Are You Ready?
We often want to make a change to our lives, but are we truly ready? Until we are ready, change is unlikely to occur.
Whether that change is to get fitter, stronger, lose weight, eat better, drink less alcohol or to make a wholesale change to a healthier lifestyle, to make the change, we must be ready. Wanting something different to what we are requires more than just a desire. Change requires a real commitment, an attitude to persist when the initial adrenalin rush subsides and a strong belief in our ability to achieve that goal.
Throughout my time as a personal trainer, I met many people who wanted to lose weight or start doing regular exercise but they were not truly ready to commit to the change and work that lay ahead. Some trained with me once or for a few weeks, or even months before giving it away, or they decided not to give it a go at all. Mostly, this was because they weren’t ready to change their life for the long haul; not just for weeks or months but for the rest of their lives.
See, I know exactly how they felt because I have been there. Between the ages of about 20 to 40, I had paid for numerous gym memberships. None of them lasted more than several months, perhaps 12 months at best. I also tried to train myself at home but something always seemed to get in the way after a few months; I would lose interest, or get sick, or my work circumstances would change. You name it, something would pop up and ultimately stop the training for a month or two, or more. Basically, I wasn’t ready to make the commitment to change my life to one that saw me exercise regularly and eat better for the rest of my life. I thought it would be nice to be fitter, stronger and healthier but I wasn’t ready to make the full-blown commitment to make the change for good.
At some stage, there is a Tipping Point.
At forty years of age, however, something happened to me. I saw a film about how our modern lifestyles were making us chronically ill. There is always a tipping point where you realise something needs to change. This was the tipping point for me. I started to read up on our common lifestyle related diseases such as heart disease, some forms of cancer and type 2 diabetes. Having been a medical scientist working in pathology, I had always been interested in human physiology and what made us tick. Both my parents had also had experiences with cancer. Somehow, I thought, I needed to not only get myself healthier but also involved in disease prevention rather than disease diagnosis.
At the same time, I was fortunate enough to run into a friend of my brother who had recently become a personal trainer and was running an outdoor personal training business. I decided to give it a go and I loved it. I loved it so much that I decided to do the same. I studied outside of working hours, qualified and immediately started my own personal training business, Flatout Fitness.
As I really wanted to help people become the healthiest they could be, I knew I also needed to be an example of that healthy lifestyle. I gradually changed my diet so that it was more plant based and focused on foods which were less processed and most often raw. I am not vegetarian or vegan but fruit and vegetables represent 80-90 percent of what I eat.
And, whilst I am skinny and can run all day, and have never had a problem with weight loss, the problem for me was that I was genetically gifted too little muscle mass. This has resulted in back and neck pain for as long as I can remember. If I do not constantly do strength and core training I will usually find myself in pain. We all have our own issues which needs ongoing attention.
Always get back on the horse.
I will let you in on a little secret. I still fall off the horse every now and then. I will have a bad week or two with my own exercise or I will eat too much of the wrong food (usually cheese) or drink a few too many glasses of wine. However, I don’t give up and throw away all the effort I had already put in. We must continually assess what we have previously done, be proud of that and make the effort to maintain or improve on that in the future. We must always get back on the horse as quickly as possible.
The saying “Rome wasn’t built in a day” is very true. The road to good health is an ongoing and long one. Just think about how long it took us to get to the point where we thought we needed to make a change. Don’t expect to be super fit or healthy or buzzing around with endless amounts of energy in a few weeks if you are coming from a low fitness base or years of unhealthy eating or drinking habits. Good health habits take on average, a minimum of two months to develop but they are just that, habits, and they are worth the effort.
When you make your change to whatever it may be, you will feel so much better about yourself. No longer will you have to come up with excuses which weigh you down emotionally and de-energise you. No longer will you be standing on the side-line applauding others for putting in the effort to do something about their situation. You will be able to say “I did it. I’ve started exercising regularly and I think more about my food choices and how much I eat and drink. I am proud of that. And, I am going to keep it up”.
So, a new, healthier, fitter and more energetic version of you is waiting for you out there. It might take you a few months to find it but it will be worth it. Go on. Give it your best. And make it a no holds barred go with an ongoing commitment that will not be deterred. You can do it!
The question is, “are you ready?”