FitnessFor.Us

One of the most common questions I get from people is, “How do you stay motivated to stick with your fitness and diet plans?”

I can understand why this is puzzling to people.

After all, finding an hour to work out 5 or 6 days a week, and eating mostly vegan, which is so different from the way most people eat — and the way most restaurants serve — well, those things present challenges. So what is it that keeps me from caving in when presented with a difficult situation?

There are several factors that motivate me.

There are people who look use me as an role model. This statement is not based in hubris. I write this blog to help others and I have clients via my Beachbody business, so I have to walk the walk, right? I have friends who often tell me that they wish they could eat better or work out more, so I like to set an example for them. (I also have other friends who make fun of the way I eat, which is cool — it’s done without malice — and, actually, I would agree that I do go overboard with some stuff.)

Perhaps you have people who look to you as a role model. Children or grandchildren? A spouse or significant other? Students?

I have personal pride in sticking with it. It’s a thing for me. Once I determine I am going to do something, and it turns out to be a good idea, I stick with it. I have been lucky —  unlike my brother – not to have been injured so badly that my workouts had to be put aside for a while. I don’t know how well I’d come back from that.

I think I’d be okay, because I know that diet is 80% of the battle, so not being able to work out for an extended period of time should not be an insurmountable obstacle, but I don’t want to test it.

As for eating right, that’s just a choice I make. However I am eating, whatever kind of diet is my current lifestyle — vegan, vegetarian, low-carb, paleo — that’s what I do. I don’t consider this difficult. I just do it, because I feel a certain pride in being able to stick with it.

How about you? Do you resolve to lose 15 pounds in 3 months, and then quit after a week or two? How does that make you feel? Probably not proud.

I don’t want to have to buy new clothes again. This is a big one for me. I’ve even resisted buying smaller clothes. I’ll wait until I need them, until I am sure I am staying at that size. It’s not all about the money, either. I simply dislike shopping for clothes. I am not sure why this is, but that’s probably a subject for deeper evaluation in a more private forum.

If you are like I was, as you get older, you keep buying bigger clothes. This seems natural. After all, as we age, hormones and activity levels change, and we fatten up. At a certain point, though, I reached my limit — I knew I had to do something. I mean, even if a certain amount of extra fat is part of getting older, certainly not this much fat, right?

Or, maybe for you, if you need nice clothes, it would be great not to have to spend thousands on a new wardrobe every year or two.

I’d like to stay off pharmaceuticals. This is really a great motivator for me. When my wife and I were on our Mediterranean cruise back in 2007, I had to take blood pressure meds with me, and pop them on a regular schedule. I truly felt like a little old man, and it was ridiculous to me.

Was this going to be my existence, living my life around my pill schedule?

Plus, my high-blood pressure is controllable with diet and exercise. Why take a medication when I can fix myself naturally.

(Btw, this is not to even mention how my doctors had tried to kill me with cholesterol medication.)

A 2006 study by the Institute of Medicine found that medication errors harm at least 1.5 million people every year.

Are you taking any medications that you wish you didn’t have to take? Wouldn’t you like to save that money, not make so many trips to the doctor, and just be free from those pills?

I enjoy not going to the hospital? Man, that place will kill you. Literally. 180,000 patients die every year because of errors in hospitals of one kind or another. 90,000 people die from infections they contracted while in hospitals. Every year! 

I personally received an infection from a hospital many years ago. I didn’t come close to dying from it, but I wonder how much worse it would have been, if I had not made it to my follow-up appointment, when the doctor asked me, “How long has that been infected?” (Gory details are available only by request.)

Has this ever happened to you or someone you know? Avoiding hospitals can lengthen your life.

I truly enjoy working out … now. I like the idea of taking control of my own fitness. I miss it when I don’t work out. Sometimes when I go three days without a workout, by that fourth day, I am really itching to go. Working out is part of my lifestyle, and I love it.

This is probably a tough one for many people, enjoying a workout. But, the thing is, once we get past a certain point, fitness becomes a habit. That point differs for everyone and how we get past it differs, too.

