Ask yourself…

My last post was a list of the habits I believe help make behavior change successful (it was based on a very popular and widely used behavior change theory, which happens to be one of my favorite theories–the transtheoretical model). This post is going to address something people should do before they make a change, but often don’t. When this isn’t done, we basically set ourselves up for failure.

What am I talking about?

I’m talking about asking yourself a core set of questions. These questions are designed to let you know if you are ready for change, and also helps you identify any barriers or obstacles that may be preventing you from succeeding.

Why is this important? Can’t I just ask myself “Am I ready for change?” and be done with it?

No.

Being ready for change involves more than just asking that question, although you should begin your self-reflection with “Am I ready for change?”

After asking yourself that, think about why you answered “yes” or “no.”

If you answered “no,” follow-up with these questions. I would recommend writing your answers in a journal or save it in your computer. When you do answer “yes,” it would be helpful to go back to this list of answers and understand what is different about you now and what helped you answer “yes.”

Anyway, on to the questions.

If you answered “no,” immediately ask yourself why. It’s not helpful just to brush off the question with a quick, huffy “no” and move on to the next subject. Take some time and write down the first thought that came into your mind after saying “no.”

For example, if you’re trying to lose weight and you feel you aren’t ready, ask why. The first thing that comes into your head, for example, may be “I don’t have time” or “I don’t want to give up the foods I love.”

Next, follow up on that initial reason why.

• Is it a reasonable response?
• Is there a way for me to change that reason?
• If there is a way to change that reason, why am I not doing it now?

Let’s say you answered with “I don’t have time.” Try this for a day: make a list of what you actually do during the day, and for how long. I think many people will be surprised with the time they could save by reducing the amount of time spent on Facebook, checking email, and watching TV. Some people spend hours on the Internet each day, looking at webpages that are designed to be timewasters!

Once you become aware of just how much time you spend doing things that are probably not that important, you will begin to see where you could fit in time to make a healthy behavior change. You don’t need hours each day to exercise; 30 minutes will do, especially if you’re just beginning or coming back from a hiatus.

Also, ask yourself these questions:

• In the past, what has kept me from making this change?
• Are there significant barriers that prevent me from changing, such as not exercising outdoors because of unsafe streets?
• If given all the resources in the world that I think I need to make this change, would I make the change?
• What do your family and friends say about the behavior change (ex. what does your spouse think about exercise) ?
• Would you feel better about yourself if you make the change?
• Will the change make your life better?

There are many more questions you could ask, but these get the job done. The purpose is to make you aware of your own thought processes, and eventually helping you to figure out how to change your thoughts to set yourself up for success.

The questions you should ask yourself if you answer “yes” to “Am I ready for change?” will follow.

As usual, leave your comments!

What’s Going to Make This Year Different?

So by now I’m sure everyone has their list of New Year’s resoultions. How many of those goals are recycled from past New Year’s resolutions?

How are you going to make this year different for your fitness goals?

One way you can make this year different is by deciding to not go for your goals on your own. Join a support group, or create your own with a group of friends. Surround yourself with people who have the same goal; this way, you are less likely to sabotage your efforts by following other people’s bad habits. It’s easier to resist temptation when you’re not surrounded by it.

Another way you can make this year different is to keep a journal of your activities and what you eat. Studies show that when people keep a food diary, they tend to lose more weight on average than those who do not log their intake.

Write down your goals. Don’t just keep them in your head. Post them everywhere. Make a vision board. Make yourself be constantly reminded of your goals to keep you focused.

These are just a few things you can do to not fall into the New Year’s resolution trap.

More coming soon…I’m tired from training and am going to rest now

If you want motivation, watch this video

Last night I had the pleasure of watching an awesome video posted at RossTraining.com. It’s a video of David Goggins, an ultramarathoner who runs to raise money for college tuition for the children of fallen soldiers.

If you need a reason to make 2009 your best year, just do it to find out what you’re made of. Too many people go through life without truly challenging themselves. They’re happy with being comfortable. But then as life goes on, they begin to wonder “what if.”

Don’t be one of those people wondering “what if.”

If you truly want to change your life, if you want to life healthier, happier, and longer, you have to put in the work. Quit wishing and start doing. Find out what you’re made of.

My 100th Post…and a gift for you!

Wow, I can’t believe that this is my 100th post since starting this blog in February. It’s been awesome and a great community has developed as a result of this blog.

If you’ve been reading for a while, you know that I’m big on goal development. Creating effective goals is the first step towards reaching success. I have created a short workbook to help you all develop your goals, something you can have and always look at offline if you choose.

This workbook was completed at the perfect time. There are 10 days until Christmas and 16 until the new year. This is the time where people begin formulating their New Year’s resolutions, and this workbook will definitely help you do that.

The workbook is called “Getting to Action in 2009 “. You can download it now from that link for free only until Dec. 31.

Let me know what you think! I’m now working on a new fitness e-book , so if you have anything you would like covered on this blog or in the book, leave a comment or send me an email!

Empowering Yourself to Reach Your Fitness Goals

We all make resolutions to take control and responsibility of our fitness with the best of intentions. But how many times do you set yourself up for failure with unrealisitic goals and expectations? Probably a lot.

You won’t achieve your goals, or even begin to seriously work towards them, if you don’t feel empowered to take action. If you don’t truly believe that exercise will help prevent diabetes, or that taking time for self-reflection and mediation will lower your blood pressure, you will not do those things.

Let me repeat that.

Unless you truly believe that your efforts will bring results, then you will not do it. So if you don’t believe in the power of exercise, don’t tell yourself that you’re gonna exercise this year and waste money on a gym membership or on personal training sessions. And this is coming from a personal trainer…

Ok, so what if you do believe in the effects your efforts will have? You then need to take a step back and create your goals with realistic expectations. Please do not tell yourself that you will lose 50 pounds in a month or immediately be able to stop taking any medications for diabetes, high blood pressure, etc. This absolutely takes time, so prepare yourself mentally to be patient!

We need to train ourselves to put in the time to get great results. Anything worth having is worth waiting for, right? Athletes do not get their fitness over night, believe me. It takes a lot of training to get to that level of fitness, so do not expect yourself to reach your fitness goals overnight.

Make small goals, and use them as stepping stones for success.

Let’s say you want to be able to run a 5k in April. Would you set that as your only goal? Nope.

You would set little goals, such as being able to run a mile without stopping, and then walking the last 2.1 miles by January 15th. Once that goal is reached, you would then set the goal of running 2 miles nonstop, and walking the last 1.1 miles by the end of February. Then by the end of March, you would set the goal of running all 3.1 miles without stopping. So once April comes around, you will be ready for your 5k.

Why set goals this way rather than just telling yourself that you will run a 5k in April?

This method of goal setting creates a sense of direction. The goal of running a 5k in April simply states the goal, but doesn’t give a sense of how you are going to get there.

That’s discouraging.

The latter method empowers you. It gives you little goals to work towards, which can still be broken down into even smaller goals, adding up to the ultimate goal in April. When you achieve the small goals, you create a sense of accomplishment.

That sense of accomplishment will push you. Once you achieve, it’s natural for you to want to continue to achieve. You’ll be confident in yourself, which is motivation to keep you going.

In order for this to work, however, you have to be ready to make a change in your life. Living the fit lifestyle is a life-changing experience. It’s difficult, but it is so rewarding in so many ways beyond reducing stress, creating energy, and living longer.

If you’re not ready to make the change, don’t worry. That does not mean that you will never change, it just means that at this moment, you are not ready. There are ways to get yourself there, and I will write about empowering yourself to get ready to make a change in a later post.

Off to class

Think Healthy, Achieve More

Developing a mindset to achieve your health and fitness goals is not an easy task for most of us. But changing how you think and approach your fitness goals will make all the difference.

How many times have you approached a new diet or exercise plan with dread and anixiety caused from anticipating failure?

How often are you truly confident in your ability to lose weight, get healthier, or build muscle?

You probably will say, “Jay, I always feel like my new exercise plan will work out this time, with all my confidence!”

I’m telling you that you don’t.

There’s always that little voice in your head expressing doubt in your abilities, fear of failure, anxiety from past lack of achivement.

That’s what is holding you back. Your subconscious mind is really holding on to the negativity, which manifests itself in failure to lose weight, stick to a plan long enough to see results, and to maintain motivation.

So how can you change something that is supposedly subconscious?

It’s not easy, but like I said, it’s worth it.

You spend all this time training your body, now it’s time to train your mind.

Start with small, simple steps.

If you feel yourself thinking a negative thought, even when it’s not fitness related, tell yourself to STOP.

Change your thought pattern immediately! You have to practice stopping negative thoughts and changing them into positive ones.

Another good one to try: think in terms that you have already achieved your goals.

Do not focus on what you have yet to achieve. If you focus on what you don’t have or haven’t achieved, guess what, that’s what is going to happen to you. You will continue to not achieve!

Here’s a challenge to you. Spend just one minute, one hour, one day working on changing your thinking habits.

Thinking this way will change your mood, your outlook, and your success rate in achieving fitness goals. And who knows, this just might translate into your personal life, your career, your entire life!

Share your mental tricks and tips in the comments!

Be Thankful

No matter where you are in your fitness journey, even if you have successfully lost all the fat you wanted to lose or are struggling to get there, you have to remember to be thankful for what you are able to do.

Too many people are lost in their own “failures” and forget to be thankful for what they have succeeded with so far.

So what you haven’t lost 20 pounds of fat yet. At least you were successful in starting to change your life by adopting healthy habits. Be thankful for how far  you have come already.

Get your cyber-butt over to MizFit’s website and check out today’s posting on GRATITUDE. If you don’t, I’m gonna slap you. And your mother.

6 Things you can do today to change your life

1. Decide to change your life!

No change ever comes without the initial decision to do so. You have to make the conscious choice to make the change you want, no matter what that change may be.

2. Write down your goals.

Writing down your goals makes them real. Post them in places where you can see them every day, to keep your mind focused on what you want to achieve.

3. Change up your fitness program.

Honestly, how long have you been going to the gym, doing the same ol’ routine? Most people go to the gym and repeat the same thing over and over, not changing up their programs, and yet they wonder why they’re not making progress. The definition of insanity, I believe, is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results. Change it up every 4-6 weeks! Simple as that. If you need help designing a program, make a personal trainer your best friend, or don’t be afraid to shore up some dollars for a knowledgeable and competent trainer.

4. Try a new, clean, recipe for dinner.

There are plenty of books and websites that have recipes that fit with your fitness goals. My personal favorite site is the World’s Healthiest Foods. This week’s food is the tomato, and they are at their peak right now. This website has a ton of information about nutrition, food, and cooking, and are completely in line with a healthy lifestyle.

5. Drop a bad habit!

Leave those cigarettes alone. Quit having McDonald’s for breakfast every day. Substitute a bad habit for a good one. Quit using the elevator to go up one or two floors and take the stairs. That will make a huge difference in your fitness levels, trust me. It takes strength to break a bad habit, especially an addictive one, but this blog and your life is about finding your strength, and to do that, you have to put yourself in situations to allow your strength to emerge.

6. Have some quiet time.

Even if you can only take 10 minutes to have some quiet time, do so. Allow yourself to meditate, to reflect upon the day that’s ahead of you or behind you, to be thankful for whatever you have in life, to think about your goals, or whatever you need to think about. Like I said, even 10 minutes of quiet time will be worth it.

7. Keep visiting this blog!

Ok, so this one isn’t a real tip Enjoy your day, and leave your life-changing tips in the comments below!

Why do you want to be fit?

After posing this question, I know that the main reason is to lose weight to look good, probably followed by to lose weight to be healthier.

But isn’t fitness so much more than that? There’s so much more you can accomplish through fitness.

The banner across this blog says “find your strength.” This is the premise behind my own quest in fitness, as well as what I hope to instill in my clients as a trainer.

My programs are designed to push myself and my clients to the next level, enough to make one realize what their potential might be. To find that potential, you have to put yourself in situations that challenges you, that force you to find your strength to push through. Fitness programs can be that force.

Why is this important?

After going through a challenging fitness program, sure you will lose weight, but more importantly, you will learn skills that will transcend all spheres of your life. Maybe before working out you weren’t able to do a single pushup or run continuously for more than 5 minutes at a decent pace. Now maybe you can run 20 minutes or more, or do 10 strict pushups, no problem.

Wouldn’t that encourage you to take on more challenges? How about your confidence? Knowing that you overcame a challenging fitness program, maybe you’ll garner enough confidence to ask your boss for a raise or finally apply to graduate school. Or try something that you never thought you would be able to do. Your fitness accomplishments will transcend into other aspects of your life.

Fitness can really change your life if you let it. Just remember, it’s not the loss of 10 pounds or even 50 pounds that changes your life; it’s what you learned, or found in yourself, along the way that has changed your life.

Is your mind holding you back from your fitness goals?

If you’re like many people who attempt to adopt a diet/exercise plan, you probably have had your share of “failure.”

Why did I put “failure” in quotation marks?

You may not have lost the 50 pounds that you wanted to, or achieved a 32 inch waist, but I bet you achieved something through your endeavors.

With every negative, there is a positive associated with it.

Too many people have what I call the “Yeah, but…” syndrome. This happens when progress is being made or a small goal has been reached and someone congratulates you or calls you out on it. Then, instead of acknowledging your progress, accepting the steps you took towards your goal, and continuing to work towards your bigger goals, you counter the positive statement with “Yeah, but…” and proceed to count all the things you didn’t achieve just yet.

Here’s an example:

“Hey, you’ve lost 3 pounds this week and 0.5% body fat! Great job!” I say. The client proceeds to say, “Yeah, but I still have so much more to go, I don’t think I’ll lose that last 20 pounds, I don’t look any better in the mirror, blah blah blah!”

When you think like this, you shift positive energy into negativity. I’ve written about the law of attraction on here before, and based on that law, if you focus on the negative, all you will attract is negativity. You will be just about guaranteed to not reach your fitness goals, leading to discouragement and finally to completely quitting.

Shift your frame of mind, and get rid of the “Yeah, but…” syndrome. Once this shift occurs, you will realize that your little achievements add up, and that with every “failure” comes something positive.