Fitness Ninja

Every Monday I have clients that come in and tell me how their nutrition is totally derailed by the weekend.  I’ve always wondered what it is about Saturday & Sunday that tells people it’s time to eat and drink and ruin all their hard work in the gym.  I’m not trying to be a Nazi about it, and I’m not against anyone having a drink here and there, or enjoying some Tex-Mex from time to time, but GEEZ!!  I watch these people work their tails off to get in better shape, and then they tell me they had 2 Mambo Taxis and an enchilada platter.  Some of those drinks have 500-700 calories EACH!!  For a lot of people, that’s more than they burn during a day’s workout!!  So a couple of drinks here and there, some chips and queso, and a chimichanga, and a person can effectively destroy everything they worked hard for during the week.  Someone on Biggest Loser once said “Nothing tastes as good as skinny feels.”  And I think it’s SOOO true.  Everyone has SOMETHING they are working for in their exercise regimen, and it disappoints me to see someone ruin it so quickly.  It all starts in someone’s head though.  You have to want it, and I mean REALLY want it.  I’ve said it before, there are people who SAY they want to lose weight, and there are people who really DO want to lose weight.  If given the option, I would assume that most people who are overweight would chose to lose those excess lbs rather than keep them.  But the problem is people just don’t want it bad enough.  People become content and settle for the way they are.  Only those who make a MENTAL decision to change for the better ever achieve true, lasting success. 

So how bad do you want it?!  Bad enough to forgo that margarita?!  Bad enough to make a healthy decision when you dine out?!  Bad enough that you’re tired of the way those jeans fit and you’d rather be a few sizes smaller?! 

Bad enough that you’ll let the weekends count too???

“Fitness Ninja”

Well, you know how the rest goes.  But it’s oh so hard to resist sometimes.  There you are, 1am in the morning, flipping through the channels, and lo and behold, the answer to all your health and fitness needs are staring you in the face.  Chiseled pecs and rock hard abs.  Long, lean legs leading up to a firm backside.  “For only $99.99…$49.99…three easy payments of $19.99, you too can have the body you’ve always dreamed of!”  “Call now, and we’ll cut the price in half!!”  “This _______________ (fill in the blank with any of the following):  revolutionary new training technique, secret that the stars have been using for decades, program that people have paid thousands for, system once unavailable to the public…is now available to YOU!!”  Goody goody!!  So you hop on the computer, order right away, and 2 weeks later when the thought of actually DOING SOMETHING isn’t as appealing anymore, it shows up at your door.  Now what???

Can you really get the body you saw on the infomercial??  Did you pay any attention to the VERY small print at the bottom of the screen that flashed across for all of 2 seconds??  “Results not typical.  Results vary.  These results achieved along with a proper diet.”  I don’t know about you, but doing the Bowflex for 30 minutes, 3 times a week and looking like the people on the commercial seems awfully fishy.  You know why??

BECAUSE IT IS!!!  I think what many people fail to realize is that individuals we see on the commercials (along with magazine covers, etc) are more often than not PAID fitness models.  It’s what they do for a living!!  If that was your job, you’d look like that too!! But this is reality, and in reality, we have jobs and kids and other responsibilities.  I’m not saying you can’t have that amazing body you see on tv, I’m just saying it’s probably not gonna happen with the gimmick that is presented before you.  I know what will get you results.  You ready??  Wait for it, wait for it…

HARD WORK!!  The bodybuilders and fitness models you see in the media got their bodies from hard work and clean diets.  Hard work means hours (yes hours) in a gym, lifting weights, doing cardio, and pushing themselves to their limits.  And clean diet doesn’t mean only drink on the weekend, or I’ll just eat Tex-Mex once a week.  It means clean.  The clients I’ve had that made dramatic changes in their bodies didn’t do it overnight, and most didn’t do it in “only 6 short weeks.”  I’ve seen people get back their abs they thought were never attainable again.  I’ve seen people reach weight milestones they haven’t seen in a looooong time.  And it was all from consistently putting forth the effort to have a healthy lifestyle, no gimmick needed. 

So pull out that Thighmaster/Bowflex/Total Gym/Billy Banks Taebo video, put it up on Craigslist, and go do something REAL!! 

Aaaannnnndddd GO!!!