For me, it started with P90X. It’s a 90-day program, and I would not quit. The fact is, my results were so good I did not want to quit, but about halfway through, I started to wonder about what I was going to do once the program was over. I was pretty sure I wouldn’t do another round of P90X, because I’d been there, done that, and I get bored easily, so I really didn’t want to repeat the program. Fortunately, there are a lot of other workout DVDs available in this world, so I was able to keep things interesting and keep myself in the fitness game.

I thought that by writing this section of the article, it would hit me when it was that working out became a habit for me, but I really don’t know when it happened. I just know it happened.

If you don’t enjoy working out, maybe you are doing the wrong workout. Maybe you just need to pick a program and stick with it.

I understand how we get discouraged when starting a workout program. We are out of shape, the people on the tv are in super shape. They can do all the moves, while we can’t do any of the moves. It can be a bit disheartening. The bottom line is DO WHAT YOU CAN! Take a break while the DVD continues to run. You will be surprised how fast you find yourself able to — almost — keep up with those fitness fanatics.

Okay, so that’s how I stay motivated. How about you? What’s your motivation? Find it and focus on it, because your motivation is what will keep you chasing fitness and health for the rest of your life.

When I was a kid, I used to like to play team games. I played soccer for 4 years from ages 7 to 11. I played baseball for a couple years and basketball for one year — as I recall, that basketball team did not win a single game all season….

As I recall, we used to also, during our free time, get together to play 3- or 4-man baseball — remember “right field is closed” and “pitcher’s as good as first base”? — and pickup soccer and touch football games, as well as an enjoyable game of progressive dodgeball. To this day I recall the plaintive cry of one of my fellow competitor-compatriots: “Guard me, Steve. Guard me with your life!”

During school gym class, we climbed ropes a few times, played yet more dodgeball, and ran 100-yard dashes. I’m sure we did more than that, but that’s all I really remember. Oh, yeah, and square dancing was in the mix somewhere. In grade school in Massachusetts. Square dancing. Go figger. I recall that none of the guys at Sgt Robert R Litwin Elementary School wanted to dance with Kathleen. Karen and Cindy were the prized partners, so we always had to draw partner names out of a hat. (Btw, I recall those girls’ last names, but I left them out to protect the innocent.)

Anyway, this is not about reminiscing. The point is that, as a kid, playing games, and, okay, maybe a little dancing, were the primary ways I worked out. But that changed as I become an adult.

I mean, sure, as an adult I played the occasional game of flag football. I was even part of one softball team or another for many years of my life. But football was more about drinking beer, and softball was really more about … hmmmm … okay, also about drinking beer. Nothing wrong with that, but drinking and team sports are not really a great way to stay in shape.

At one point I became a runner. The main reason was that I had to run for the Air Force, so, of course, I wanted to be one of the best runners in my unit.

I really enjoyed running, and participated in some half-marathons over the years, averaging between 7:30 and 7:50 per mile for the 13.1 miles. I was, however, never tempted to run a full marathon. Honestly, I really didn’t feel that I could take the time to train to run a full marathon.

My brother was an avid and frequent marathoner for a few years, and he subscribes to the idea — as many people do — that a marathon is best done with a mix of running and walking.

I simply cannot wrap my mind around that. I don’t argue against it. In fact, I would bet the evidence shows that non-elite marathoners who do it achieve better times than those who don’t, but it’s still not for me, because I have this mental block about running, i.e. when I run a race, I have to run the race. Not walk … RUN!

Wow, I have rambled on for quite a few words, but have not yet arrived at the point.

The point is that when we are kids, all we have to do is play and go to school. It’s pretty easy to stay in shape.

However, as we become adults, we now have the responsibility of needing to make money. This generally involves a job of some sort, and that job usually takes up quite a bit of time.

So how do we stay in shape? How do we work out?

Well, we find something that we like to do, something that we look forward to.

Just the other day on Facebook, one of my friends wrote:

“Just got done with my first workout at Gold’s Gym. I’m gonna be positive and NOT focus on my perception that it sucked and I feel tired right now. It is a necessary evil that I have to adjust to.”

Do we ever really adjust to something that sucks? Well, something that sucks that we don’t get paid for? Not likely.

