"Well that sounds positive, how the hell are you still employed with an attitude like that?!?!"
Easy. I work for myself!
Getting back to the topic at hand, positivity and honesty (unfortunately) don’t always see eye to eye.
The truth is, it's during the month of March when gym attendances slowly begin to decrease. People get a case of the lazies over March Break and fall completely off the wagon. Now, for a "gymrat" they cannot wait for the resolutioners to clear out of the gym so they may resume with their normal workout routines without any distractions. However, it's those same resolutioners that keep trainers like me (pleasantly) employed!
I want to see and hear about all your success stories, and the only way that can happen is if you STICK WITH IT!!! With that in mind, I've come up with the following tips to help keep you on the right track:
1. Don't Listen to Any Friends Who Think they’re a Trainer. Trust me you’re one “Head & Shoulders, Knees & Toes” song away from knowing just as much about kinesiology as they do. Unless they are certified, have legitimate credentials and/ or experience training people, don’t even bother wasting you’re time.
2. Find Someone You Trust. You're going to need encouragement in the beginning. Someone to share your goals (and accomplishments) with without criticism or "I Told You So’s". If you need someone, I know a good guy.
3. Find Faith in a Lucky Charm. No, this is not an endorsement for the sugary cereal. Ask anyone of us Fitness Freaks and we all have ONE THING we hate going to the gym without. Whether it’s an iPod, straps or even your trainer, do yourself a favour and find faith in a good luck charm.
4. Go To The Gym! Even if you don’t want to, I promise those workouts you push yourself through will always be your best ones.
5. Invest in positive thinking. Whether you believe it or not, positive thoughts attract positive results!
6. Stay off the Scale! Muscle does not weigh more than fat. A pound of bricks weighs the same as a pound of pillows, the only difference is the size of space required to hold each item. The same logic can be applied to fat VS muscle. Muscle takes up less space in the body than fat; as you gain lean muscle, you’ll lose inches, but the scale may stay the same.
7. Motivate Yourself! Find pictures/ sayings/ items that will remind you of why you want this and put them in places that you are forced to see EVERYDAY. Will Sasso of Mad TV has successfully lost a significant amount of weight and currently has a picture of himself (at his heaviest) in a frame - inside his refrigerator - to remind himself of all he’s accomplished.
8. Invest in a Meal Plan. If reaching your goals was a course you were taking in school, it would be broken down into 5 sections: Workouts, Sleep, Diet & Nutrition, Supplementation, and Genetics. Now let’s say you lucked out and got a really nice teacher who wants to see you succeed, so they decide to give you a hint on how to pass the final exam of the course thus, allowing you to reach your goals. The teacher’s only hint is that 80% of the exam on "How to Reach Your Goals" is biased on the Diet & Nutrition section. Knowing that, would you still waste all of your time studying the Workouts and Supplementation sections?
“Depends on how bad I want to pass the test”
Exactly!
So in the words of my good friend Gandhi:
“The most dangerous and lethal weapon of them all is a kitchen fork”
