I'm not going to lie, exercising has always come very natural to me. But for many, it is an impossible, dreaded, anxiety ridden chore that is inevitably unsustainable. I would tell you what I plan to write within this introduction but to be perfectly honest, I'm just going to chuck some words out there and hope that some fucker reads it to the end.
I guess, this blog post is going to be about some of the main causes why you actually give up (from some case studies I've experienced first hand) and potentially the different outlook that I have surrounding exercise which makes it "natural to me".
Let's start with you.
Why is exercise unsustainable? Why do I always give up after a few weeks?
Sound familiar? Since training, the number one reason why I see people make a start and suddenly give up is because they go from 0-100. They decide to make a change and they think that in order to feel good or see results they not only need to exercise but they need to change their entire diet. They decide that a fundamental necessity of life (eating) should now become unenjoyable so speed off to Aldi and get their wholemeal bread, brown rice and sweet potatoes.
Chill the fuck out.
Enjoy your Chinese, enjoy the beauty of food BUT be mindful of how much you are eating alongside adding in a few quote on quote "healthy" foods THAT YOU LIKE (using MyFitnessPal to track). I'm saying if you like peppers then fucking whack them in your mouth. I'm saying that if you like grapes blow one in the air like a Malteser and swallow that bitch whole. If you don't like Avocado but you've seen your favourite influencer eat one or read up that they allow you to time travel, the simplicity of it is - fuck them off.
It's all about making it sustainable, it's all about balancing a beer for breaky and a protein shake for supper.
Nah mate, that's not me. I enjoy my food mindfully but still give up after a few weeks..
The next thing I see is you're being an impatient fuck. People want results now. People look in the mirror after one week and ask themselves why they haven't lost the fat and ask themselves why they've added no new muscle.
Working out is a consistent, gradual progression. So gradual, that if you are training and looking at yourself in the mirror day in and day out you are not going to see any change. What would I recommend? I'd recommend being consistent with your training, consistent with counting your calories but also being consistently patient with your results. I can't emphasis enough the importance of taking photos of yourself when you start because quite bluntly, you are not going to see any results when your body is changing 0.1% at a time (FYI I made that figure up #AlejandroScience). But for the sake of this, let's say your body changes 0.1% at a time. It's going to be impossible to notice the difference...
NOW, it has been a 2 month consistent accumulation of 0.1% which means you have made 6% progress to your starting point. Take a photo now in the same lighting, compare results and now you will see that what you are doing is working.
(28 day transformation from a Personal Training client)
Results are visible. What you are doing is confirmed to be working. This will inspire you even further to carry on rather than give up. If there are no results after two months then tbh pal, you either lack knowledge or your knowledge is wrong - in which you should click on this blog post to learn how to lose fat and this blog post on how to gain muscle.
I enjoy my food, I know what I am doing works but still drop off after time. What am I doing wrong?
Despite saying that exercise comes naturally to me, this stage admittedly very often happens to myself and is happening right now. I am no special individual when it comes to training, so why have I dropped off lately? I would argue the third and final reason for your (and my) lack of consistency is because there are no goals set.
With nothing to aim for, nothing to achieve and look forward to then what point is there? We need to be exercising for a reason and we need to be evolving as human beings as opposed to growing weaker. We need purpose and direction behind what we are doing to feel the fruitfulness of hard work, consequently making it sustainable.
Your goals can range from nutrition aspirations, trying to run for further distances, quicker run times, improving your strength within a particular lift, losing X amount of fat or gaining X amount of muscle. This way we have a clear destination in Google Maps rather than putting the foot down and crashing at the first hurdle (realistic goals can sometimes be hard to set, especially when starting out so if you do need a hand setting some SMART goals then drop me a DM and I'd be more than welcome to help).
(Exhibit A of Crashing At First Hurdle vs Google Maps Destination)
For the next part of this blog, I would like to sincerely conclude my writing (thank fuck that's over)
Generally, exercise comes naturally to me because I don't view it as a chore but I view it as a necessity within my life. Rather than it being something which is dreaded, I thrive and feel good when I run out in the early morning. I feel fucking good when I work hard in the gym, feeling pumped with my muscles slowing down but heart racing. This shit is contagious and if you can learn to love the process rather than making it a misery I can assure you, results will come and you will be proud of yourself when you look yourself in the mirror at the end of the day.
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