Small Sustainable Lifestyle Changes are Mighty Powerful
by Brad Veysey
Fitness challenges are everywhere these days, and the truth is that most people offering them just want to take your money. Most challenges are designed to fail. Designed to fail like that shiny new gadget that you got for Christmas that doesn’t quite live up to its marketing and now sits in the corner collecting dust. The intent is usually good, but the failure is in the design.
Dramatic sustainable changes like those you see on TV and on the covers of magazines don’t happen in 30/ 60/ 90 days no matter what the headlines promise. So people tend to give up on New Year’s resolutions after two months of killing themselves in the gym. When you go home and don’t see that beach body you were promised, you figure you’ve been duped, or that the level of input for so little gain is not worth it.
Real and sustainable results take time, and they require modifying your lifestyle permanently. Yes, I said permanently. Forever. Until death do you part. Scary words, right? Sure. I’ll give you that. But any changes we make in life can be terrifying. Trying a new toilet paper, for example or eating an avocado. Terrifying.
So let’s flip the scary on its head, and you’ll see it’s not that bad.
Knowing that any and all positive and sustainable changes that you make to your lifestyle take you a step closer to that old you that you wish you could be again or a version of you that you desire to be, is a powerful thing.
If you analyze your life as it is now and notice that it contains no physical activity other than what is required for daily living, has more soda and juice in it than water, and there is nothing green on your dinner plate, change it.
Walk to the mailbox. Drink half a glass of water before you have your soda. And try a new vegetable in your pita this week. Add some spinach and see if you can tell the difference. Too Popeye for you? Then try tomatoes or cucumbers. Next week, do the same thing in some other part of your life.
A good trainer will get you there. When you’re ready for that next level, join a gym and commission the services of a trainer. A real one. Ask around and find out who’s good. A good trainer is like a good massage therapist or physiotherapist. You’ll know when you’ve found the one that is right for you.
If your goal is to do more group fitness or yoga, your trainer will help you achieve the movement proficiency that will allow you to do so without needing a visit to physio, chiro, or massage after every visit to the gym. If your goal is to get down on the floor and play with your kids or your grandkids, a good trainer will get you there too.
Brad Veysey is a Certified Personal Trainer, Medical Exercise Specialist and part of the amazing team of fitness, health and wellness professionals at Peak Performance Fitness Centre in Miramichi. Peak Performance Fitness Centre is designed from the ground up to be everything a fitness facility should be. We offer a fully equipped gym, high intensity functional training space, yoga studio with heated and unheated options, and the best personal training team in Miramichi.
