As the days in November roll on I begin to think about the fast approaching holiday season. It is one of the most joyest times of the year, yet as a fitness professional it is also one of the most trying. I feverishly attempt to discourage clients from giving into the many temptations that will come their way. They have made a commitment to health, and a few moments of indulgence is not worth trashing months of tireless effort. Yet for most, the holidays become nothing more than an excuse to over consume as proper nutrition continues to takes a permanent vacation.
The gluttonous holiday season is then followed by a new year and nation of individuals who resolve to “get healthy,” “join a gym,” and “lose weight.” These individuals make their way to gyms attempting to undo excessive caloric consumption with intense exercise. You see them every night for a few weeks. Then, little by little, numbers start to dwindle until finally they have all but disappeared.
While many start the year off with the best intentions to get fit, it is often short lived when motivation is lost within a matter of weeks. This is because as a culture, we tend go to extremes from eating to spending. Many individuals believe they can lose years of weight and shed a lifetime of bad habits overnight by exercising every day. Making matters worse, we are a society used to immediate gratification. The idea of patience has become extinct and if a pound or two is not dropped in a week, motivation vanishes. What individuals fail to realize is they cannot progress with no formal exercise to working out every day and expect the trend to last. The mind and body, which has not even adapted to a day or two of exercise, will not be able to handle this type of intensity. Moderation is the key even with exercise in the beginning phase.
The best way to make exercise a permanent part of one’s life is to hire a personal trainer and begin by working out two to three days per week. Hiring a trainer will force exercise to be a regular scheduled event which will help combat the myriad of excuses that would otherwise surface. The trainer will prescribe appropriate exercises and make sure they are performed correctly to maximize effort and minimize injury.
It takes months for a habit to form and it is no different with exercise. Hire a Renegade Trainer and resolve now to make this the year exercise becomes a permanent part of your life. Take life head on, don’t be content sitting on the sidelines.
Jennifer Calderone
Hordon Health – www.hordonhealth.com
Boston, MA
