Often we meet people who help us change our perspective, and thanks to one of my most faithful clients, I met a woman I’ll refer to as ‘Barb’. ‘Barb’ has COMPLETELY changed my way of thinking and revitalized my reasons for training my Self!
In a world of aesthetic based goals, trainers often hear things like ‘I want to lose my tummy…I want to drop 20 lbs…I want to become leaner…fit into my wedding dress…look good for swimsuit season, etc..’ While none of these are ‘bad’ goals, they’re often short lived because until a person learns the how’s and why’s we need to eat properly and exercise ALL THE TIME, they’re not adopting this as a lifestyle but rather as a means to an end. When I asked ‘Barb’ what her goal was, she said, and I quote “I want to keep walking until the day that I die. I don’t want to end up in a wheel chair”
Most 27 year olds don’t do that. Perhaps at the age of 87 aesthetics become ‘less important’ but at the end of the day, don’t we all want to walk till the day that we die? Don’t we all want to go up a flight of stairs without being winded…without getting stiffer each morning we get out of bed or suffer more frequently from aches and pains that could easily be prevented?
To hear someone say their goal had nothing to do with aesthetics for once, was a wonderful epiphany about what really should be the foundation of physical fitness. Staying healthy! If done properly and regularly, losing weight and looking great will be an obvious side effect that makes it even more worthwhile. Why not take a few minutes to ask yourself what deeper goals you have besides what’s on the surface for working out? The answers you come up with might be the very ones you need to start a new fitness plan or health food diet and STICK TO IT for life!