The Fitness Ninja

6/5/09

So it’s Friday, and Friday’s at StaYoung Fitness are what I like to call “FUN FRIDAY.”  It’s really no different than any other day because we ALWAYS have fun here.  (Although my definition of fun in relation to others may differ slightly, but I’ll get to that in a minute)  There is something about Fridays that makes people a little more at ease, a little more relaxed, and a little more willing to push themselves in the gym.  The weekend can do that for people, even though many people I know work on the weekends too, so the week never really “ends.” 

But I digress…do you have FUN during your workouts?  And not the “fake it till you make it” fun, but the real, genuine, “love to be alive and healthy” fun.  Do you truly enjoy working out and appreciate the process of getting (and staying) in shape.  CLICHÉ ALERT!! Rome wasn’t built in a day, and I’m pretty sure it wasn’t built in 30 days either.  Did you know that 80% of people who begin a new fitness regime stop within 6 weeks?  And 90% stop within 6 months.  So I think the problem lies in expectations of what is really going to happen when embarking on a new workout routine.  If someone’s goal is to lose weight, let’s say 70lbs, and they’ve had that extra 70lbs for a decade, why would they expect it to come off in 6 weeks?  Or 12 weeks?  And when it doesn’t fly off like it did on Biggest Loser, why do they quit so quickly?  If someone is consistent in making healthy, positive changes, there is always progress, even if the scale doesn’t always reflect it. 

If you are setting out to truly change your life, to LIVE a healthy lifestyle, then I think you HAVE to have fun.  You have to be able to take pride in the small accomplishments along the journey:  the first “real” pushup, the first jog with no knee pain, the first time you do something that you told yourself “I’ll never be able to do that.”  Those are the great things about getting a healthy body, and it SHOULD be fun.

I tell my clients this: EVERYTHING is fun, there are just different levels of fun.  So specific exercises can either be high on the fun scale, or low on the fun scale, but it’s ALL funJ  (I may have some opposing client views on that one, but they learn quickly to just agree and move on) 

Anyway…my point of all this incessant rambling is this, HAVE SOME FUN!!!  Whatever you are doing for fitness, keep it interesting.  Switch up your routine.  Do something you LIKE to do instead of just going through the motions.  Bring a friend with you.  (Because who doesn’t like to see a good friend suffering…um…I mean having FUN right beside them)  Enjoy what you are doing, and think about the great sense of accomplishment in just being healthy.

Have a great weekend folks, and enjoy my closing quote…

“It doesn’t have to be fun, to be fun”…go figure that one out

Fitness Ninja

It’s raining here in lovely Frisco, TX.  I love the rain, always have.  And there are so many clichés and sayings that come along with the rain:  “it’s raining cats and dogs” (which I’ve never seen, but I could possibly get a free puppy out of the deal if it ever did), “when it rains it pours” (usually true here in Texas), "don't rain on my parade" (I don't think wet balloons would be THAT big of a deal), and my favorite “that rain sure is coming down!!” (as opposed to…??, but I guess it does rain sideways here sometimes). 

One thing I do know, is that rain makes for a slow day in the gym.  I’m not sure what it is, but anywhere I’ve ever trained, if it’s raining, less people show up.  It seems strange to me.  People go to work when it’s raining (at least I assume they do, but we know what assumption can do), people go grocery shopping and run errands and attend other events.  So what is it about the rain that keeps people from working out? 

In my years of training, I find often that it’s constantly raining for some of my clients.  It happens to us all, and I am no exception.  “When it rains, it pours”, right?!  It rains financial troubles.  It rains scheduling issues.  It rains kids and spouses and meetings.  It rains poor nutrition, bad habits, and lack of motivation.  We all have our struggles, and I don’t know of too many people who don’t have SOMETHING raining down in their life.

BUT, remember when you were a kid and you wanted to go outside and PLAY in the rain??  Wasn’t that the best?!  Jumping around in puddles, getting soaked and dirty, without a care in the world.  I used to ride my bike through puddles to see how much water I could splash up.   It was great!!!

So when it rains, what do you do?  Do you curl up inside, waiting for the storm to pass?  Do you let the rain ruin your parade?  OR, do you frolic in the raindrops, taking what is given to you, and soaking up every bit of it? 

The sun is out now, which reminds me that there is ALWAYS a brighter side, but sometimes we have to make it through the rain to get there.

“Fitness Ninja”