Lots of people ask me how to quickly and easily get fit. While I know they are hoping for a simple answer, the reality is that getting and staying fit is a lifestyle, not a quick fix.
So what do fit people do in their “healthy lifestyle”? Take a peek with the following 7 Habits of Highly Fit People:
Habit #1: They Don’t Buy Junk
Fit people know that if they keep junk food in the house it will land on their waist sooner or later. So they don’t buy any. Even buying junk food for your kids or spouse is not advised since 1) you’ll likely eat some of it eventually, and 2) your loved ones shouldn’t be eating that junk either. It’s called junk for a reason. Why would you feed your kids something that you don’t want to eat yourself because its bad for your health?
Rid your home of crisps, biscuits, sweets, cakes, pre-packaged snacks and anything else that belongs in a vending machine. Replace the above with fresh fruit, veggies, nuts and other healthy whole foods snacks.
Habit #2: They Have Priorities
Fit people make exercise a priority. Along with keeping a job, paying the bills and going to the doctor, exercise is an important part of their lives. What I’ve found is that fit people put exercise before leisure time. Sure, fit people enjoy leisure, but it is scheduled around their workout time.
Treat exercise time with the same importance that you would a business meeting or trip to the dentist.
Habit #3: They Stop When 80% Full
Fit people stop eating when they feel 80% full. Sound simple? It is, but how many times have you stuffed yourself simply to clear your plate? Or how many times have you eaten another piece of cake despite being stuffed?
The next time you feel 80% full, take it as a sign to stop eating. Yes, even if your plate isn’t empty.
Habit #4: They Push Themselves
Not only do fit people make time to go to the gym, they challenge themselves during each workout. While it is easy to simply go through the motions while exercising, you’re cheating your body out of great results when you don’t push yourself. Exercise should make you sweat, make your muscles burn, and leave you with a feeling of accomplishment.
Find ways to make each workout more challenging. For competitive people, the best way to push yourself is to exercise with a friend of similar strength. Another great way to challenge yourself is to set small attainable goals. These goals could be to push heavier weight, to sprint longer, or to do cardio at a higher intensity setting.
Habit #5: They Don’t Eat and Watch
Fit people know that eating in front of the T.V. is mindless eating. When your attention is on your entertainment and not on your food, then you’ll be less tuned in to what and how much ends up in your mouth. Eating in front of the T.V. is also very habit forming. Ever notice how you crave munchies just as a reflex of sitting in front of the T.V.?
Eat before or after your entertainment and pay attention to what and how much goes into your mouth.
Habit #6: They Drink Water
Fit people drink lots of water. And not just in addition to other beverages, but instead of them. Water is their main drink, while other drinks are occasional treats. Calorie-filled drinks are one of the quickest ways to consume excess calories which quickly turn into fat. Consider water your beverage of choice. Drink plenty of it each day and drink other beverages only a few times each day.
Habit #7: They Are Supported
Fit people don’t leave their motivation to chance. They know that if their personal trainer, class instructor or workout partner is waiting for them, then they are less likely to skip a workout. It is so easy to hit snooze or to talk yourself out of the gym as soon as your behind hits the couch after work. Fit people take the option of skipping out of the equation.
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I hope that these habits have inspired you to make a change for the fitter in your own life.
If you already do some of these habits then congratulations – you are on your way to a better body. Make an effort to incorporate the rest of the habits to take your results to the next level.
If none, or very few, of these habits describe your lifestyle, then I’ve got good news – you now have 7 effective new habits to start that will get you some awesome results. Don’t try to tackle all 7 at once – pick one or two to add each week and gradually work up to all 7.
Consistency is King
I don’t know about you, but I’m in this for the long haul, as in for the rest of my life.
I’m going to stay physically active for as long as I possibly can, hopefully until the day I die.
A mentor of mine, Dr Bob Rakowski says that the goal of a healthy life should be to live a long, active and healthy life and then drop down dead. Dr Bob sites many studies and statistics that show even though people are living longer now than ever they are unfortunately living sicker as well. Look around and I’m sure you will see this to be true. Many people retire and may last for another 20 – 30+ years propped up by a multitude of daily tablets, medications and regular Doctor and hospital appointments.
(I know this doesn’t sound too positive or uplifting but please bare with me)
Why did you take up exercise?
Or, if you’re not currently training why are you looking to take up exercise? If you’re reading this you must have at least a passing interest in doing so.
If the answer is short term in nature, such as losing weight for holiday or getting in shape for a wedding then the results will also be short term in nature.
At Unique Results we promote what I would call ‘lifestyle fitness’.