Hopefully, at some point my friend will change his mind about the gym, and it will no longer suck, but what I bet will happen is that he will eventually taper off his workouts, until he’s not working out at all.

And so I say again: We need to find a workout we enjoy.

Life already sucks enough. I mean, it’s not bad, but there are enough things we have to do. We need to make our fitness programs something we enjoy doing.

So, then, what do you enjoy doing? What’s your favorite workout? Haven’t found it yet? Try something else until you do find it.

Along those lines, keep in mind that all Beachbody programs come with a money-back guarantee. With nothing to lose, and your whole life to gain, why not give one a shot?

Fwiw, my favorite workouts are aerobics and yoga. I’m not too much into weightlifting, although I loved P90X when I was going through it. I do like running, but I have not set aside enough time to get back into it. Perhaps someday I will.

What’s your favorite type of workout? Find it, and odds are, you’ll stick with it.

Maybe you’ve watched the infomercials for P90X or Insanity or any other great workout-at-home programs. Maybe you’ve noticed that they always show in-shape people getting even more in shape. Maybe you even think that the “before” photos usually look like how you only wish you could look in your “after” photo.

That’s pretty much what I thought.

If you thought that, too, but pulled the trigger and ordered P90X anyway — something I highly recommend you do — then it’s quite possible that you started the program, but never finished it. In fact, maybe you even quit during the first week, because it’s just too difficult. Hell, you might never have even started the program, because you were convinced that you need to get into better shape first.

If you see yourself described above, I want you reassure you of one thing: YOU CAN DO IT!

I was out of shape a few years ago when I finally asked my brother about that thing called P90X that had helped him lose weight and build muscle. After that conversation, I went ahead and ordered it.

I ended up losing 25 pounds of fat, but, more importantly, I learned how to work out and eat right, so now I can direct my own life, and control my own fitness. I have even gotten to the point where I can help people out with their fitness.

So, then, you might be asking, what is the key to completing P90X, if you are overweight and out of shape.

It’s pretty simple, really.

Modify. Modify. Modify. You have to want it. Be patient. Do not overwork. Take it slowly.

Hey, look, there is a guy, an actor and comedian, named Erik Stolhanske, who went through the program and even appears in the P90X Plyo DVD. Erik was born without a fibula, so he has a prosthetic leg. He makes modifications to accommodate his leg, but he does the workout, and he does it well. If a guy with a fake leg can do it, you can do it. Right?

One of the big problems with people who start any workout program is doing too much, running too far, lifting too heavy. That is a recipe for injury, and what happens when we get injured? We quit.

Sure, it’s easy to get caught up in the workout. After all, the people on the DVD are doing it, and we want to be in as good shape as they are, so we think we have to keep up.

But that is the beautiful thing about P90X: It’s just not possible to do everything on the DVD right away. You must work up to it. What good is a workout that you can do perfectly the first time through? That’s not going to improve your body, it will only, at best, maintain what you have, and if you are overweight — as I was — then maintenance is probably not a goal. You probably want to drop some pounds.

Face facts. Tony Horton and his workout companions are all pretty fit. If we are fat and inactive, we are not.

Writing this post made me think about the first time I did an Insanity workout with Shaun T. I kid you not, I was wiped out after about 90 seconds. A minute and a half! And that was after having completed P90X!

But I took it easy, took breaks while letting the DVD run, and, eventually — after not too long, actually — I was able to keep up with Shaun T for much of the workout. To date, I have never made it all the way through an Insanity workout without taking at least one extra break, but, maybe … someday ….

Anyway, the point is that you — YOU — can do P90X or Insanity or any workout program. All you have to remember is to take it slowly. Push yourself, but don’t hurt yourself. Modify. It took you many years to get so fat and out of shape, so give yourself a few years — yes, years (slowly, remember?) — to fix that. Keep in mind that fitness is really a long-term goal and YOU CAN DO IT!

Speaking of P90X, now is a good time to buy it, because they have added the 5-DVD set of P90X Plus to the kit. You get P90X + P90X Plus + 2 other FREE DVDs if you order from me. So stop thinking about it and order now. It could change your life — I know it changed mine.