons why your vision is important to you, add them to the list.