Making health, fitness and training a part of your lifestyle – for the long term, as in for the rest of your life. That can cover a broad spectrum of intensities, modalities, frequencies and purposes but the main crux is that whatever you do should be sustainable, enjoyable and you should be able to engage in activity EVERY SINGLE DAY.
If your training is so severe in intensity that you require 3 days to recover from every session that’s not going to be sustainable as you get older. Also, if you wait till you get sick or get a health scare to start training that’s kind of like trying to shut the stable door after the horse has already bolted.
The best time to start exercising was 10 years ago (or 20, 30 40 years ago depending on your current age) the second best time is TODAY. Not tomorrow, or next week, or next year or after the school holidays – TODAY.
The sooner you start the sooner you start to feel better, look better, perform better, move better, live better and enjoy life more.
Back to the title of this blog ‘Consistency is King’ unfortunately I meet lots of people who go through phases of training or periods of lots of activity followed by periods of no exercise punctuated by overindulgence of food and alcohol. The all or nothing mentality.
Consistency is the most important principle you can adopt. You can switch interests or modes of exercise, you can walk for a few months, cycle for a few months, swim for a few months, run for a few months, ski in the winter etc the most important thing is consistent activity throughout the year – every single week. I would also recommend engaging in some strength exercise every week as well which can come in many forms and intensities and at Unique Results we can help you find the best way to make this a part of your ‘lifestyle’.
There is an old saying:
‘Make time for exercise now or be forced to make time for illness later.’
That sounds dramatic but its true. Many of us now don’t smoke as we know that gives us a better chance at a longer more healthy life. Most of us wear a seatbelt when we’re in a car as we know that if we’re involved in an accident we’re less likely to be killed or seriously injured. Some of us try and avoid fast food as we know that it’s not good for our ‘insides’ and can lead to health problems. Some of us limit alcohol for the same reasons.
Exercise is the final frontier.
We all know someone who smokes, drinks, eats crap, drives without a seatbelt, drives whilst on their mobile phone and does no exercise. This person is a ticking time bomb.
It’s common sense, but, like you may have heard me say before ‘Common sense is not that common.’
Start gradually and take a steady, moderate approach over the long term. many of our members have been with us for 5, 6, 7, 8 even 9 years and have been consistent over that entire time. That’s the way to do it.
Consistency is King.
If you feel this blog may be useful for a friend or family member please share it with them. It could be just what is needed to help them onto a more healthy, empowering and enjoyable path. Lifestyle fitness is what is needed and we can help.
Thinking, Eating, Exercising – in that order!
I was talking to a couple the other day who had come into Unique Results for a bit of a look round and to find out more information about training and becoming members. As is always the case, most of the questions I was being asked were about the equipment on offer, the classes on the timetable, the results of existing members, the best exercises to target certain problem areas and the training programmes they may be asked to follow.
After about 15 minutes of walking, talking and demonstrating I got a sneaky feeling that the couple in front of me were viewing ‘training’ as the most important part of the success equation and almost a ‘magic – cure all pill’. Now, as a fitness studio owner it may surprise you when I tell you that it isn’t!
There are two quotes I want to share with you. The first, I have no idea of its origins, is a well known maxim:
“You can’t out-train a bad diet”
The second, more abstractly, is from Abraham Lincoln:
“If I had 6 hours to chop down a tree, I’d spend the first 4 sharpening my axe!”
Both of these quotes are incredibly appropriate to this article.
I went on to explain to the couple that if they wanted to reach their goals (which broadly were like the majority of new members, to lose weight, shape up, increase fitness, feel better etc) then what they did with their time IN the studio was in fact the SMALLEST element in the overall picture of their eventual success or otherwise.
I told them them that 80% of their health and physique results would be directly attributable to their diet. The quality of their nutrition and the way they conduct themselves OUTSIDE of the studio.
There are 168 hours in a week. Even if you trained for 2 hours every day (which I wouldn’t recommend for 99% of people) that still leaves 154 hours every week that you are NOT training. Think of the 154 hours as ‘Axe sharpening time’ and the 14 hours as ‘Tree chopping time’. Chopping down a tree for 14 hours each week with a blunt axe will lead to frustration and injury!
If you are training hard and eating crap, you will look like crap!
Question: What governs how we eat? how we train? how we live? how we choose to spend our time?
Answer: How we think!
I have discussed this massive subject at length over the last few years in previous blog posts so am not going to dive back in at this point. The three things that will determine your success or otherwise in any type of physical endeavour (especially physique transformation) are, in this order: